Trio of juniors lead Panthers over Air Force

While it may have been Youth Day at the Fitzgerald Field House after Saturday’s duel meet,… While it may have been Youth Day at the Fitzgerald Field House after Saturday’s duel meet, it was three junior Panthers that kept the fans cheering during the match.

After disposing of the Air Force Academy Falcons (2-5, 0-0 WW), the Pitt wrestling team signed autographs for the numerous young fans in attendance. The Panthers (5-3, 1-0 Eastern Wrestling League) were led by juniors Drew Headlee, Matt Kocher and Keith Gavin on the way to a 28-9 victory.

“They are the core of the team. They’re great off-the-field leaders, as well as on-the-mat leaders,” Pitt head coach Rande Stottlemyer said of the three juniors.

“In any sport, if you want to be good, you have to do it 365 [days a year], and they’ve certainly done just that. They’re wrestling all the time. It’s not just competitive season now, and that’s why they are where they’re at.”

Starting off the afternoon for the Panthers was sophomore Brad Gentzle at 125 pounds. He scored two points with a takedown just before the first period ended, but Zach Valvez would tie the score in the third period, sending the bout into overtime. Gentzle wasted no time and won the match by a score of 4-2 thanks to a takedown.

The 133-pound match saw the first of two rematches on the afternoon, when No. 13 Headlee took on Steve Makuka, who Headlee defeated 14-3 at the Las Vegas Invitational.

Headlee came out strong, earning 13 points in the first period while holding his opponent scoreless. A takedown in the second period gave Headlee a 15-0 win via technical fall.

The second rematch of the day was the next match, as sophomore Joe Ciampoli tried to avenge his loss to Jake Kriegbaum earlier in the year. The junior from Air Force once again bested Ciampoli, winning the match 5-2 and bringing the overall score on the day to 8-3 in favor of Pitt.

The Falcons scored three more points after Bridger Lord defeated Pitt freshman Mark Generalovich by way of a 6-0 decision.

With Air Force creeping closer to Pitt, No. 13 Kocher tried to fend off Bridger Lord’s brother, Zachary. After a takedown and a near fall, Kocher took a 4-1 lead after the first period. He would command the rest of the match and earn four more points for the Panthers with a 12-3 major decision. Kocher is now 4-0 in dual matches on the year.

At 165 pounds, sophomore Sean Richmond faced off against Duane Miller. Leading 4-2 at the first period, Richmond was forced to stop the match for a minute in the second period after suffering an injury. Richmond would finish the match strong, earning 11 points in the final period for a 19-8 major decision. Pitt was now leading 16-6 overall.

“Sean wrestled very well. He did a good job today,” Stottlemyer added.

Next up was No. 3-ranked Gavin, who led the Panthers with six dual meet wins this season. The 174-pound match saw the Pitt junior take a 12-0 lead after the first period and win in the second on a technical fall. Gavin’s 17-2 major decision gave the Panthers a 21-6 lead.

The Falcons earned their last three points on the day in the 184-pound match, when Jacob Delvin earned a 3-1 decision over Pitt senior Mike Heist.

At 197 pounds, Pitt’s Eric Cassidy dominated his match against Jordan Tribble. The junior would score two points in the first period with a takedown. Then a reversal and three back points would give him a 7-0 lead heading into the third period. He finished with five more points and a 12-0 major decision.

For the final match, the Panthers didn’t let up as their team leader in wins, Zach Sheaffer, faced off against Anthony Stegeman in the heavyweight match. With the score 2-1 in favor of Sheaffer heading into the final period, Sheaffer scored an early escape and a takedown, eventually winning 6-2, giving the Panthers a 28-9 victory.

Pitt has little time to celebrate the win, as it has a conference match on Wednesday against Cleveland State. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be at the Fitzgerald Field House.

“I thought we wrestled pretty hard today,” Stottlemyer said.

“We certainly can do better, and we’ll have to do better if we want to win a conference championship. We are going to have to wrestle better than we did today, but we’re getting there.”