Wrestling: Nauman earns All-American status at NCAA Championships

Before sophomore Tyler Nauman even took the mat for his final day of wrestling in the NCAA… Before sophomore Tyler Nauman even took the mat for his final day of wrestling in the NCAA championships, he had already accomplished something every wrestler sets out to do.

In his first two days of action, the No. 10-seeded Nauman recorded three consecutive victories, including a major win over the No. 2 seed Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State, at the season-end tournament held in Omaha, Neb.

With this 5-3 decision, Nauman earned a place in Pitt wrestling history by becoming the fifth All-American in the program in the last four seasons.

The final day of the championships allowed Nauman to close out a year in which he went 18-0 in the dual meet season and captured the Eastern Wrestling League title in the 141-pound weight class.

After a 3-2 loss to No. 5 seed Zack Bailey of Oklahoma, Nauman rebounded to secure a victory in the fifth-place match against Germane Lindsey of Ohio.

“We had a lot of positives this weekend, but Nauman’s fifth-place finish was definitely the highlight,” Head Coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “Nauman is one of those guys that wants to go out there and fight for a national title.”

Nauman was joined by five of his teammates for the three-day NCAA championship event.

Five of those six competitors — Nauman, Anthony Zanetta, Ryan Tomei, Matt Wilps and Zac Thomusseit — qualified for the tournament as a result of the Panther’s EWL team championship victory. Redshirt senior Eric Albright also represented Pitt team by earning an at-large bid, giving the Panthers their highest number of participants in the championship since 2000.

While Nauman was the only Panther to advance to the final round of championship play, the other five wrestlers contributed to a successful team performance.

“All of our guys put in a good effort and fought hard,” Stottlemyer said. “The NCAA championship is a new experience with a lot of good competition, but we competed and stayed focused.”

Zanetta, a true freshman, experienced his first national championship appearance after finishing the regular season with a record of 33-8 and the most victories on the Pitt squad.

“For Zanetta to get this experience as a freshman is very valuable,” Stottlemyer said. “This tournament really presents a challenge on and off the mat, so experience is key.”

In tournament play, Zanetta defeated his first opponent, Andre Gonzalez of Cal State Fullerton, but fell to No. 3 Matt McDonough of Iowa and No. 9 Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma to end his tournament run.

Tomei entered the tournament with a No. 8 seed in the heavyweight division, due in large part to his victory in the EWL championship and his team-leading 13 recorded falls.

Despite his season accomplishments, Tomei suffered an early demotion to the consolation rounds of the tournament after a loss to unranked Cameron Wade of Penn State.

Nauman’s fellow sophomore Wilps began the tournament with a spark as he defeated the No. 11 seed Patrick Bond of Illinois in an upset, but two losses against the No. 6 and No. 9 seeds in the 197-pound weight class eliminated Wilps from final play.

Thomusseit also struggled at the hands of the ranked opponents and dropped his first match to No. 2 John Dergo of Illinois. Thomusseit recovered to defeat the No. 12 seed Lehigh’s David Craig 4-0, but it was not enough to continue into the final rounds.

As the lone senior representative on the championship team, Albright ended his Panthers career with two victories against No. 12 seed Mario Mason of Minnesota in overtime and Northern Iowa’s Trenton Washington before losing to the fourth- and fifth-ranked competitors in the 149-pound division.

In analyzing the performance of his Pitt team at the championships, Stottlemyer said that the ultimate goals are still unattained.

“Ideally, you want all of your team members to stand on that podium, but with the level of competition, that is not an easy thing to do,” Stottlemyer said. “We won a lot of matches at the tournament, but we are still not quite at the level we aim for.”

Nevertheless, the NCAA championships capped a Pitt wrestling season that was full of accolades, none perhaps as monumental as the long-awaited conference season victory. Stottlemyer earned his first EWL regular-season title after coaching the Panthers for 30 years.

Stottlemyer isn’t concerned with Pitt’s first regular-season title anymore, though, as he’s already focusing on next year.

“This season is over and now we want to prepare to put in a good summer of work,” Stottlemyer said. “Rankings and previous season accomplishments won’t put wrestlers on those podiums, but hard work and preparation will.”