Sheaffer overcomes injury to earn honors

In order to become an All-American for the first time in his career, Pitt wrestling’s Zach… In order to become an All-American for the first time in his career, Pitt wrestling’s Zach Sheaffer overcame not only a loss in his first round of the NCAA Championships, but a concussion as well. The senior heavyweight dropped his first bout of the year-end Tournament held this past weekend in St. Louis, but won his next four to make him an All-American. In his final bout, Sheaffer suffered a concussion in the first period against Lehigh’s Zachery Rey, but finished the match, and Tournament, with a victory. ‘It’s a shame he couldn’t wrestle [Saturday],’ said Pitt coach Rande Stottlemyer. Because of the concussion, Sheaffer took a medical forfeit for his last two matches, but still advanced far enough to earn his All-American status. This is the third straight year with an All-American for the Panthers. ‘That’s our goal,’ said Stottlemyer. ‘If you get somebody standing on the podium at the NCAAs, you’re doing a pretty good job.’ Pitt finished the Tournament 38th overall out of the 60-plus teams competing in the NCAA Championships. ‘It’s very competitive [at the NCAAs],’ said Stottlemyer. ‘It’s pretty crazy.’ In his opening bout of the Tournament, Sheaffer faced No. 2 Mark Ellis of Missouri in a rematch of the finals at the Midland Championships from earlier in the season. Once again, Ellis won, sending Sheaffer to the consolation bracket. In another rematch from Midland, Sheaffer next wrestled Indiana’s Nate Everhart and won with a 7-1 decision. Back in December, Sheaffer pinned Everhart for his 100th career victory. The senior heavyweight won his next two matches, including a pin over Dominick Russo of Rutgers, to set up a bout against Rey with the winner becoming an All-American. After a scoreless first period, Sheaffer jumped ahead in the second, 1-0, on an escape. Rey also scored an escape point early in third period to tie it up and send it into an overtime period. Neither wrestler scored in the first sudden victory period, but Sheaffer escaped early in the second overtime and held on for the 2-1 victory. Sheaffer wasn’t the only Panther to compete over the weekend. Junior Jimmy Conroy, sophomore Ethan Headlee and freshman Tyler Nauman also participated in the Championships. All three wrestlers advanced past the first day of action, but none placed. Nauman, who led the team in wins this season, was the only Panther to win his first-round match, defeating Hofstra’s Justin Accordino 7-1. Things got a bit more difficult next as Nauman faced Ohio State’s J Jaggers, the defending national champion in the 141-pound weight class. No. 3 Jaggers defeated Nauman 6-4 with a takedown in the first overtime period on his way to a second consecutive national title. Nauman then lost his first match in the consolation bracket to Penn State’s Frank Molinaro to end his season. ‘He just wasn’t as consistent as he needed to be,’ said Stottlemyer. Twelve seconds into his first match, Conroy was pinned by Ohio State’s Reece Humphrey. It’s the third-fastest pin in NCAA Championship history. But Conroy bounced back and won his first match in the consolation bracket before ending his year with a loss to No. 12 Steve Bell of Maryland. ‘He came back [after that first match] and wrestled better,’ said Stottlemyer. Headlee dropped his first bout of the Tournament, but also won his opening match of the consolation bracket with 3-1 victory over No. 9 Brandon Mason of Oklahoma State. He then lost to Rider’s Jason Lapham to eliminate him from the Tournament. Headlee faced Lapham earlier in the season, also resulting in a loss. While it didn’t work out, Stottlemyer’s strategy for the season was to schedule matches against a lot of top teams in the nation and compete in tournaments with the country’s best. It didn’t help the Panthers much during the regular season, as they dropped all seven matches against ranked opponents. Doing this, Stottlemyer said repeatedly throughout the season, allowed his team to see the top wrestlers in the country in preparation for the NCAAs. ‘It didn’t help us like we thought it would,’ said Stottlemyer, adding he wasn’t sure how he would make up the team’s schedule next season. ‘We obviously wanted to have four guys on the podium, but that’s the toughest tournament of the year,’ he said. Even if he doesn’t create an incredibly challenging out-of-conference schedule for the Panthers next year, he thinks at least Nauman, Conroy and Headlee should build on their already impressive performances this year.’ ‘Those guys have had that experience,’ said Stottlemyer, ‘so they’ve got to go back and work on what they’ve got to do better and see if we can get back here next year.’