Wrestling: Tomei wrestles for spot on national team

Heading into his senior season, Pitt wrestler Ryan Tomei will start for the first time in his… Heading into his senior season, Pitt wrestler Ryan Tomei will start for the first time in his career.

While he hasn’t faced the top talent from other schools during the past three years, last month he competed with some of the top wrestlers in the country.

Tomei, a heavyweight, was the only current Panther wrestler to compete at the United States World Team Trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Three former Pitt wrestlers, including current assistant coach Keith Gavin, also wrestled.

They competed for a chance to make the national team, which then travels to Herning, Denmark, Sept. 21-27 for the World Wrestling Championships.

But none of them qualified.

“I’ve never really competed in something like that,” Tomei said, adding that the biggest competition he’s wrestled in previously was probably the state championships while he was in high school.

Tomei said he felt nervous before his first bout, which he ended up losing. But he calmed down after that, with the help of his fellow wrestlers.

“You meet a lot of people — a lot of guys still wrestling and a lot of past champions,” he said. “After every match, the other guys or coaches come up to you and tell you ‘good job’ or ‘nice wrestling.’”

A less nervous Tomei bounced back and won his next two matches in the tournament. First, he beat Jarod Trice of Central Michigan 0-1, 3-0, 1-0. At the trials, the wrestlers must win two of three matches to defeat an opponent, instead of wrestling one match with three rounds like during the NCAA season.

Tomei then beat Les Sigman 6-1, 6-3. Sigman, now a coach with Nebraska, won four consecutive national championships for Division II Nebraska-Omaha.

In the bout for third place, Tomei lost to Missouri’s Dominique Bradley 1-0, 1-0 to secure a fourth-place finish for the Panthers.

Two former Panthers met in the 163-pound weight class when Gavin fought Carl Fronhofer, who has the fourth-most wins in Pitt history. Fronhofer won the match 3-0, 1-0 and finished in second place. Gavin finished fourth.

The last ex-Panther to wrestle was Drew Headlee, who lost the only two matches in which he competed.

They qualified for the event in April at the United States Open held in Las Vegas. While six other current Pitt wrestlers competed at the open, only Tomei qualified for the trials.

Tomei said it was “pretty cool” wrestling at the team trials, but he also noted he is focused on preparing for the upcoming season. He will take over the starting heavyweight spot because Zach Sheaffer graduated after last year. Sheaffer was the starter in that weight class for the past few years, winning 107 matches, which places him 13th in school history.

“I’ve been waiting for a few years [to start],” Sheaffer said. “I’m excited I’m going to get to see some of the big name guys.”