Four Pitt wrestlers qualify for NCAA championships

For the first time since 2004, the Pitt wrestling squad ended the Eastern Wrestling League… For the first time since 2004, the Pitt wrestling squad ended the Eastern Wrestling League Championships with two individual champions. Like the years in between, the Panthers got off to a tough start and finished in fourth place in the event held last week in Cleveland, Ohio.

Drew Headlee took home the 133-pound title and Keith Gavin won the 174-pound class, giving the Panthers victories in half of their bouts in the finals. Matt Kocher and Sean Richmond both made it to the final day, but bowed out in the championship round.

Behind the strength of Headlee and Gavin, Pitt totaled 95.50 points. Edinboro (113), which routed Pitt 37-3 to close out the regular season, took home the title, while West Virginia (104.50) and Lock Haven (98) rounded out the top four.

Pitt edged Bloomsburg by one point and distanced itself considerably from sixth-place Cleveland State (77.50) and bottom-feeder Clarion (35).

The Panthers will send the four finalists as automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in Detroit, Mich., beginning March 15. Headlee and Garvin punched their tickets to the NCAAs with wins, and Richmond and Kocher earned invites through second-place finishes.

Headlee had already beaten his finals foe, West Virginia’s Mark Anderson, 4-2 in Pitt’s dual meet with the Mountaineers that weekend, but the two tangled again for the individual crown.

Neither wrestler scored a point in the first period. Headlee, a redshirt junior, scored first on an escape and takedown in the following period, ultimately getting a pin at the 4:18 mark. His win made him the 26th Panther in school history to win an EWL title.

Gavin, who finished EWL play unbeaten in league duals at 6-0 this season, coasted to his championship. He easily disposed of West Virginia’s Kurt Brennan, an opponent he topped 9-4 with some late moves in their earlier battle this season.

Gavin took an early lead on a takedown. After Brennan escaped to cut the lead in half, Gavin distanced himself with another takedown and escape for a 5-1 lead.

His lead was never seriously threatened as he joined Headlee in the winner’s circle, qualifying for the NCAAs for the second time in his career.

Kocher sought to become the program’s only three-time NCAA qualifier. At 157 pounds, the senior met Lock Haven’s Seth Martin on the mat, a foe with whom he split his two regular season matches.

Kocher fell behind 2-0 early on a takedown, but he rallied with an escape that cut the lead in half. Martin upped his edge to 5-1 with another takedown and an escape in the next period.

Kocher trimmed the lead to 5-3 with a takedown only to see Martin’s lead extend to 6-3 courtesy of another escape. Martin would eventually build an insurmountable 9-3 lead that left Kocher without a title.

Kocher will still advance to the national tournament by way of his second-place finish.

Richmond will make his first appearance in the NCAA Championships. Richmond bowed out to Edinboro’s Deonte Penn in the finals.

Unfamiliar with Penn, Richmond fell behind 2-0 early on a takedown. He pinned Richmond before the first period ended with a fall at the 2:44 mark, giving Penn the individual title.

Pitt sent six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships last year. The Panthers also earned a team wild card berth last season. No Pitt wrestler earned such a distinction this season.