Pitt
Michigan State Open
Panthers Open Season at Michigan State Open
11/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 10, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. — The University of Pittsburgh wrestling team opened up its 2008-09 season at the Michigan State Open. Seven Panther wrestlers finished in the top six of their respective weight classes, with freshman Zac Thomusseit leading the way with a second place effort.
Pitt placed a wrestler in seven of the 10 weight classes, including two in the 141-pound bracket.
“It was a marathon to say the least,” noted head coach Rande Stottlemyer. “What we really liked was that the guys wrestled hard, tried to build on what they did the week before. There were a lot of good teams there, so getting the experience against upper level competition was good for our guys.”
Competing unattached from the university in the 141-pound bracket was senior Eric Albright (York, Pa./Virginia). After a first-round bye, Albright opened the tournament up with a pin over Ohio’s Seth Morton midway through the second period. An injury-default win over Keith Sulzer (Northwestern) set up a finals match with No. 18 Ryan Williams (Old Dominion). Though Williams would earn a 5-2 decision, Albright made his second finals appearance in as many tournaments.
Freshman Chris Albright (York, Pa./Red Lion) posted a 4-2 record on the day and finished in fifth place. He opened with a 17-2 tech fall against Jeremiah Biddle (Bloomsburg) and also recorded a pin in the third round of the consolation bracket over Wes Fike (Indiana). In the fifth-place match he scored a 7-5 decision over Jordan Keller (Cleveland State).
Defending EWL Champion Jimmy Conroy (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) bulled through his first two matches, recording a tech fall and major decision respectively. In the semifinals of the 133-pound bracket, Conroy fell to Michigan State’s Franklin Gomez, ranked third in the USA Today/Intermat/NWCA preseason rankings. Conroy defeated Jason Guffey (Bloomsburg) by a 7-0 count before falling to David Marble (Bucknell Unattached) in the third-place match, finishing the day in fourth.
Freshman Tyler Nauman (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) opened up the day with pins in each of his first two matches. In the quarterfinals, Nauman fell victim to Ryan Williams, the eventual winner of the 141-pound bracket, 7-3. Nauman ripped off three straight wins to advance to the third-place match, falling 6-5 to Frank Molinaro (Penn State). He finished 5-2 on the day.
Senior transfer Mark Powell (Washington, Pa./Purdue) won three straight matches to open the day in the 149-pound bracket, including a 17-4 major decision in the second round over Jon Thomas (Michigan State). Overall he finished in sixth place with a 3-3 mark.
After an opening round 5-3 loss to Tim Darling (Penn State), returning national qualifier Ethan Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) stormed through the consolation bracket, winning four straight matches to advance to the semifinals. After an 8-6 loss to Paul Young (Indiana), Headlee pinned Dominic Marella (Northwestern) just over a minute into the first period of the fifth place match, finishing the day at 6-2.
Coming off a fifth place finish at the EMU Open, Thomusseit (St. Paris, Ohio/St. Paris Graham) rattled off three straight wins after a first round bye. A third-period pin over Joe Bargerstock (Olivet) was followed by a 9-8 decision over Derek Foore (Eastern Michigan) and an 8-2 decision over Hiram Smith (Findlay), setting up a finals date with Jake Herbert (Northwestern). Herbert, the second ranked wrestler in the 184-pound weight class and 2007 National Champion, handed Thomusseit his only loss of the day, a 14-1 major decision. For the day, Thomusseit posted a 3-1 record and second place finish.
Junior A.J. Hunte (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) rounded out the place winners for Pitt on the day. Hunte posted a 3-3 record and finished in sixth place in the 197-pound bracket.
The Panthers take a break from tournament action this coming week as they play host to Lehigh, Saturday, Nov. 15. Lehigh’s first-year head coach, Pat Santoro, was a two-time National Champion at Pitt in the late 1980s under the direction of Stottlemyer. Match time for the Panthers and Mountain Hawks is set for 7 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center.
