Panthers pin two local foes

After a 30-3 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Thursday, the Pitt wrestling team picked up… After a 30-3 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Thursday, the Pitt wrestling team picked up its first two dual-meet wins of the season against local rivals Slippery Rock and Duquesne.

The Panthers (2-3 overall, 0-1 Eastern Wrestling League) hosted the tri-meet in the Fitzgerald Field House, sweeping both of their matches over the competing schools – a 28-9 win over The Rock and a 31-6 victory against the Dukes.

“We wrestled harder,” head coach Rande Stottlemyer said, “and we’re getting better. They performed well, and we made some progress.”

Freshman 125-pounder, Brad Gentzle won all three of his matches, including an 11-5 victory over Nathan Costello of Ohio State for Pitt’s only three points. Costello had pinned Gentzle earlier this season at the Las Vegas Invitationals.

Against Slippery Rock and Duquesne, Gentzle picked up a forfeit win with the Dukes while defeating The Rock’s Chris Clarke, 10-4, to improve his overall record to 5-8 on the season.

Fellow freshman Joey Ecklof had an even more successful day of his own in the 149-pound weight class by pinning both of his opponents.

Ecklof registered two takedown points before pinning Slippery Rock’s Shawn Baglio at the 1:42 mark in his first match. He then notched two takedowns in his second match with Duquesne’s Brandon Baldini before pinning him at the 2:37 mark.

Ecklof now has three pins in his first season as a Panther and currently holds a 12-7 overall record.

“We have a lot of young guys and I think they grew a little today,” Stottlemyer said of the performances.

Sophomore Lou Thomas improved his dual meet record to 4-1 – the best Pitt record – with two wins during the tri-meet. He shut out Duquesne’s Joe D’Orsie, 9-0, and defeated Matt Burkholder of Slippery Rock 6-2.

The 197-pounder Mike Heist wrestled into overtime before also picking up two wins. A takedown gave him the win over The Rock’s Andrew Joseph, while three near-fall points capped a 4-1 win against Tim Frank.

Pitt’s Mike Ciotti gained an early 9-1 lead in the first period against Sal Lascari with takedowns and two near falls before finishing the match for a 12-4 major decision.

In his second win of the day, he got off to another quick start, scoring three points on Duquesne’s Keith Pavlekovsky en route to a 4-2 victory.

Sean Richmond and Justin Nestor, 157- and 165-pounders, each picked up two wins, pushing their dual meet records to 2-3 and 3-2, respectively.

Richmond held Gerald Christian to just one escape point in a 2-1 victory against Slippery Rock and used two takedowns in the third period for a 7-3 decision over Rob Dempsey of Duquesne.

Nestor shut out both of his opponents with a combined score of 7-0, upping his career win total to 107. He racked up both points in a 2-0 win against Slippery Rock in the third period, while tallying three of his five points again in the third for a 5-0 victory over Duquesne.

Joe Ciampoli and Nick Padezan each finished the tri-meet winning one of their two matches.

The first dual-meet wins came just two days after Pitt suffered its 30-3 loss at Ohio State, and Stottlemyer made note of his team needing to improve in all areas of its wrestling.

“Our effort needs to be better,” Stottlemyer said after the loss to the Buckeyes. “We need to work on being more consistent.

“We’re capable of a lot more.”

The Panthers resume action when they travel to Bethlehem, Pa., Friday for a matchup with Lehigh. The match is scheduled to broadcast on Fox College Sports Atlantic with a 7 p.m. start time.