Wrestling: Six Panthers to compete at national tournament

Fresh off its team victory at the Eastern Wrestling League championships, the Pitt wrestling… Fresh off its team victory at the Eastern Wrestling League championships, the Pitt wrestling team is sending six athletes on to compete at the national tournament in St. Louis.

Anthony Zanetta, the Panthers’ 125-pound junior, took home his third EWL title with a 3-2 victory March 4 but said it’s not hard to forget about his championship with just one competition left.

“It’s behind us, and we’re fully focused on nationals,” Zanetta said.

Sophomore P.J. Tasser said he has always dreamed of making the NCAAs and has turned his full focus toward the national tournament. Pitt’s heavyweight qualifier capped an exciting run at the EWL tournament to take third place and earn the last automatic bid.

“While the EWL tournament was a great one for us, you have to turn the page, forget about it and focus on the NCAAs,” Tasser said. “It is something you prepare for year-round and something that I dreamed about growing up.”

Tasser faces an extra challenge as he enters the NCAA Tournament because he didn’t wrestle heavyweight at all until the EWL tournament. His success at the EWLs earned him a bid to the NCAAs, and he’s using the extra time to prepare for the bigger wrestlers. Like the others, he’s focusing on his own wrestling skills and not on the bigger wrestlers that he is sure to face.

“I feel that the extra time is going to help me as I’m becoming more comfortable wrestling guys that are bigger than me,” Tasser said.

Fellow sophomore Shelton Mack, Pitt’s 133-pound wrestler, is also making his first trip to the national tournament. Mack enters nationals after losing his title match at the EWL championships. He said he’s using the loss as motivation for the last tournament of the season.

“I just have to keep the same focus that I’ve been training with all season,” Mack said. “Taking a loss late in the season gives you more motivation to work hard.”

Junior Matt Wilps earned the third seed in the tournament after his dominating 5-2 lead over the second-seeded wrestler. While most of his teammates are trying to forget about their conference matches, Wilps said he is looking to build on his solid showing after earning Most Outstanding Wrestler at the EWL championships.

Wilps added that he’s working on his own moves and wrestling capabilities to build his confidence.

“I haven’t spent much time looking at my opponents,” Wilps said. “It’s best to just focus on yourself and make sure you’re confident in your own attacks.”

While many wrestlers can get caught up in looking at potential matchups and the brackets. Pitt’s wrestlers are avoiding much of the talk about their draw and focusing on their preperation.

Senior Tyler Nauman, the only Panther other than Wilps to be seeded, earned the No. 6 seed. After seeing his initial draw, he turned his focus back to wrestling.

“I looked at my bracket and saw my draw,” Nauman said. “After that, I haven’t looked at it much. I know what I need to do, and that’s wrestle my match and be myself on the mat. If I do that, I’ll be successful this weekend.”

Zanetta said he doesn’t want to plan out his potential opponents.

“I just want to take it one match at a time and focus on the task that presents itself at that given time,” he said.

The NCAA tournament action begins on Thursday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.