Four Pittsburgh Wrestlers to Compete For EWL Titles
3/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Four Pittsburgh Wrestlers to Compete For EWL Titles
3/6/2004
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. ? Four Pittsburgh wrestlers won key semifinal bouts on Saturday evening to gain berths in the Eastern Wrestling League finals to be held tomorrow afternoon at the Nelson Field House on the campus of Bloomsburg University.
The Panthers are in third place after the first day of competition with 81.5 points, trailing Edinboro (91.5) by 10 points and second-place West Virginia (89) by 8.5 points. Nine of the 10 grapplers Pittsburgh is wrestling in the championship meet will get a chance to add to the team total on Sunday.
The Fighting Scots of Edinboro also placed the most wrestlers in finals, earning six spots. West Virginia will have five wrestlers in finals, followed by Pittsburgh's four, Clarion and Virginia Tech with two and Cleveland State has one. Both Bloomsburg and Lock Haven failed to qualify a wrestler for the championship round.
At 125 pounds, true freshman Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) lost in a mild upset to Casey Brewster of West Virginia in the semifinals by a score of 9-4. It was Headlee's first loss in nine bouts against EWL opponents this season but he did not face Brewster in the dual meet between the schools earlier this year. Headlee will face Jim Collins of Lock Haven in the consolation semifinals tomorrow morning.
Sophomore Mike Ciotti (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) qualified for the second day of competition by earning a 6-3 decision over Louis Russo of Clarion in the consolation quarterfinals. He improved to 7-6 with the win and will meet Seth Lisa of West Virginia in tomorrow's consolation semifinals.
The first of four Panthers to qualify for the finals was sophomore Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) at 141 pounds with a 3-1 overtime decision over Ron Doppelheuer of Edinboro to improve to 24-10 on the season. Tarquinio will meet West Virginia's Joe Clarke for the EWL title in the last session tomorrow. By defeating Doppelheuer, Tarquinio clinched a spot in the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season.
Joining Tarquinio in the finals session and at the NCAA Championships will be freshman Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College Area), who scored a major upset over top seed and nationally ranked Mike Maney of Lock Haven in the semifinals to move into the EWL title bout. Kocher topped Maney by a score of 3-1 and will take on Demonte Penn of Edinboro in the championship.
A second straight berth at nationals will be a little tougher for sophomore Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds), who was defeated 12-4 by top seed Matt Lebe of West Virginia in Saturday's semifinals. Nestor will now have to defeat Josh Loew of Bloomsburg in tomorrow's consolation semifinals to get into the third-place bout and a chance at an automatic qualification. The top three wrestlers in each weight class earn berths to the NCAA Championships, plus seven wild-card entries.
Junior Zachariah Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) will also have work to do early on Sunday if he wants a third trip to nationals. Doll was beaten by the top seed at 165 pounds, Matt King of Edinboro, by a score of 9-2 to fall into the consolation semifinals against Jeremy Reitz of Clarion.
At 174 pounds, Francis Iorfido (Johnsonburg, Pa./Johnsonburg) clinched a spot in the NCAA Championships with a semifinal victory over Aaron Wright of Clarion. Iorfido was a 7-4 winner over Wright, earning him a rematch bout with Nate Yetzer of Edinboro, the only EWL wrestler to defeat Iorfido this season.
Junior Mike Croyle (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) was unable to qualify for Sunday's competition, losing 8-2 to Ron Howard of Cleveland State in the consolation quarterfinals at 184 pounds.
The fourth and final Panthers wrestler to make it into the finals was senior Josh Birt (Spokane, Wash./North Idaho JC/East Valley), who will also be making his first trip to the NCAAs after an injury default victory over Canaan Prater of Virginia Tech. Birt will meet West Virginia's Matt Daddino in the finals at 197 pounds, the only EWL wrestler to defeat Birt this season.
In the heavyweight consolation quarterfinals, senior Travis Shirley (West Middlesex, Pa./Kennedy Christian) was unwilling to let his collegiate career end with a 13-1 major decision over Kris Wiedegreen of Virginia Tech. He will meet Ryan Chulada of Bloomsburg on Sunday for a spot in the third-place match and a potential berth in the NCAAs.
Standings after day one:
EDINBORO - 91.5
WEST VIRGINIA - 89
PITTSBURGH - 81.5
BLOOMSBURG - 50.5
CLARION - 49.5
CLEVELAND STATE - 45.5
VIRGINIA TECH - 39
LOCK HAVEN - 36.5