Panthers drop a pair of matches

A young Pitt wrestling squad continues to suffer through the growing pains that are the… A young Pitt wrestling squad continues to suffer through the growing pains that are the 2005-2006 season as the Panthers dropped a pair of matches over the weekend. Pitt (2-7 overall, 0-2 Eastern Wrestling League) lost a close contest to Cleveland State before falling just short at home two days later against the Golden Flashes of Kent State.

Cleveland St. 16, Pitt 15

The Panthers suffered their second loss in as many tries to EWL opponents when Cleveland State narrowly edged Rande Stottlemyer’s team, 16-15 in Cleveland on Saturday.

The Panthers garnered points from five different wrestlers, three seniors and two freshmen. Seniors Mike Ciotti, Ron Tarquinio and Justin Nestor, along with freshmen Joey Ecklof and Nick Padezan, all won their bouts.

This marks the second year in a row Ciotti and Tarquinio have defeated their Viking opponents, David Armstrong and Mike Hurley, respectively.

Ciotti took down Armstrong at the 133-pound class by a score of 7-4, winning his sixth of eight in dual matches to lead the team. Tarquinio beat Hurley by a score of 9-4 at 141 to move his record to 14-7 on the year, giving the Panthers a 6-3 lead in the process.

It was then Ecklof came in to extend the score in Pitt’s favor to 9-3 with a 6-1 decision over CSU’s Ryan Hurley. Ecklof now owns a five dual match-winning streak as well as recognition as EWL Wrestler of the Week.

But at 157, Cleveland State came back in a big way, earning bonus points with Victer Crenshaw’s 11-3 major decision over Panther Sean Richmond to narrow the score to 9-7.

Nestor and Padezan were next for Pitt, winning their matches at 165 and 174 to re-extend the Pitt lead to 15-7.

However, Cleveland State rallied to win the next three matches, finishing with Rashard Goff’s 4-1 decision over Pitt’s Lou Thomas at the heavyweight class.

“We came back in a couple matches, Ciotti came back hard, Padezan won in overtime. It was back and forth and we could have won it,” Stottlemyer said.

“There are a lot of good things that aren’t necessarily reflected in our record,” he said.

Kent State 25, Pitt 16

Even returning home to Fitzgerald Field House Sunday wasn’t enough to lift Pitt to a victory, as the Golden Flashes of Kent State used an early heavyweight forfeit from Pitt to pull out a 25-16 win.

Once again, Ciotti, Tarquinio, Nestor and Ecklof all won matches for the Panthers, making the team 4-6 on the day. Just like the match against Cleveland State, though, their wins weren’t enough.

The Panthers started off in a deep hole early. After the heavyweight forfeit put Stottlemyer’s squad down six, freshman Brad Gentzle was pinned late, despite holding an early lead by Kent State’s Chad Sportelli to increase the Golden Flashes’ lead to 12-0.

Ciotti won a close 7-5 decision over Kent State’s Drew Opfer at 133 to improve his dual record to 7-2, the best of the Panther team.

Tarquinio then steamrolled over Kyle Chonko at 141 with a 17-0 technical fall, earning bonus points for the Panthers.

Ecklof kept the momentum going by claiming a 15-5 major decision over Kent State’s Jason Spencer at 149 pounds to tie the match at 12.

“[Ecklof] has done a great job. He always goes out and gives you 150 percent,” Stottlemyer said. “He’s got the mentality that whenever he goes out he’s going to find a way to win.”

“We’re really young, starting five freshmen,” Stottlemyer said. “They’re finally getting experience.”

After Sean Richmond lost a tough match to KSU’s Kurt Gross at 157, Nestor won a 9-0 major decision over Golden Flash Jason McGee to put the Panthers ahead for the first time in the match, 16-15.

That first time would prove to be the last, however, as the Panthers lost the final three bouts to fall to 2-7 on the season.

“The guys wrestled hard and came back, but [Kent State] has a nice team,” Stottlemyer said. “We did a lot of good things, but I don’t think we did as well as we could have.”

The Panthers will look for their first conference win when they head to Morgantown, W. Va., for the first of their final four conference matches against the Mountaineers on Friday.