Pitt
Southern Scuffle
Two Panthers Place in Southern Scuffle Tournament
12/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 31, 2005
GREENSBORO, N.C. -
Four Panthers advanced to Friday's competition in the Southern Scuffle tournament held by UNC Greensboro. At 141 pounds, Ronald Tarquinio finished second after a 3-2 loss in an overtime championship bout.
Pitted against the number one seed Cory Cooperman of Lehigh, Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) had a steady climb on both Thursday on Friday. In the second day of competition, he began with an 8-4 decision over Virginia Tech's Dave Hoffman in the quarterfinals. He then went on to defeat Sean Markey of the Citadel with a 3-2 decision in the semifinals. Tarquinio's final match of the tournament was against Cooperman where he lost by one point in overtime. With his four addition wins at the Scuffle, Tarquinio now stands at 111 career victories, ranking him seventh in school history.
Also placing in the tournament was senior Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) at 165 pounds. Nestor started out the competition facing Cornell's Steve Anceravage in the quarterfinals. This was the third meeting for the two wrestlers this season, with Anceravage pulling a 4-2 decision. In his consolation round, Nestor came back to defeat Keith Smith of East Stroudsburg with a 3-0 decision but then lost to Minnesota's Jeremy Larson by a 2-0 decision. Nestor went on to wrestle for seventh place against Deonte Penn of Edinboro. Bringing in yet another pin this season, Nestor took Penn down at the 5:40 mark. This pin marks Nestor's fourth on the season and 31st of his career. He ranks third in school history for career pins.
Wrestling in consolation rounds on Friday was freshman Joey Ecklof (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) at 149 pounds. Ecklof faced Rider's Mike Kessler in his first bout of the day, winning by a 5-4 decision. He lost his second match of the tournament to Don Fish of Rider by a 7-1 decision. Ecklof finished 4-2 overall.
At 157 pounds was freshman Sean Richmond (Emmaus, Pa./Easton) who defeated Mark Smith of East Stroudsburg by a 3-2 decision in his first match. He then lost by a 3-2 decision to Kent State's Kurt Gross, giving him a 3-2 overall record for the Scuffle.
The Panthers will now prepare for a series of upcoming matches. They will travel to Ohio State on Thursday, January 5 for a dual match before returning to Pittsburgh on Saturday, January 7 for a tri-meet against local teams Duquesne and Slippery Rock.
