PITT WRESTLING IN 22ND AFTER DAY ONE OF SOUTHERN SCUFFLE
12/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 29, 2006
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The No. 24 Pitt wrestling team is in 22nd after the first day of competition at the Southern Scuffle. Two Panthers, Drew Headlee and Joey Ecklof, have advanced to tomorrow's quarterfinals while Zach Sheaffer remains in the consolation rounds. All three wrestlers were seeded in the tournament.
Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) earned a No. 3 seed going into the tournament and picked up two wins today. His first victory was a 7-2 decision over Missouri's Willie Saxton, and he won his second bout with a 9-0 major decision over Kent State's Danny Mitcheff. In tomorrow's quarterfinals he'll take on Eric Albright of Virginia.
Ecklof (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) is a No. 11 seed and has two wins as well today. In his first bout he won a 5-2 decision over Brandon Doyle of Cal State-Bakersfield. In his next match he defeated Duke's Danny Shvartsman by a 2-1 decision. Tomorrow he'll wrestle Cornell's Jordan Leen in the quarterfinals.
Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) is a No. 14 seed and has two wins and one loss on the day. He won his first match with a 7-1 decision over George Mason's Ryan Kittrick. In his next bout, he lost a 10-4 decision to Spencer Nadolsky of North Carolina, and in his final match of the day he won an 8-1 decision over UNC Greensboro's Ryan Hsu. Tomorrow, Sheaffer will take on Eric Parker of Cal State-Bakersfield in consolations.
Several other Panthers competed in the afternoon rounds as well. At 125 pounds, Brad Gentzle (Easton, Pa./Easton) lost a 10-2 major decision to Obenson Blanc of Lock Haven and a 6-1 decision to Drew Forshey of North Carolina. Jimmy Conroy (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) won a 9-1 major decision over Anthony Burke of Virginia but then lost a 9-5 decision to Edinboro's Kyle Fluke at 133 pounds. Also competing at that weight class was Zach Bowman (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) who won a 5-4 decision in overtime against Casey Boyle of UNC Greensboro before falling in a 10-1 major decision to Will Powars of George Mason.
At 165 pounds, Sean Richmond (Emmaus, Pa./Easton) lost a 4-3 decision to Brian Perry of Stanford and a 6-5 decision to Obie Simpson of NC State. Tim Allen (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland) lost a 17-1 technical fall to Landis Wright of Lock Haven at the 5:18 mark. Both wrestlers at 184 pounds lost their second matches of the day. Kyle Deliere (Cecil, Pa./Canon-McMillan) lost a 16-2 major decision to Jesse Strawn of Old Dominion. Matt Darnell (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley C.A.) was defeated in a 7-2 decision by Cornell's Nate Holley.
Eric Cassidy (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) picked up a win at 197 pounds in his first round of consolations with a 4-0 decision over Mike Waters of Davidson. He lost his next match to Jim Gibson of Edinboro by a 7-3 decision. A.J. Hunte (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) also competed in this weight class and was pinned at the 1:53 mark by Justin Dobies of North Carolina. At heavyweight, Ryan Tomei (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) was pinned at the 6:52 mark.
The remaining three wrestlers will conclude competition tomorrow. Live coverage is available at www.southernscuffle.com.
Players Mentioned
