Wrestling Finishes Season at NCAA Championships
3/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Wrestling Finishes Season at NCAA Championships
3/19/2004
ST. LOUIS, Mo. ? The Pittsburgh wrestling campaign came to a close after the four Panthers wrestlers who had qualified for the second day of competition at the Savvis Center in St. Louis were defeated on Friday afternoon and evening.
At 197 pounds, senior Josh Birt (Spokane, Wash./North Idaho JC/East Valley) opened the day in the quarterfinals against the No. 1 seed, Damion Hahn of Minnesota. Birt battled valiantly but came up short in a 6-2 decision. Needing to defeat J.D. Bergman of Ohio State in the consolations to finish in the top eight and earn All-America status, Birt again came up just short, dropping a 4-2 decision.
Sophomore Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) finished 1-2 for the second straight year at the NCAA Championships, dropping a 9-8 decision to Tyler Lauden of Wisconsin in the consolations on Friday afternoon and was eliminated.
At 149 pounds, freshman Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College Area) won his third match of the tournament and 32nd of the season in a 3-2 decision over Casey Olsen of Fresno State but bowed out of the Championships with a 5-2 loss to Jake Giamoni of NC State in the following round.
Also losing in his only bout on Friday was sophomore 174-pounder Francis Iorfido (Johnsonburg, Pa./Johnsonburg), getting pinned by Mitch Hancock of Central Michigan at the 0:24 mark of the first period.
The Panthers finished the NCAA Championships with 8.5 points and the six wrestlers combined to win seven bouts.