Wrestling bests Cleveland State, falls to Rider

Despite two unexpected losses suffered by its No. 5-ranked, 141-pound wrestler Ron Tarquinio,… Despite two unexpected losses suffered by its No. 5-ranked, 141-pound wrestler Ron Tarquinio, the Pitt wrestling team was able to win one of its last two matches, continuing its up-and-down season.

The Panthers defeated Cleveland State 24-17 Thursday to remain undefeated in Eastern Wrestling League action, but they dropped their overall record to 6-5 when Rider escaped with a 25-21 victory during the first “Beauty and the Beast” event held at the Fitzgerald Field House Saturday.

“Cleveland State is a tough team, and it’s nice to pick up the EWL win, but I felt we let one slip away against Rider,” head coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “It’s frustrating for everybody when you do that.”

Pitt 24, Cleveland State 17

Mike Ciotti recorded Pitt’s first victory of the match with a pin at 133 pounds, while the Panthers inserted freshman Geoff Moy into the 141-pound slot to pick up a forfeit win.

Moving Moy up to accept the forfeit allowed Tarquinio to bump up to the 149-pound weight class. The move, however, didn’t work in Pitt’s favor, as Tarquinio was surprisingly beaten by Cleveland State’s Ryan Hurley, 10-9.

A late takedown by Hurly gave him a 10-7 advantage, while Tarquinio added an escape and riding time point, but it was not enough to make a comeback on Hurley.

“We obviously were real confident that he was going to win the match. That was never an issue for us,” Stottlemyer said. “He’ll just have to use this as a stepping stone for his next few matches.”

The next three matches fell into Pitt’s favor when Justin Nestor pinned his opponent at 5 minutes, 39 seconds in between two decisions by Matt Kocher and Zach Doll.

The 24-7 lead provided Pitt a big enough cushion to hold onto a victory, despite losing the final three matches.

“To be successful you’ve got to be aggressive,” Stottlemyer said. “However, sometimes that hurt us today, but we won’t stop because that is our game plan.”

Rider 25, Pitt 21

A 16-0 deficit from the start, including another defeat of Tarquinio, placed Pitt in a hole that it was never fully able to dig its way out of.

“We had quite a few good individual efforts today, but the total effort as a team was not acceptable,” Stottlemyer said. “We’ll need to work on some things.”

Freshman Zach Bowman was pinned at 125 pounds, and Ciotti came out on the wrong side of a hard-fought 4-3 decision for a 9-0 Rider lead.

With a nine-point lead, Rider’s Don Fisch upset Tarquinio at 141 pounds, 2-1 to keep the Rider streak going. Fisch received a riding time and escape point, while Tarquinio’s only point came by way of a stall called on Fisch.

“[Tarquinio] might not be feeling well, because that’s not him out there. He is struggling,” Stottlemyer said. “If it’s a physical thing, then we need to figure it out.”

Kocher improved to 27-4 and remained unbeaten in dual meets this season after receiving a forfeit victory at 157 pounds to begin Pitt’s rally. Following Kocher’s lead, Nestor recorded a major decision while Doll won by technical fall at the 165- and 174-weight classes.

Two more losses erased any chances of a Pitt victory before freshman heavyweight Zach Sheaffer pinned Rider’s Nick Cuifo to finish the match.

Pitt resumes action Feb. 5 when they host EWL rival West Virginia at Fitzgerald Field House at 7:30 p.m. Seniors Doll and Steve Selcher will be honored beforehand for senior recognition night.

“It is all EWL from here on out,” Stottlemyer said. “Now is the time we need to get together and get down to business.”