Wrestling pins Clarion in blowout

After being spotted six points by a forfeit in the opening match, sophomore Drew Headlee… After being spotted six points by a forfeit in the opening match, sophomore Drew Headlee started off the night for Pitt’s wrestling team with a major decision over Clarion’s Chris Lape for a 10-point Panther lead the team never relinquished.

Pitt (7-6 overall, 3-1 Eastern Wrestling League) continued on after Headlee’s match to win the first four matches of the evening, as it advanced to a 31-6 rout of the Clarion Golden Eagles (3-11-1, 0-4) in EWL action Tuesday night.

“Everyone wrestled hard, and we got off to the quick start,” Pitt head coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “I was real pleased with everyone’s efforts.”

At 141 pounds, junior Ron Tarquinio defeated Clarion’s Frank Edgar by a score of 8-3 — his fourth straight victory over Edgar in the past two seasons.

“You can’t say enough about the job Tarquinio did by going to Clarion and defeating a top-10 wrestler in his own gym,” Stottlemyer said.

Wrestling in just his second bout at the 149-pound weight class, Mike Ciotti picked up his first win in the class as he defeated Clarion’s Bart Wylie 9-4 for a 16-0 Panther lead after the first four matches.

“Ciotti is really beginning to gain confidence up in that weight class, and every little win helps his cause,” Stottlemyer said.

Matt Kocher wrestled his second match in a row with a top wrestler in the 157-pound weight class. Against West Virginia, Kocher suffered a 3-2 loss to Matt Lebe, but this time Kocher matched up with Clarion’s Chris Horning.

The result, however, didn’t change, as Horning held on to defeat Kocher by a 3-2 score and put the Golden Eagles on the scoreboard for the first time. The two recent losses are Kocher’s first dual-meet losses of the season.

“Matt is just getting the feel of the 157-pound weight class after moving up, and he’s suffered tough losses to two of the best in that class by only one point,” Stottlemyer said. “But trust me, he’ll get it together and see these guys again down the road.”

Clarion won the next match at 165 pounds, 3-2, again when Marcus Surin narrowly beat out Pitt’s Justin Nestor for three team points.

Just as Clarion began making a push to get back in the match, the Golden Eagles had no one to wrestle Pitt’s Zach Doll at 174 pounds, awarding the Panthers a forfeit victory and six team points for a 22-6 advantage.

Michael Heist registered another victory for Pitt at 184 pounds with an 8-2 decision over Clarion’s Chris Goings. The three team points pushed the Panther lead to 19 at the time.

In the final two matches of the night at 197 pounds and heavyweight, Pitt freshmen Lou Thomas and Zach Sheaffer each recorded wins at their respective weight classes for the final 31-6 score.

Thomas recorded a 10-4 decision, while Sheaffer notched his 21st victory with an 8-2 defeat of Clarion’s John Fager.

“Sheaffer continues to wrestle real consistently,” Stottlemyer said. “He gives everything he has every time that he goes out there.”

Pitt will resume EWL action Friday at 7:30 p.m. when the Panthers travel to Lock Haven (4-6, 1-1) to wrestle the Bald Eagles.

“It is always big to get an EWL win because it’s like they count as two victories,” Stottlemyer said. “We go out to Lock Haven now, and we just got to keep rolling along.”