Headlee ends season an All-American

In a matchup of ranked wrestlers earlier this season, Matt Ciasulli of Lehigh defeated Pitt’s… In a matchup of ranked wrestlers earlier this season, Matt Ciasulli of Lehigh defeated Pitt’s sophomore 133-pound wrestler Drew Headlee 10-0.

In addition to the loss, Headlee also suffered a shoulder injury during the match, which forced him to sit out of action for nearly a month.

A roadblock in the season like this doesn’t seem fit for an All-American wrestler, but it’s just what Headlee fought through in order to earn his first All-American honor, finishing in eighth place last weekend at the NCAAs held in St. Louis, Mo.

“Obviously it took a little out of Drew to get back,” Pitt head coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “The season and tournament are meat grinders, and now Drew knows that. He did a great job.”

As a team, Pitt finished 29th in the standings with 18 points — behind two Eastern Wrestling League teams, and West Virginia and Edinboro, which finished 18th and 28th respectively. Oklahoma State finished first with a team score of 153 points.

Headlee began by defeating Rider’s Tim Harner in the first nationals match of his career. His 6-1 victory pushed him into the second round where he met up with the No. 4-seed Mark Jayne of Illinois.

Headlee then upset Jayne 14-11, advancing to the quarterfinals with a shot to secure a spot in the final eight.

“The tournament is getting so tough it’s unbelievable,” Stottlemyer said. “Defending champs aren’t winning and nine unseeded wrestlers placed, including Drew. That just shows the level of competition nowadays.”

Tom Clum notched a win over Headlee, though, in the quarterfinals, knocking him down to the consolation bracket where he recorded his final victory of the evening — a 6-5 win over Derek Moore of UC-Davis — to claim an All-American spot.

“To lose and to be able to come back and win in the consolation bracket really says a lot,” Stottlemyer said. “Especially when you need to beat someone that you’ve lost to before.”

Ron Tarquinio, a 141-pounder, succeeded in his first match over Northern Illinois’ Josh Wooton, but couldn’t manage a victory over Frank Edgar in the second round. Edgar, of Clarion, defeated Tarquinio a couple weeks ago for the EWL title.

Tarquinio eventually lost again in the consolation bracket 9-2 to Ryan Lang of Northwestern. The loss ended Tarquinio’s season with a 26-8 record.

Unseeded junior Justin Nestor finished among the top 12 in the 165-pound weight class. An 11-0 loss to Tyron Woodley of Missouri finished Nestor’s season just one win shy of All-American status in his third trip to the nationals.

Other Panther wrestlers who appeared at the nationals and fell short of placing were 157-pounder Matt Kocher, Keith Gavin at 184 pounds and heavyweight Zach Sheaffer.

“Sheaffer struggled with a pretty good guy, and he’ll learn from this experience,” Stottlemyer said. “Some other guys drew some tough draws in the bracket, but they will all be back next year.”

Next year begins now for Pitt as the national tournament marked the end of the season for the Panthers. Pitt will return eight NCAA qualifiers to next year’s squad, including transfer Jeff Ecklof who was a redshirt this season.

“There’s a lot of hope and optimism for next year,” Stottlemyer said. “But we are never satisfied. We want to do things right and always win, but I’m really proud of their effort and how they carried themselves at the tournament.”