Men's Wrestling Places Seventh at Mat Town Invite
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
November 30, 1998
The Pittsburgh wrestling team competed in the 1998 Mat Town Invitational hosted by Lock Haven University on Nov. 28. The Panthers placed seventh out of 12 schools with 67.50 points. Pittsburgh wrestlers boasted a top-eight finisher in eight of ten weight classes.
The top finisher for the Panthers was senior Chad Jesko (Dunbar, Pa./Connellsville), who claimed second place at 149 pounds. Jesko defeated James Scanlon of Hofstra, 10-2, in his first match of the tournament. He then defeated Ben Chunko of Bucknell (8-2) and Chris Elliot of Slippery Rock (12-1), before falling to Penn State's Jamarr Billman by a 5-2 decision.
Senior Kevin Johnson (Centerville, Va./Chantilly) placed fifth at 174 pounds after winning his last match of the tournament by virtue of a forfeit by Penn State's Andrew Butville. Freshman Dan Stine (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) wrestled at 197 pounds and also placed fifth after Lock Haven's Avery Zerkle forfeited the match. Sophmore Brian Legarth (Fairview Park, Ohio/Fairview Park) claimed a sixth-place finish at 125 pounds, while junior Matt Mueller (North Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) placed sixth in the heavyweight bracket. Freshman Andy Villecco (Mickleton, Pa./Kingsway Regional) and junior Mike Ziska (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) both placed seventh at 141 and 157 pounds, respectively, while junior Brad Wood (Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola) rounded out the scoring for Pittsburgh with an eighth- place finish at 184 pounds.
The Panthers continue tournament action when they compete in the Las Vegas Invitational Friday-Saturday, Dec. 4-5.