West Virginia wrestlers hand Pitt first EWL loss

When Pitt sophomore wrestler Drew Headlee was on the brink of either a reversal or an escape… When Pitt sophomore wrestler Drew Headlee was on the brink of either a reversal or an escape with just seconds left in his match at 133 pounds Saturday, the swing of momentum hung right with him. a

The official, however, didn’t award any points to Headlee as the buzzer sounded, giving West Virginia’s Seth Lisa a 4-3 decision over Headlee in his first match back since being injured Jan. 8 against Lehigh.

“It’s tough to end a match on a controversial call. The official could have given Drew either one or two points, but he didn’t.” Pitt head coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “He probably should have given him something, though.”

The win gave No. 22 West Virginia (3-5 overall, 3-0 Eastern Wrestling League) an early 7-0 lead that it used to propel itself toward a 23-15 victory over the No. 25 Pitt Panthers (6-6, 2-1) in a clash of two undefeated EWL teams.

Ron Tarquinio provided Pitt with a little retaliation when he bounced back from two recent losses to pin the Mountaineers’ Vince Gioiella at the 4:52 mark in the match.

West Virginia answered back with two consecutive wins at 149 and 157 pounds to take a 13-6 lead over Pitt.

Mike Ciotti suffered the decision loss for Pitt at 149 pounds before two top-25 wrestlers in Pitt’s Matt Kocher and West Virginia’s Matt Lebe met up for a tight, one-point match.

Lebe took a 2-1 lead after the first period, recording a takedown on Kocher. Kocher escaped from Lebe’s grasp in the second period for the period’s only point, while Lebe did the same with an escape early in the third. Kocher was unable to score another takedown as Lebe walked away with a 3-2 decision.

“Kocher fought real hard, but that match was truly a toss-up,” Stottlemyer said. “Those are two good wrestlers, and it could have gone either way. It just didn’t come out in our favor.”

The Panthers didn’t stay down long, as Justin Nestor and Zach Doll continued their strong seasons with wins at their respective weight classes.

Nestor used five points in the final 10 seconds to record a 9-3 decision over Zac Fryling at 165 pounds, while Doll’s takedown, added with three near-fall points, helped him to a 7-1 victory in the last home match of his career.

“Doll has had a tough career with two major surgeries that would have made a lot of guys just quit and throw in the towel, but he toughed it out and had a solid career with us,” Stottlemyer said. “I give him a lot of credit for that.”

Greg Jones, the nation’s No. 1 wrestler at 184 pounds, recorded a pin over Michael Heist for West Virginia before Jared Villers shut out Pitt’s Lou Thomas for an 11-0 major decision.

The two wins for West Virginia solidified its victory with a score of 23-12 heading into the final matchup at heavyweight.

Zach Sheaffer, however, won the final match for Pitt by a final score of 5-1 — the 20th win of Sheaffer’s first season as a Panther.

“A lot of the guys fought hard today, and the overall team effort was better, but we still have a couple guys out there who just aren’t getting the job done,” Stottlemyer said.

Pitt resumes EWL action today when they travel to Clarion (3-10-1, 0-3) to battle the Golden Eagles. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

“At this level, we are at the upper echelon, and we wrestle quality opponents every time we go out on the mat. We’ve got to be committed on and off the mat,” Stottlemyer said. “Otherwise, you step out there with someone better prepared, and they’ll kick you in the hind end.”