Pitt nearly shut out by Mountaineer grapplers

While the Pitt basketball manhandled West Virginia on Saturday, the wrestling team did not… While the Pitt basketball manhandled West Virginia on Saturday, the wrestling team did not fair as well, as it was blasted by the No. 11-ranked Mountaineers, 32-2.

Friday’s meeting matched up two top 25 teams, both from the Eastern Wrestling League. West Virginia (8-2 overall, 4-0 EWL) sent six ranked wrestlers to the mat Friday night, and it proved to be too much for Pitt (12-5, 4-2 EWL).

West Virginia scored its first victory with a 4-2 win and took a 3-0 lead in the first match. After going to overtime, No. 19-ranked Billy Smith defeated Justin Giovinco in the 149-pound matchup.

Zach Doll became the second Panther to fall when West Virginia’s No. 10 Joe Carr got the decision in the 157-pound matchup.

With a 6-0 lead, West Virginia’s No. 7-ranked Tom McMath lined up against Pitt’s No. 20-ranked Carl Fronhofer at 165 pounds. In one of the most anticipated matches of the evening, Fronhofer and McMath battled into overtime. McMath came away with a hard fought 3-1 victory, forcing the Panthers into a 9-0 hole.

No. 3-ranked Greg Jones dominated Pitt’s Matt Catullo in the 174-pound match. Jones got an early lead on Catullo and managed a 15-7 win, scoring a major decision and another four points for the Mountaineers.

Behind 13-0, Pitt sent Rob Black up against Ryan Wilman at 184 pounds. Black only scored one point and suffered a five-point loss. After Wilman’s decision, the Panthers trailed 16-0 going into the 197-pound match.

Pitt’s No. 19-ranked David Sandberg pulled off Pitt’s lone victory. Sandberg took on West Virginia’s Brent Miller and beat him by a score of 4-1. With that decision, Pitt cut the WVU lead to 13, but the deficit would be too much to overcome.

The next matchup in the heavyweight division sent West Virginia’s No. 19-ranked Ryan Kehler up against Jacob Lininger. Pitt lost one point when Lininger received an unsportsmanlike conduct after being pinned in just 22 seconds. Kehler’s pin moved him to No. 1 for all-time pins at WVU.

With only three matches remaining, Pitt trailed 22-2.

The Panthers rounded out the evening with three final losses, the first going to James Thornton. Thornton lost the 125-pound match to Nathan Kendjorsky 8-3.

WVU moved up another three points when Brandon Lauer scored the Mountaineers’ eighth victory of the night in the 133-pound bout. Lauer defeated Shawn Amistade 5-3.

Blaise Mucci took on Shane Cunanan at 141 pounds. Mucci’s attempt for the Panthers’ second victory came up short when he lost 12-4. No. 12-ranked Cunanan closed out the meet by scoring the major decision over Mucci.

The Panthers will bring the regular season to an end this Friday at 7:30 p.m. when they take on No. 19-ranked Edinboro at the Fitzgerald Field House.