Pitt continues to struggle against ranked opponents

The Pitt wrestling team has spent all season losing to ranked opponents while remaining… The Pitt wrestling team has spent all season losing to ranked opponents while remaining undefeated in conference play. But in its last regular season match of the season, it faced its first ranked conference opponent in No. 13 Edinboro. The Panthers inability to defeat an elite team dominated its conference success, as they lost 31-8 Friday night at Edinboro (14-4, 5-0 Eastern Wrestling League). While the final score doesn’t show it, many of the matches were close, including three that needed an overtime period. The Panthers (4-7-1, 4-1-1 EWL) lost all of those matches. ‘It was frustrating,’ said Pitt coach Rande Stottlemyer. The first overtime match came in the 165-pound class. Trailing 4-2 heading into the final period, Ethan Headlee cut the lead in half with an escape. Then he took the lead with just seconds remaining in the match with a takedown. But No. 11 Jarrod King had already accumulated more than a minute of riding time to send it into the extra period. There King used a takedown for the 7-5 win. Matt Wilps and Pat Bradshaw took the 197-pound bout into overtime, after both men scored one point for escapes. In overtime, Bradshaw used a takedown to earn the 3-1 win. The heavyweight match was the third to go past regulation. Pitt’s No. 12-ranked Zach Sheaffer was called twice for stalling, resulting in two points for No. 13 Joey Fendone ‘mdash; the second call coming with just seconds to go in the match and tying it at two. In the extra period, Fendone score a takedown for the 4-2 win. While normally the heavyweight bout is the last of the night, there was one more Friday night after Sheaffer and Fendone battled. At the start of every match, coaches have the option of starting the match at the 125-pound match, or using a draw which is randomly picked by the referee. Edinboro went with the draw, thus starting the match at 133 pounds and ending with the 125-pound fight. ‘[Edinboro coach] Tim Flynn never ever does that,’ said Stottlemyer. ‘He always starts at 125. That’s just the way it has been forever.’ But before the match, Edinboro’s 125-pound wrestler, Paul Donahoe, asked his coach if they could go with the draw, said Stottlemyer. Donahoe was close to not making weight, so he did a lot of running before the match and wanted some extra time to rest and prepare for his fight, according to Stottlemyer. It just so happened that the random draw put Donahoe’s match last, although he didn’t appear to be fatigued in the slightest. The No. 1-ranked wrestler in the 125-pound weight class dominated freshman Chris Albright. Donahoe led 14-2 before scoring a pin fall for the win, improving his record to 28-0 on the season. Next up for Pitt is the EWL Championships on March 7 at Lock Haven. While the Panthers are a young team and start as many as six freshmen on some occasions, Stottlemyer doesn’t expect that to overwhelm his underclassmen. ‘I’m really anxious to see the freshmen get in the tournament, and wrestle guys they’ve wrestled before,’ he said. After that the Panthers compete in the NCAA Championships March 19-21 in St. Louis. Stottlemyer said he expects his team’s tough regular season schedule to play to their advantage. ‘We’ve seen most of these [top-ranked] guys,’ he said. ‘That’s what we want to do, prepare our guys to go to the NCAA Championships, and stand on that podium.’