Wrestling Falls To No. 11 Edinboro
2/17/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Wrestling Falls To No. 11 Edinboro
2/17/2000
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16th-ranked Nick Mengerick gave Edinboro's 2nd-ranked Josh Koscheck only his third loss of the season with a 3-2 win at 174 pounds on Thursday. |
PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh wrestling, ranked 23rd in the country, hosted 11th-ranked Edinboro in its final Eastern Wrestling League matchup of the season tonight at Fitzgerald Field House. The Panthers fell to the Fighting Scots, 16-15, with the result coming down to the final bout of the night, a last second win for Josh Pearce, Edinboro's 18th-ranked heavyweight.
Pittsburgh's heavyweight Matt Mueller (North Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) was leading 3-2 with just under 10 seconds remaining in the third period, when he was taken down by Pearce, who then earned three near fall points in the final seconds for the 7-3 victory.
Sophomore Zach Hasse (Washington, W.Va./Parkersburg South) began the scoring at 125 pounds for Pittsburgh with a 6-2 decision over Edinboro's Casey Brewster. Eighth-ranked Rob Loper (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) followed with a 6-4 victory over Chard Caros at 133 pounds. Loper completed the year with his second undefeated dual season of his career, 15-0 (29-3 overall). A redshirt last season who competed only in open tournaments, Loper compiled a record of 18-0 during the 1997-98 season. He has an outstanding career dual record of 47-3 and lost his last dual match to Ohio State's Robbie Archer (5-4) on Jan. 12, 1997.
The Fighting Scots got on the board after claiming the 141-pound bout, a 9-4 decision by Edinboro's Cory Ace over Pittsburgh's Blaise Mucci (Blairsville, Pa./Derry Area). The Panthers responded with freshman Justin Giovinco's (Norristown, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) 3-1 decision at 149 pounds, before senior Mike Ziska (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) lost in the 157-pound bout, 3-0. Redshirt freshman Carl Fronhofer (Salem, N.Y./Salem) then earned a close 2-1 decision with riding time over Yanni Diamond in the 165-pound match to put the Panthers up 12-6 with four matches remaining.
The most exciting match of the night would come at 174 pounds between 16th-ranked Nick Mengerink (Upper Sandusky, Ohio/Carey) of Pittsburgh and Edinboro's 2nd-ranked Josh Koscheck. Both went scoreless in the first period before exchanging reversals in the second. Mengerink held Koscheck down for the entire third period for a total of 1:26 riding time and the narrow 3-2 upset win, handing Koscheck just his third loss of the year.
Kevin Welsh, the Fighting Scots' 9th-ranked 184-pounder, earned a 17-6 major decision over Fabian Sciullo (West Mifflin, Pa./Central Catholic) and 20th-ranked A.J. Johnson defeated sophomore Dan Stine (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury), 10-5, at 197 pounds to pull Edinboro within two points, setting up the final match and the come from behind victory.
The loss snapped a six-match winning streak for the Panthers. Pittsburgh wraps up the season with an overall record of 9-6 and 4-3 in the EWL, while Edinboro is 12-1 and a perfect 5-0 in dual matchups. Both teams will meet again in the 2000 EWL Tournament hosted by Pittsburgh, March 4-5.
