Web Only: Pitt Wrestling

For the first time all season, the Pitt wrestling team was forced to start a bout somewhere… For the first time all season, the Pitt wrestling team was forced to start a bout somewhere besides the 125-pound match.

Against Michigan State in Norman, Okla., the Spartans opted to start with the 149-pound match, opposed to the normal 125-pound starting point. It didn’t help much: The Panthers defeated the Spartans, 21-14

“They thought it was in their advantage to do that,” Pitt coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “It was a little different start to [the match].”

If one thing remained the same for Pitt, Keith Gavin, Matt Kocher, Drew Headlee and Zach Sheaffer all were impressive once again.

All four wrestlers won two matches apiece when No. 20 Pitt (8-2, 1-0 EWL) traveled to Oklahoma and lost to the Sooners, after beating Michigan State (3-5).

The Panthers were narrowly defeated by No. 19 Oklahoma (10-1), 17-15.

“We weren’t that sharp in the first match,” Stottlemyer said. “We looked a lot better in the second match.”

Pitt is back at the Fitzgerald Field House this Thursday to take on EWL member Lock Haven.

Junior Joe Ciampoli earned a 5-3 decision in the 149-pound bout to give the Panthers a strong start to their day.

Kocher, ranked No. 4 in the 157-pound weight class, earned a 17-2 technical fall in the next match to extend Pitt’s early advantage to 8-0.

Junior Sean Richmond dropped the Panthers first match of the day to bring the score to 8-3 in favor of Pitt.

In the 174-pound match, No. 1 Gavin earned a 9-4 decision to bring the Panthers’ lead back up to eight.

After No. 11 Sheaffer bested Alan O’Donnell, the Panthers had a commanding 17-7 lead in the match. But the Spartans didn’t go quietly in the final three bouts of the match.

Sophomores Ryan Bosso and Jimmy Conroy, wrestling against No. 3 Franklin Gomez, dropped their first matches of the day to bring the Pitt lead down to 17-14.

Headlee ended any hopes Michigan State had of coming back with a 12-1 major decision, sealing the Panther win.

“He slammed the door, and that’s what we needed him to do,” Stottlemyer said of Headlee.

The Panthers fell behind early against Oklahoma, but the two teams went on exchanging leads from there.

“We’ve done a lot of good things,” Stottlemyer said. “We just need to do a little extra to get us over the hump.”

Conroy beat J.R. Roman of Oklahoma to give the Panthers their first win of the match against the Sooners. In the 133-pound match, Conroy recorded an 8-3 decision.

Headlee then gave Pitt a lead with his 2-0 win over No. 12 Zach Bailey. The match was scoreless heading into the third, when Headlee was awarded a point for an escape and added another point for riding time.

The Panthers held a 6-3 lead, which was wiped away with a major decision by No. 8 Will Rowe over Ciampoli.

The 7-6 deficit was erased by Kocher with his 2-1 decision over Chad Terry.

After falling behind once again, Gavin regained the Panthers’ lead with a takedown and escape in the final period to give him a 9-5 decision and the Panthers a 12-10 lead.

A pair of ranked wrestlers won the next two matches for Oklahoma, giving them a 17-12 lead that the Sooners didn’t give up.

In the 184-pound match, No. 8 Joshua Weitzel earned a 5-0 decision over David Sullivan, and in the 197 match, No. 5 Joel Flaggert scored a 12-2 major decision over David Crowell.

Sheaffer won his second match of the day in the last bout of the day. The junior scored a point for an escape and another for riding time.

“He had a great weekend,” Stottlemyer said. “He’s trying to get into that upper echelon.”