Wrestling needs final match to defeat Clarion

With heavy hearts, the Pitt wrestling team traveled to Clarion, Pa., and escaped with a 23-16… With heavy hearts, the Pitt wrestling team traveled to Clarion, Pa., and escaped with a 23-16 win over the Golden Eagles – thanks to a last second pin in the final match Tuesday evening from freshman Jordan Sianni.

“I think we epitomized a lot of what David Sandberg stood for,” head coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “I think David would have been proud.”

The team is currently mourning the loss of its former coach and teammate. Sandberg died last week of a bacterial blood infection.

“We’re sitting on the bench crying then we’re laughing. We just had a whole gammon of emotions,” Stottlemyer said. “It was particularly hard for two of our seniors: Justin Giovinco and Carl Fronhofer. Assistant coaches Sanshiro Abe and Jason Peters also have been there for the guys.”

Sianni held just a 6-5 lead over Clarion’s Matt Doerfler after he was able to score a reversal after being taken down by Doerfler. With just 16 seconds left in the match, Sianni was able to get the pin. With the victory, Sianni improved to 23-4 on the season.

“[Sianni] is just a gamer. That is the match that won it for us.” Stottlemyer said.

The meet began at 133 pounds where the Panthers’ Mike Ciotti dropped a 13-6 major decision to the Golden Eagles’ Rad Martinez. The 141-pound weight class followed with Clarion also being victorious as Panthers’ red shirt freshman Ronald Tarquinio lost his first match in dual meet action this season. Tarquinio lost to Clarion’s Frank Edgar, 10-6.

After two matches the Panthers (7-3 Overall, 3-1 EWL) were in a 7-0 hole, but this wouldn’t discourage Pitt as it went on to win the next five matches. Giovinco collected his 19th victory of the season as he defeated Jim Perry, 6-1, at 149 pounds.

At 157 pounds, Justin Nestor brought the Panthers within one point of the Golden Eagles as he had a 3-1 decision over Jeremy Reitz. Nestor’s victory makes him 18-10 for the year.

Freshman Francis Iorfido collected his third consecutive dual meet victory, making him 12-6 overall, with a 9-5 decision over Chris Horning at 165 pounds – giving Pitt its first lead of the night at 9-7. Fronhofer followed Iorfido’s win with a dominant technical fall over Clarion’s Dave Gardener to earn his 15th victory off the season.

“Carl helped us get extra bonus points so we would only have to win the last match,” Stottlemyer said. “The previous two matches were a toss up and Clarion probably had them marked as wins for them. Nestor and Iorfido did a great job.”

Mike Croyle finished Pitt’s run by defeating the Golden Eagle’s Eric Spence 4-0, which gave him his eighth win of the year.

Clarion (8-5, 1-3) earned a forfeit at the 197-pound weight class, as Pitt’s Josh Birt could not wrestle because of injury. The Golden Eagles completed their nine-point swing with a 13-9 decision by nationally ranked John Testa over Pitt’s Robert Kail. This made the score 17-16 going into the final match of the night, which resulted in Sianni’s fifth pin of the season.

The team announces that there will be a David Sandberg Memorial Award given to the most outstanding senior. The award will be given yearly and any athlete is eligible.

“The person that receives this award should be very proud.” Stottlemyer said.

The Panthers are next in action Feb. 8 at Lock Haven at 7:30 p.m.

“That’s six in a row for us, so we’re on a pretty good streak,” Stottlemyer said. “We can be pretty dangerous.”