Pitt tops No. 23 Vikings

The Pitt wrestling team secured a 23-17 victory last night at home over the Cleveland State… The Pitt wrestling team secured a 23-17 victory last night at home over the Cleveland State Vikings with the help of two big pins from Carl Fronhofer and Jordan Sianni.

“If you point out the two pins we had tonight; those were big,” head coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “When you get pins it makes a big difference.”

The match began at the 157-pound weight class with a 11-3 major decision by Pitt’s Justin Nestor over Cleveland State’s Chris Kallai. Nestor drew first blood as he scored the first takedown. Kallai escaped, but Nestor was able to counter and take Kallai down again.

The second period was quiet as Nestor scored the only points of the period with a reversal. In the third period, Nestor went for the major decision as he allowed Kallai to escape twice and Nestor executed two single leg takedowns to secure the major decision.

The Panthers’ Francis Iorfido defeated the Vikings’ Jason Effner in his first career match. No points were scored in the first period as both wrestlers struggled to gain the upper hand throughout the period. Effner scored a reversal with 39 seconds left in the second period, but Iorfido countered with a reversal of his own with eight seconds left.

The bout was tied at two going into the third period. Iorfido broke the tie with a reversal giving him the victory.

“The most significant [victory] was Iorfido,” Stottlemyer said. “It was his first match of the season.”

Fronhofer secured a quick pin over Cleveland State’s Matt Klinger in the first period at 174 pounds. He drove Klinger to the mat for the takedown, but Klinger popped back up to his feet and again Fronhofer drove Klinger to the mat. This time Klinger was taken to his back for the pin.

Going into the 184-pound match, Pitt was ahead 13-0. The Vikings attempted a comeback as Cleveland State’s Gerald Harris proved to be stronger in his 6-3 victory over the Panthers’ Mike Croyle.

In the 197 bout, the Vikings’ Stipe Miocic defeated junior transfer Joshua Birt 7-4. Through the first two periods the match was close before Miocic pulled away in the third period.

Cleveland State’s Russ Davie won by a 9-1 major decision over the Panthers’ Robert Kail. Kail fell behind early as Davie hit a five-point move by taking Kail down to his back in the first period.

Pitt (5-3 overall, 1-1 EWL) was quickly losing its lead as the Vikings (7-5, 1-1) cut the score to 13-10 before Sianni got the Panthers back in the win column at 125 pounds. Sianni forcefully took the Vikings’ Wayne Wentz to his back from the neutral position for another quick first period fall for the Panthers.

“He’s [Sianni] done a great job. He has tended to bounce his weight, which I think hurts him, but he is a tough kid,” Stottlemyer said.

Mike Ciotti avoided a technical fall against Rocco Mansueto. Mansueto ran a takedown clinic in the first period as he took Ciotti down five times, which made the score 10-4 at the end of the first period. It was the same story in the second period as Mansueto scored seven points in the second period.

Mansueto attempted to clinch the technical fall by turning Ciotti to his back, but was unable to do so, making the final score 20-6 by a major decision.

Going into Ronald Tarquinio’s match at 141 pounds vs. the Vikings’ Paul Theodore, the Panthers led 19-14. Tarquinio took an early lead with a takedown, but Theodore escaped and proceeded to take Tarquinio down, giving Theodore a 3-2 lead.

From the second period on, it was all Tarquinio, as he was able to execute a total of five takedowns, two escapes and a reversal in his 14-6 major decision over Theodore.

“He did a really nice job getting three take downs towards the end [of the match],” Stottlemyer said. “He really put the heat on and is a real competitor.”

With the match in hand, senior Justin Giovinco wrestled in what was the most suspenseful match of the night. Giovinco and Cleveland’s State’s Anthony Coleman went into sudden death overtime, which is 30 seconds long. Coleman was able to escape from the bottom position for the victory, which made the final team score 23-17.

“That was the No. 23 team in the country and I thought we wrestled well,” Stottlemyer said, “Even the guys that lost wrestled hard.”

The Panthers are next in action vs. Virginia Tech Jan. 25 at 3:30 p.m.