Panthers finish third in EWL finals

Pitt recently produced an Eastern Wrestling League champion for the first time in three… Pitt recently produced an Eastern Wrestling League champion for the first time in three seasons. Actually, two Pitt wrestlers nailed down titles a weekend ago in Bloomsburg, Pa., at the EWL championships.

Ronald Tarquinio was able to defeat West Virginia’s Joe Clarke, 6-4, in the final bout of the 141-pound weight class. The win gives Tarquinio his first EWL title and his second bid to the NCAA championships in two years.

At 197 pounds, Pitt senior Josh Birt was able to avenge an earlier loss to Matt Daddino of West Virginia with a 6-1 decision in the finals. Birt’s decision over Daddino gives him his first title and first appearance in the nationals.

In addition to the two champions, Head Coach Rande Stottlemyer will send four more of his wrestlers that finished in the top three of the their weight class.

Pitt freshman Matt Kocher was on the wrong side of a 6-5 decision to Edinboro’s Deonte Penn in the 149-pound bout. Francis Iorfido finished second in the 174-weight class when he lost, 7-4, to Nate Yetzer of Edinboro.

Among the third-place qualifiers were Pitt’s Zach Doll and Justin Nestor. Doll pinned Jason Gilligan of Lock Haven at the 2:50 mark for his second fall of the tournament and his third automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

Nestor will be going for the second consecutive year after defeating Josh Loew of Bloomsburg, 12-0, in the consolation semifinals and then topping Jason Effner of Cleveland State 3-0 for the second time in the tournament in the third-place bout.

Pitt’s Drew Headlee, who was favored to win the 125-pound bracket, was forced to forfeit his final matches when he failed to make weight for the final day of the tournament. The forfeit set him back to a sixth-place finish in the tournament.

Sophomore Mike Ciotti placed fifth, moving up one spot from his finish last season. Ciotti lost his first match of the day, a 7-3 decision to Seth Lisa of West Virginia in the consolation semifinals, but came back to defeat Dave Predko of Lock Haven by a score of 6-1 to win the fifth-place match.

Pitt’s senior heavyweight wrestler Travis Shirley finished his college career with a fifth-place finish. Shirley lost a tough 6-4 decision to Ryan Chulada of Bloomsburg in the consolation semifinals, but rebounded with a 9-0 major decision over Steve Itterly of Lock Haven in the fifth-place bout.

Pitt almost pulled out the overall team championship as well. They finished in third with a total of 97.5 points, just slightly behind West Virginia and Edinboro, who tied for first with 99.5 points.

Tarquinio, Birt, Kocher, Iorfido, Doll and Nestor will now head to St. Louis, Mo., this weekend to compete in the NCAA wrestling championships.