Pitt wins Beast of the East title

The Pitt wrestling team participated in two tournaments over the winter break and had polar… The Pitt wrestling team participated in two tournaments over the winter break and had polar opposite results.

Pitt (2-1) placed first out of 20 teams competing in the Beast of the East Tournament with 126.5 points, while the Panthers scored only 14.5 points in the annual Midland Open, finishing tied for 30th.

The Beast of the East Tournament was held on Dec. 19 in Newark, Del. Pitt had eight players finish in the top four in their weight classes in the tournament, including two players placing first in their weight class.

Senior Josh Birt won all four of his matches to take first in his class. His four wins improved his season record to 10-2.

Also placing first in his weight class was junior Zachariah Doll. He remained undefeated for the season, with five wins in the 165-pound weight class, including a win over the No. 1 seed from Northwestern, Matt Delguyd.

“It was a pretty good team effort by everyone,” head coach Rande Stottlemyer said.

Sophomores Justin Nestor and Francis Iorfido both finished fourth in their respective weight classes. Nestor went 5-1 and Iorfido went 4-1 in the tournament.

Freshmen Keith Gavin and Matt Kocher also finished in fourth place. Kocher went 5-2 with wins over the No. 2 and No. 5 seeds. Gavin lost his first match of the tournament, but went on to win six straight.

Senior Travis Shirley went 4-2 and won his quarterfinal match over Ryan Adams of North Carolina to finish in fourth place.

The Annual Midlands Open on the campus of Northwestern on Dec. 29 and 30 was a different story for the Panthers. Many of the wrestlers had not seen a mat in eight days, and that made it tough for the Panthers in what is considered a tough tournament.

Nestor led the Panthers in the tournament with four victories in six matches, including two falls. With that, he improved his season record to 19-8.

Doll was the only Panther to qualify for second-day competition. He fell 6-1 to Matt Ellis of Oregon State.

“He lost a match he shouldn’t have. He’s still battling back,” Stottlemyer said of Doll, who is recovering from shoulder and medial collateral ligament injuries. “I think he’s making very good progress. He’ll fight you till the end.”

Birt was a No. 10 seed and lost his first-round bout, but came back to win his next two matches against Tony Lyssiotis of Eastern Michigan and Marcus Schontube of Penn, the No. 9 seed, with the scores 4-0 and 4-3, respectively. He would later lose 8-4 to Joel Edwards of Penn State.

The Panthers are back on the mats Friday at 7:30 against Penn State at the Petersen Events Center.