Wrestling drops two dual meets during the break

The Pitt wrestling team competed in the Reno Invitational during the winter break and wrestled… The Pitt wrestling team competed in the Reno Invitational during the winter break and wrestled No. 16 Iowa State and No. 8 Lehigh in dual meet action during the past week.

Reno Invitational

The Panthers traveled to Reno, Nev., and participated in the Reno Invitational on Dec. 19. Pitt finished in 12th place and posted 44.5 team points as three Panthers placed.

Freshman Jordan Sianni (125 pounds) and redshirt senior Carl Fronhofer (174 pounds) both placed fourth as they won four matches and lost two. Senior Justin Giovinco placed fifth and posted a record of 5-2 at 149-pounds.

Sianni won his first three matches of the day by a pin, major decision and injury default respectively. Ben Vombaur of Boise State was the number one seed and handed Sianni, the No. 5 seed, his first loss of the tournament in the semifinals.

Sianni went onto win his next match before losing to North Carolina’s Chris Rodrigues, 12-7, in the consolation finals for third and fourth place.

Fronhofer also won his first three matches before losing to No. 1 seed Chris Pendleton of Oklahoma State, 11-7. In the round following the loss, Fronhofer defeated Nate Yetzer of Edinboro, 8-2, before falling to Shane Webster of Oregon by a pin in the consolation finals for third and fourth place.

Giovinco had to come back from a first round loss as he dropped a close match to Fullerton State’s Joe Garcia by a score of 4-3. The next four matches were a different story, as Giovinco enjoyed two decisions, a pin and a major decision respectively.

Once again it was a Boise State wrestler that halted a Panther’s winning streak as Giovinco lost to Boise States’ Colin Robertson, 5-2. Giovinco finished strong with a 16-0 technical fall over Portland State’s Ryan Thomas.

Iowa State 25 Pitt 15

The Panthers hosted the No. 16 Iowa State Cyclones in the first wrestling match in the Petersen Events Center Jan. 4. Pitt and Iowa State went back and forth before the Cyclones pulled away.

Fronhofer started things off at 174 pounds with a 12-5 win over Iowa State’s Ken Cook, which gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead. Austen Palmer, who is ranked 18th by Amateur Wrestling News, defeated Pitt’s Mike Croyle, 3-1, to knot the score at three.

At 197 pounds, junior transfer Josh Birt wrestled in his first match as a Panther and was defeated 8-3 by Woodley Milford.

The Panthers and Cyclones then traded forfeits. Travis Shirley received a forfeit at heavyweight and, at 125 pounds. Sianni failed to make weight, giving Iowa State six points and making the score 12-9. Iowa State added to that lead with a 21-7 major decision by All-American Zach Roberson over Pitt’s Mike May at 133 pounds.

Ronald Tarquinio cut Iowa State’s lead to 16-12 with a 6-2 win over the Cyclones’ Nate Gallick, but Iowa State’s No. 1 ranked returning NCAA champion, Aaron Holker, bumped up to 149 pounds to square off against Giovinco, who is ranked 15th.

Holker defeated Giovinco, 7-2, making the score 19-12.

At 157 pounds, Justin Nestor responded with a 6-4 decision over the Cyclones Nate Meyer to make the score 19-15, but that is as close as the Panthers would come as Iowa State’s Nick Passolano pinned Matt Catullo in 58 seconds to close out the match.

Lehigh 23, Pitt 15

The Panthers wrestled the No. 8 Lehigh Mountaineers and once again came up short in the end. The Panthers wrestled Lehigh at West Allegheny High School.

The match started off with the Mountaineers’ heavy weight Joe Sahl pinning Shirley at the five minute, 40 seconds mark.

Following the heavy weight bout, Pitt got on track as Sianni defeated Terrance Clendenin in overtime at 125 pounds. At 133 pounds, May tied the match at six with a 4-1 decision over Mario Stuart.

Tarquinio, a West Allegheny alumnus, broke the tie as he defeated Lehigh’s Tristan Boyd, 5-3, in overtime at 141 pounds. At 149 pounds, Giovinco followed Tarquinio’s victory with a pin of the Mountaineers’ Tommy Rohn in six minutes, 24 seconds. The Panthers led 15-6 but were unable to score another point.

The Mountaineers produced five straight wins over the Panthers to preserve the victory.

The Panthers are next in action in the Ashland Duals in which they will wrestle Ashland, Gardner-Webb and Northwestern Jan. 12. Pitt’s next dual meet is Jan. 16 vs. Cleveland State at Fitzgerald Field House.