Fighting Scots spoil senior recognition

It was a night of celebration at the Fitzgerald Field House Saturday.

The No. 23 Pitt… It was a night of celebration at the Fitzgerald Field House Saturday.

The No. 23 Pitt wrestling team honored its six seniors – Joe Ciampoli, Matt Darnell, Keith Gavin, Drew Headlee, Matt Kocher and Sean Richmond – before the last home duel match of the season against No. 14 Edinboro.

Before the match, Pitt coach Rande Stottlemyer and athletic director Steve Pederson welcomed out all the seniors accompanied by their parents and read a brief biography and list of their academic and athletic achievements.

“We will sorely miss [the seniors],” Stottlemyer said. “Next year guys are going to have to step up. The opportunity will be out there for a lot of kids to try to get it done.”

More than 20 Pitt wrestling alumni were also welcomed back for the pre-match celebrations.

“It’s always nice to have those guys come back,” Stottlemyer said.

Stottlemyer and assistant coach Ron Tarquinio were two of the alumni honored.

Then the match started, and the mood soured quickly for Pitt.

Edinboro won the first two matches of the night and never gave up the lead en route to a 21-12 victory. The Fighting Scots (11-3, 6-0 Eastern Wrestling League) clinched the regular season EWL title with the win over the Panthers (13-4, 5-1 EWL).

Pitt plays host when the EWL Championships come to the Fitzgerald Field House on Saturday, March 8th.

Of the three seniors who wrestled, Headlee and Gavin both won their respective matches.

In the 141-pound match, Headlee jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second period with a takedown and added another with about 15 seconds to go before the period ended. His opponent, Torsten Gillespie, showed shades of a comeback late in the third period, cutting the score to 7-4. Headlee used a quick reversal and takedown to increase his lead and win the bout, 10-4.

Gavin continued his season-long winning streak with a 5-3 win over No. 18 Phil Moricone in the 174-pound match.

The only other senior competing was Kocher, who faced defending national champion in the 157-pound weight class Gregor Gillespie, who is currently the top-ranked wrestler in the division.

What could’ve been an exciting match featuring two of the nation’s top-10 wrestlers turned out to be a match spent on the mat. Gillespie’s strategy seemed to be knocking down Kocher, climbing on top of him and not letting go. He did it, and it worked.

Early in the first period, Gillespie scored two points for a takedown and spent the rest of the period on top of Kocher. The second period was more of the same, as Gillespie once again positioned himself above Kocher and seemed content on staying that way. The crowd was not happy, booing Gillespie, as well as the referee for not calling Gillespie for stalling.

“As a wrestler, you have to figure out how the referee is calling it and wrestle accordingly,” Stottlemyer said. “It was frustrating.”

Gillespie was called for stalling early in the third period, resulting in one point for Kocher, but that wasn’t enough. He added another takedown and one point for riding time to win the bout, 5-1.

Once the buzzer went off to signal the end of the match, Gillespie applauded his effort as he stood up, turned to the fans and flexed as he was showered with jeers.

One of the few reasons Panther fans had to cheer during the match was because of Zach Sheaffer. With a win impossible heading into the final bout of the evening, the No. 14-ranked heavyweight easily defeated his opponent, Terry Tate. After an early takedown in the first period, Sheaffer was able to pin Tate at the 2:35 mark for the win.

“He did a good job,” Stottlemyer said. “He did the right things and got the pin.”

The pin gave the Scouts the 21-12 victory and a third consecutive undefeated EWL season.