Wrestling Downs Bloomsburg, 24-16, In Home Opener
11/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Wrestling Downs Bloomsburg, 24-16, In Home Opener
11/17/2004
PITTSBURGH ? The Pittsburgh wrestling team was able to even its record at 1-1 after a 24-15 victory over Eastern Wrestling League rival Bloomsburg (0-1, 0-1 EWL) at Fitzgerald Field House on Wednesday evening. Despite losing four of the final five bouts, the Panthers used bonus points in three of their five early wins to defeat Bloomsburg for the second consecutive year.
In the first bout of the evening, freshman 125-pounder Dave Morgan (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton) and Brian Sellers of the Huskies battled to a scoreless opening frame before Morgan scored an early escape point in the second period. In the third period, Sellers tied the match with a escape at 5:09. Morgan took a 3-1 lead with a takedown at 6:02 but Sellers closed the gap to one with an escape. With another takedown late in the match, Morgan finished the match with a 5-2 victory, the first of his collegiate career.
At 133 pounds, sophomore Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) used an early takedown of Tony Curto to take advantage of the bout and pinned his opponent after nearly two minutes of riding time at the 2:28 mark for six points and a 9-0 Pitt advantage.
Two-time NCAA qualifier Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) made it three wins in a row for the Panthers over Mark Piermattei of Bloomsburg in the 141-pound match. Tarquinio scored a technical fall at the 6:06 mark with an 18-2 victory to improve to 1-1 for the season.
The 149-pound match was another victory for the Panthers with sophomore Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) earning a 9-1 major decision over Josh Loew of the Huskies to improve the Panthers? advantage to 18-0. Kocher improved to 2-0 this season and 34-13 in his career.
Sophomore Keith Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) went into overtime with Chris Tate at 157 pounds after each wrestler scored just one point on an escape during regulation. With a reversal from the down position in the second overtime frame, Gavin scored a 3-2 decision to push the Panthers? lead to 21-0.
Bloomsburg got on the board in the 165-pound bout with a 9-4 victory by Jim Bertulis over junior Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) to cut the lead to 21-3. Bertulis scored a takedown and three near-fall points and held off Nestor for the win.
At 174 pounds, 18th-ranked Bryce Hasseman continued his torrid start for the Huskies, improving to 8-1 with a win over senior Zachariah Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) to gain four more points for the Huskies. The final score was 15-3 in favor of Hasseman with a total of eight near-fall points in the bout.
The Huskies made it three wins in a row with a victory by Nate Shirk in the 184-pound bout over sophomore Eric Cassidy (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) by a final count of 9-4. The win by Shirk cut the Pittsburgh lead to 21-10.
Just 1:51 into the 197-pound match, Chad Hoare of Bloomsburg pinned sophomore Michael Heist (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) to make it 16 unanswered points for the Huskies and set up a showdown at heavyweight to decide the dual.
In that heavyweight bout, a takedown and a reversal by Zachary Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) pushed the Panther freshman to a 4-2 lead over Mike Spaid after the first three minutes. An escape point by Sheaffer in the second period made it a 5-2 bout heading into the final frame. The riding time point made it a 6-2 finish and gave the Panthers a 24-15 win.
The Panthers will be back in action this weekend at the Michigan State Open in East Lansing, Michigan for a two-day tournament.