Seven Pittsburgh Wrestlers Compete At NCAA Championships
3/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Seven Pittsburgh Wrestlers Compete At NCAA Championships
3/20/2000
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Mike Ziska finished the 2000 NCAA tournament with a 3-3 record at 157 pounds, winning two bouts in the championship bracket. |
PITTSBURGH - Seven members of the Pittsburgh wrestling team competed at the 2000 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo., March 16-18 with two participants earning All-America honors. Junior Rob Loper (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) and senior Mike Ziska (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) each earned the honor for the first time in their careers by placing fourth and eighth, respectively. As a team, the Panthers placed 18th with 29.50 points, a vast improvement from their 37th-place (7.50 pts.) finish at last year's tournament and their best since 1997 when they also placed 18th.
Loper, seeded 10th in the tournament at 133 pounds, made his third appearance at nationals and finished the tournament with a record of 6-2. He began the road to All-America honors with a technical fall (18-3) over Slippery Rock's Chris Matarrese in the first round before falling to Nebraska's Todd Beckerman, 6-4. In the consolation bracket, Loper won five straight bouts, including an upset victory over fifth-seeded Roman Felszar (Hofstra) in a 2-1 tie-breaker in overtime. Four out of the five wins were by just one point, while he also collected a major decision over North Carolina's Brad Byers (12-4). Loper lost to fourth-seeded Joe Warren of Michigan in the third-place match, 7-3, to place fourth.
Ziska, who finished the tournament with a 3-3 record at 157 pounds, made his final appearance at nationals a memorable one. He won two bouts in the championship bracket, including an upset over fourth-seeded David Kieldgaard of Oklahoma in a 2-1 overtime tiebreaker. He then fell to fifth-seeded Larry Quisel (Boise State) in a 5-2 decision to fall into the consolations. Ziska grabbed an 8-6 sudden victory win over Leo Urbinelli (Cornell) before losing to eighth-seeded Luke Becker (Minneota) and Shaun Shapert (Edinboro) to place eighth and earn All-America status.
Junior Nick Mengerink (Upper Sandusky, Ohio/Carey), freshman Justin Giovinco (Norristown, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) and sophomore Dan Stine (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) each won two matches at their respective weights. Mengerink, the Eastern Wrestling League's runner-up at 174 points this year, was making his third appearance at nationals and was looking to return to his 1998 All-American status. Seeded 12th, he pinned Jason Webster of Cal-Fullerton at the 1:35 mark in the first round. He then lost to fifth- seeded Randy Pugh (Northern Iowa), 7-4 to fall into the consolation bracket. Mengerink took a 3-0 decision over Nathan Coy (Oregon State) before being eliminated from the tournament when he was pinned by Mike Feeney of Eastern Michigan (2:50).
Giovinco, also an EWL runner-up at 149 pounds, qualified for his first NCAA championship and earned wins over Clarion's Stan Spoor and Michigan's Mike Kulozycki. His fall over Kulozycki in just 26 seconds was the fastest of the tournament.
Stine claimed his first career NCAA victories in his second appearance in the tournament at 197 pounds. He went 2-2, with wins over Brad Heeter of Slippery Rock and Clint Osborne of North Carolina, but fell to second-seeded Brad Vering and 10th-seeded Owen Elzen of Minnesota.
Redshirt freshman Carl Fronhofer (Salem, N.Y./Salem) and sophomore Blaise Mucci (Blairsville, Pa./Derry Area) each qualified for their first national championship and claimed one win apiece.
