Wrestling Finishes Fourth at Mat Town Invitational
11/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Wrestling Finishes Fourth at Mat Town Invitational
11/27/2004
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. ? Two Pittsburgh wrestlers won individual titles as the Panthers' wrestling squad finished fourth at the Mat Town Invitational at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Junior Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) and sophomore Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) won the 141 pound and 149 pound tournament titles, respectively, to help Pittsburgh score 115.5 points, trailing only Minnesota (154), Penn State (146.5) and Indiana (128). The Panthers topped nine schools in the tournament, including EWL rivals Clarion and Lock Haven.
Tarquinio was a perfect 4-0 in the tournament, earning a 3-1 finals victory over Mike Simpson of Indiana after topping DeWitt Driscoll of Penn State by a 9-2 count in the semifinals. Kocher did his damage at 149 pounds, winning five bouts by a combined score of 32-2 in dominating fashion, In the finals, Kocher was a 3-0 victor over Penn State's James Woodall after defeating Tom Kniezewski of American in the semifinals by a 4-0 count.
At 133 pounds, sophomore Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) continued his torrid start by picking up two falls in his first two bouts before losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Mack Reiter of Minnesota by a 7-5 count. Headlee then defeated Tim Harner of Rider, 5-2 and B.J. Compton of Old Dominion by a 4-2 score to finish 4-1, good enough for third place in his weight class.
Freshman Joe Ciampoli (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) won his first two bouts before falling to Simpson in the semifinals. He was forced out of his next two matches for medical forfeitures and finished sixth at 141 pounds. Also finishing in sixth place in his weight class was sophomore Keith Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) with a 3-3 record at the Mat Town.
Junior Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) had his second strong tournament in as many weekends with a second-place finish at 165 pounds. Nestor picked up three wins, including a fall and 9-0 major decision over Marcus Surin of Clarion in the semifinals before falling 8-5 to Matt Nagel of Minnesota in the championship.
Also performing well for the second week in a row was senior Zachariah Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) with a third-place finish. Doll won his first two bouts before dropping a close 7-4 decision to Daniel Waters of American in the semifinals. Doll rebounded to win both of his consolation bouts, including a 6-0 win over Sean Jenkins of Rider in the third-place match.
Freshman heavyweight Zachary Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) placed fifth in the biggest weight class by winning four of his six bouts on the day. The Panthers will be back in action at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this coming weekend.