Pitt
EWL Championships
Pittsburgh Claims Third Place at 2001 EWL Tournament
3/5/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 4, 2001
BLACKSBURG, VA - The Pittsburgh wrestling team finished third at the 2001 Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Tournament held over the weekend at Virginia Tech. The Panthers claimed three individual championships, while a total of six Pittsburgh wrestlers qualified for the upcoming 2001 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
The Panthers combined for 94.5 team points and were just one half point behind second-place Lock Haven (95 points). Edinboro claimed first place for the fourth-straight year with 123.5 points. The remaining tournament field included Clarion (87), Virginia Tech (85), Bloomsburg (78), Cleveland State (41.5) and West Virginia (37.5).
Senior Rob Loper (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep), junior Shawn Amistade (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and sophomore Carl Fronhofer (Salem, N.Y./Salem) claimed individual titles in their respective weight classes to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. Additionally, freshman Zach Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) qualified with a third-place finish, while juniors Dan Stine (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) and David Sandberg (Spokane, Wash./North Central) were chosen as wild card qualifiers.
Loper won first place at 133 pounds for his second career championship. Loper, the first seed in his weight class, began the competition by defeating West Virginia's Brian Floyd with a technical fall. He then decisioned Edinboro's Charlie Soto (7-3) and Lock Haven's Scott Bair (6-3) for the title.
Amistade won his first career tournament title at 125 pounds in amazing fashion. As the fifth seed, Amistade upset three higher-seeded opponents to claim the championship, including Edinboro's fourth-seeded Jacob Gray (3-1 SV), Lock Haven's first-seeded Trap McCormack (3-1 SV) and Cleveland State's second-seeded Rocco Mansueto (2-0).
Fronhofer also won his first championship title at 165 pounds as the tournament's first seed. He pinned Clarion's Pete Kroshefskie in 1:35, and decisioned both Hunter Guenot (4-1) of Bloomsburg and Ben Boozer (6-5) of Edinboro.
Doll placed third at 157 pounds and qualified for his first national championship. He upset fourth-seeded Shane McChesney of Clarion with a major decision (12-5) before falling to first-seeded Joe Carr (West Virginia), 17-6. Doll then claimed a 4-3 tiebreaker win over third-seeded Shaun Shapert (Edinboro) and a fall (2:39) in a rematch with McChesney for the third-place spot.
Stine and Sandberg placed fifth and fourth at 184 and 197 pounds, respectively, but qualified for nationals as wild card selections as only the top three placewinners automatically qualify. Freshman Joe Crecca (Roselle Park, N.J./Blair Academy) placed fifth at 141 pounds and Jacob Lininger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) finished fourth at heavyweight to round out Pittsburgh's placewinners.
The 2001 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be hosted by Iowa March 15-17.
