Wrestling unable to hold on in final dual meet

Pitt’s dual meet season came to an end on Thursday night, although perhaps not the way the… Pitt’s dual meet season came to an end on Thursday night, although perhaps not the way the Panthers would have wanted it. The Panthers started off strong and could have won several later matches, but nothing seemed to go their way.

The Scots of Edinboro — who are undefeated in the Eastern Wrestling League — came into the Fitzgerald Field House and stole a win from the Panthers, 21-13. The loss dropped Pitt’s record to 8-6 overall and 5-2 in the EWL, while Edinboro improved to 9-4 and 6-0.

Pitt’s Drew Headlee got things going with a 9-0 major decision in the first match. The major decision gave Pitt the early 4-0 lead against the favored Scots.

“He stirs the soup and creates momentum,” said head coach Rande Stottlemyer. “He does a great job of it, and he has been sick recently, too.”

Jacob Gray of Edinboro recorded a major decision for the Scots in the very next match at 133 pounds over Pitt’s Mike Ciotti. Gray used a combination of four takedowns on his way to a 10-2 victory.

At 141 pounds, Pitt’s Ronald Tarquinio recorded a takedown just as time expired in the first period. Tarquinio used two more takedowns before the match was over to earn an 8-2 decision over Edinboro’s Ron Doppelheuer.

“He had great focus and deserved to win. He wrestled a good kid, too,” Stottlemyer said.

The next match, at 149 pounds, was a tough one to swallow for Pitt. Freshman Matt Kocher recorded a takedown and two near-fall points to take a 4-0 lead into the third period over the Scots’ Deonte Penn.

Kocher kept Penn contained just about all period and looked as if he was headed for victory, until Penn reversed Kocher for two points and earned three near-fall points as time expired. Penn walked away victorious 5-4, with all his points coming in the last 13 seconds of the match.

“It was a great match and definitely not a lack of effort on Matt’s part. A little of inexperience may have come in,” Stottlemyer said. “He was upset because he knew it was a big match.”

It looked to be a momentum killer for Pitt, but not in the eyes of Justin Nestor. Nestor took charge for Pitt by defeating Edinboro’s Eric Ring 3-0 in the 157-pound match up and gave Pitt a 10-7 lead.

In the 165-pound match, Pitt’s Zach Doll was taken down five times as he suffered a major decision loss to the Scots’ Matt King. King owned a 33-2 record coming into the match and was ranked No. 3 in his weight class.

“King’s a good guy. He’s pretty tough,” Stottlemyer said.

Edinboro’s 174-pound wrestler Nate Yetzer — ranked No. 8 and 29-3 on the year — earned the Scots a second straight major decision. Yetzer recorded an 11-3 victory over Pitt’s Francis Iorfido to give Edinboro the 15-10 advantage.

“Francis just wrestled on the edge a bit and things just didn’t seem to fall his way,” Stottlemyer said. “He could have won that match.”

Pitt’s Mike Croyle fell to Alex Clemsen, 5-1, at 184 pounds for Edinboro’s third straight win. Clemsen — ranked No. 18 and 19-2 on the year — scored a first-period takedown and an escape point in the second to lead 3-0 at the end of the period. Croyle escaped to start the third period, but Clemsen added a second takedown near the end of the period.

Edinboro’s Mike LaBella lost to Pitt’s Josh Birt at 197 pounds to end the Scots’ winning streak. Birt used two takedowns to count for four of his six points in his 6-1 victory to narrow Edinboro’s lead to 18-13.

The Panthers needed a pin in the heavyweight bout to give them the win, but Travis Shirley fell short in a 7-2 loss to Joe Hennis. Hennis was able to counter Shirley’s first attempt for a takedown and added two more takedowns and an escape point for the win to give Edinboro the 21-13 overall victory.

Pitt’s wrestlers will now head to the EWL Championships the weekend of March 6 and 7 at Bloomsburg, Pa. Any wrestler who places in the top three in his weight class will earn a trip to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis. Wrestlers who don’t finish in the top three still have hope for a NCAA Championship bid thanks to a number of wild-card berths that are handed out.