Pitt tops Bloomsburg, lands seventh at Cornell

Pitt wrestling had a busy past few days, competing in the Cornell Body Bar Invitational in… Pitt wrestling had a busy past few days, competing in the Cornell Body Bar Invitational in Ithaca, N.Y., on Saturday after defeating Bloomsburg 18-16 in a tight match on Thursday.

The No. 19-ranked Panthers fell behind the Huskies 7-0 before mounting a comeback in Thursday’s match, sparked by huge efforts by the All-American Keith Gavin and heavyweight Zach Sheaffer.

Gavin pinned Bloomsburg’s Nate Graham in the third period of their battle to pull Pitt to within one at 13-12.

The six points earned by Gavin’s pin were crucial for the later bouts, which saw the victory sealed by Sheaffer.

Sheaffer wrestled No. 6-ranked Mike Spaid to a draw after the conclusion of three periods, the win necessary with Pitt down 15-16.

Sheaffer registered a point with an escape in the overtime and no other points were recorded, giving the Panthers the win.

The other two Pitt All-Americans split their bouts.

No. 11-ranked Drew Headlee put Pitt on the board in the 141-pound weight class by defeating George Hickman 5-2.

Both of Pitt’s first two wrestlers fell to Huskies before Headlee cut the deficit to 7-3.

Shortly afterwards, No. 4-ranked Matt Kocher lost his 157-pound battle to Bloomsburg’s nationally ranked Matt Moley.

The 15th-ranked Husky scored a late two-point reversal to come back and triumph 2-1.

A 165-pound loss by Pitt’s Sean Richmond put the team in trouble.

He lost 13-6 with only four wrestlers left.

But Gavin’s pin paid dividends.

Pitt’s David Sullivan took an early 2-0 lead over Bloomsburg’s Jesse Hasseman in the 184-pound match.

The No. 19-ranked Sullivan withstood Hasseman’s comeback attempt and gave Pitt its first lead of the day at 15-13.

But A.J. Hunte lost the 197-pound bout 7-3, giving Bloomsburg the 16-15 advantage with only the heavyweight scuffle to go.

Sheaffer worked his magic to capture Pitt’s victory and up its record to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the EWL.

“This is a huge win for us,” Coach Rande Stottlemyer told PittsburghPanthers.com. “Our guys really battled until the final bout tonight. It’s just a great way to start our conference schedule.”

Gavin has no time to rest. Immediately after the Invitational, he flew to Oregon to compete in tonight’s NWCA All-Star Classic.

Gavin will square off against the No. 2-rated 174-pound wrestler in the nation, Navy’s Matt Stolpinski.

However, Gavin did not compete in the Cornell Invitational, instead waiting for Monday’s showdown.

Jake Pellitier wrestled in place of Gavin.

But most of the other Panthers participated in Saturday’s tournament, with another notable exception being the nationally ranked Kocher in the 157-pound class.

Pitt placed seventh overall in the weekend competition with a total of 66 points.

Host Cornell won the event, with Wisconsin following close behind in second.

The two best Pitt finishes came from the extremes.

Brad Gentzle finished third in the 125-pound category and the heavyweight Sheaffer also placed third.

The only Pitt All-American to compete in the tournament, Drew Headlee, lost out on third place by falling to Army’s Matt Kyler. Headlee finished fourth in the 141-pound class.

Two Panthers placed in the 149-pound class.

Joey Ecklof held on for fourth place while normal backup Joe Ciampoli finished right behind his teammate for fifth.

Another Pitt wrestler didn’t place until the 184-pound Sullivan finished sixth after losing to Kent State’s Eric Chine.

The 125-pound Gentzle lost to eventual champion Collin Cudd of Wisconsin in the semifinals, but rebounded to top Kent State’s Nic Bedlyon for third.

Sheaffer also lost to a future champion in Cornell’s Zach Hammond in the heavyweight semifinals.

He beat Kyle Massey of Wisconsin 5-3 to capture third place.

Besides Gavin, the Panthers are off until the Las Vegas Invitational, which takes place Nov. 30 to Dec. 1 in Nevada.