Sheaffer, Nauman finish second in Las Vegas

Four Panther wrestlers placed in their respective divisions as Pitt wrestling wrapped up the… Four Panther wrestlers placed in their respective divisions as Pitt wrestling wrapped up the 27th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with a fourth-place team finish. Senior Zach Sheaffer and redshirt freshmen Tyler Nauman both finished second in their class. Sheaffer, the sixth ranked heavyweight in the nation, entered the final match undefeated but fell to California State Bakersfield’s Mitch Monteiro, 4-0.’ Nauman, the 11th seed in the 141-pound bracket, upset No. 6seeded Filip Novachkov, No. 3 seed Zach Tanelli and No. 2 seed Kellen Russell before falling 10-5 to Harvard’s Corey Jantzen. Jantzen strung together a similar series of upsets on the way to first place. Junior Jimmy Conroy, who started in the consolation bracket on Saturday, finished fourth in the 133-pound weight class. Vying for third place, defending 125-pound national champion and No. 1ranked Jayson Ness of Minnesota defeated the Pitt junior in a rematch of their opening round matchup, also won by Ness. Pitt placed fourth in team rankings with 85.0 points, building on last year’s eighth place finish. Nebraska’s 124.5 points took home the overall team title. A strong second day pushed Cornell by Minnesota for second, and defending champion Michigan finished sixth. The Panthers were the only EWL team to place in the top 10. After Friday’s opening day of matches, five other Pittsburgh wrestlers remained in action. Of them, freshman Zac Thomusseit in the 184-pound class placed advanced to the consolation bracket semifinals. A 7-5 loss to Illinois’ Jordan Blanton earned Thomusseit eighth place. Chris Albright, Mark Powell, Ethan Headlee and Matt Wilps all fell from contention on day two after advancing into Saturday via the consolation bracket. Each had meandered his way through the bracket after an early loss on Friday. The Pitt wrestling team returns to action Dec. 19. The No. 17-ranked Northwestern Wildcats square off against the Panthers at the Fitzgerald Field House at 7 p.m.