Wrestling goes perfect 3-0 at Wendy’s Classic Duals

It hasn’t happened often this season, but Pitt’s wrestling team was in full force and free of… It hasn’t happened often this season, but Pitt’s wrestling team was in full force and free of any injuries en route to winning 26 of 30 individual matches at Sunday’s Wendy’s Classic Duals at Ashland University.

The Panthers went 3-0 defeating host Ashland, Gardner-Webb and Northwestern universities. The three wins now give Pitt a 4-3 overall record and gave it a share of the Dual title with Purdue.

“When we are at a full lineup, we are tough,” head coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “We’ve only had a full lineup two or three times this year.”

For the Panthers, redshirt freshman Ronald Tarquinio (125 pounds) and senior Carl Fronhofer (174 pounds) each picked up three victories. For Tarquinio, his three wins give him a perfect 7-0 record for the season. Tarquinio defeated Chad Hilliard of Ashton 6-4 and also had one major decision. As for Fronhofer, he had two major decision victories and a 6-3 win over Tommy Bauer.

“Those bouts were very important for us,” Stottlemyer said. “We wrestled hard. When we wrestle hard, we have a chance to win.”

Also picking up three victories were freshman Jordan Sianni (125 pounds) and junior Joshua Birt (197 pounds). Sianni had two major victories, including a major decision victory over Ashland’s Jim Phillips. Birt picked up his first three victories of the year, including a 10-5 victory over Ashton’s Ryan Kirst. Birt got back on track after having lost two straight to start the year.

“Little Jordan Siani did a heck of a job,” Stottlemyer said, “and it was nice to see Josh Birt wrestle a lot better then he had.”

Redshirt sophomore Mike May, senior Justin Giovinco and freshman Robert Kail each picked up two victories. Kail wrestled in the first two dual matches of his Pitt career.

Overall, the Pitt wrestling team had eight major decision victories along with four falls out of its 26 victories over the weekend.

Pitt will take on Cleveland State University tonight at Fitzgerald Field House. The match begins at 7:30 p.m. and is a division rivalry. Stottlemyer expects a “pretty close and intense matchup.”