Depleted Panthers drop season opener, 17-16

Just as last season ended in the heavyweight match for the Pitt wrestling team, so did its… Just as last season ended in the heavyweight match for the Pitt wrestling team, so did its season opener against Bloomsburg Tuesday night.

Without sophomore heavyweight Zach Sheaffer, the Panthers sent Mike Heist to take on Mike Spaid, but he failed to score a single point, losing 2-0 to Spaid as Bloomsburg walked away with a one-point victory, 17-16.

“It’s very disappointing,” Pitt coach Rande Stottlemyer said on PittsburghPanthers.com. “We had our chances to win, and we didn’t take them.”

The match began each team’s season and was Eastern Wrestling League opener. Both teams also wrestled without a few of their starters because of injuries.

“I thought they had a big-time advantage at a couple weights, but we had some guys come up big for us,” Bloomsburg coach John Stutzman said on Bloomu.edu. “I knew we were right there with them, but I didn’t know how close it would be.”

The Panthers picked up a 6-5 advantage after winning two of the first three matches.

Mike Ciotti defeated Ricky Donald, 7-2, at 133 pounds, using four back points to build a lead. Senior Ron Tarquinio picked up a 2-1 victory after totaling 1:33 of riding time in the third period for his second point.

The teams exchanged back-to-back wins in the next four matches, putting Pitt up 13-11 over the Huskies.

Bloomsburg’s George Hickman recorded a takedown in overtime with four seconds left to top Pitt true freshman Joey Ecklof. Ecklof used an escape point to send the match into overtime, but fell 7-5 in his first match as a Panther.

After redshirt freshman Sean Richmond suffered a one-point loss at 157 pounds, Pitt’s Justin Nestor and Francis Iorfido notched consecutive victories.

The 16th-ranked Nestor registered a 10-2 major decision win against Jason Crawford, who wrestled in place of injured Jim Bertulis. A riding time point in the third period provided Nestor with the eight-point lead needed for the major.

“Without Jim, Jason Crawford went in there and wrestled gutsy, not giving up a pin or technical fall, and Ricky Donald didn’t give up any bonus points,” Stutzman said.

Iorfido used a first-period takedown for his only two points in a 2-1 victory against Frank Beasley. Iorfido kept Beasley from scoring in the offensive position during the third period and gave up the lone point on riding time.

Nate Shirk responded for the Huskies with the team’s second overtime win. He tallied three points for Bloomsburg with a 4-2 win over Kyle Deliere.

“Nate Shirk and George Hickman got us two big overtime wins and wrestled really gutsy at those spots,” Stutzman said.

Pitt reclaimed its two-point lead before the heavyweight bout after Lou Thomas picked up a 5-2 win on a late takedown at 197 pounds.

But Spaid’s victory gave Bloomsburg the three points needed for the opening victory.

“It was a disappointing match,” Tarquinio said on PittsburghPanthers.com. “We went out there with a young team and made some mistakes. [Before the Missouri meet] we’ll get a couple of tournaments in and see the competition that’s out there.”

Pitt returns to the mat tomorrow when the Panthers take part in the Body Bar Invitational in Ithaca, N.Y.