Panthers Travel To Midlands Championships
12/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 28, 2009
PITTSBURGH -
The Pitt wrestling squad travels to the campus of Northwestern for the Midlands Championships Dec. 29-30. Freshman Anthony Zanetta (ninth), sophomore Tyler Nauman (fifth), junior Matt Wilps (eighth) and junior Ryan Tomei (fifth) have earned seeding at 125, 141, 197 and 285 respectively.
Below are Pitt's match notes for the week's events.
Looking At The Panthers
The 22nd-ranked Pitt squad sits at 6-1-1 on the dual season with its only loss coming to No. 17 Lehigh and the tie to then No. 14 Penn State. The Panthers, however, defeated No. 17 Illinois, 18-15, at the Sprawl & Brawl Duals.
Pitt is led by sophomore Tyler Nauman, who is ranked as high as eighth at 141 and has enjoyed a nearly perfect season entering the weekend with an 18-1 record. Nauman is perfect in dual matches with an 8-0 mark.
Also having an outstanding year for Pitt is junior heavyweight Ryan Tomei with a 16-2 record on the season.
Tomei had possibly the most important day of his career on Dec. 12 when he earned a fall (4:02) over No. 8-ranked Dominc Russo of Rutgers for the Pitt win, and turned around to solidify the tie against Penn State with a major decision in the final bout of the day.
Rutgers/Penn State Recap
The Panthers’ first home matches of the season provided great drama and excitement as both were decided by the heavyweight division. Pitt defeated Rutgers, 21-18, and tied No. 14 Penn State, 19-19 to improve to 6-1-1 on the dual season.
Tomei picked up a pin for the win over Rutgers, and a major decision for the tie against Penn State at 285.
Also having an outstanding day were true freshman Anthony Zanetta at 125, who picked up two wins on the day, including a 15-9 win over No. 7 Brad Pataky of Penn State, and Tyler Nauman, who continued his undefeated streak with two wins on the day.
Movin’ On Up
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Nauman entered the 2009-10 season No. 15 on the all-time pins list in Pitt history. Nauman has climbed to sole possesion of eighth on the list with six falls this season. Last year, Nauman won over a third of his matches by fall, finishing the year with 11 - the seventh most in a single season by a Pitt wrestler. So far this season, Nauman has notched six pins in 19 matches wrestled.
Rankings Respect
In the latest national rankings, sophomore Tyler Nauman leads the way at 141 after being recognized by three different publications with a No. 8 ranking by D1CW, No. 9 ranking by Amateur Wrestling news, No. 11 by InterMat.
Sophomore Matt Wilps holds a No. 17 ranking by D1CW, No. 18 by InterMat and 19th by Amateur Wrestling News. Redshirt junior Ryan Tomei has moved up in the rankings as high as seventh by InterMat and D1CW.
Freshman Anthony Zanetta made his way into the rankings after an impressive showing against Rutgers and Penn State, sitting at No. 20 at 125 by InterMat. Zanetta is also ranked at No. 24 by D1 College Wrestling. At 184, Zac Thomusseit is ranked 19th by D!CW.
Oh Brother...
Pitt currently has two sets of brothers on the squad including sophomore Chris Albright and his brother, redshirt senior Eric Albright; as well as freshman P.J. Tasser and his brother, redshirt freshman Donnie Tasser.
In addition, in Pitt’s signing class, two more sets of brothers are set to join the squad. Sophomore Zac Thomusseit’s brother Max signed a letter of intent with the panthers, as well as Matt Wilps’ brother Tyler.
Open Success
After a successful appearance at the Buffalo Open, the Panthers continued to make a mark at the Penn State Open on Dec. 6, where heavyweight Ryan Tomei (285) claimed a second place finish and five others placed.
Anthony Zanetta (125) and Tyler Nauman (141) both captured fifth place finishes while in State College after falling to the consolation bracket. After winning his first two matches of the day, Zanetta captured his fifth place finish with a marginal 9-8 decision over Matthew Snyder of Virginia. Nauman entered the open with a previously undefeated record, falling to Penn State’s Colby Pisanni, 9-3, in his third match of the day.
Mark Powell (157) completed the day with a 6-2 record to clinch a seventh place finish after a 3-0 decision over Bucknell’s Corey Lear. Ethan Headlee (174) wrestled unattached and finishws sixth following a 14-6 major decision over Navy’s Michael Billings.
At 197, sophomore Matthew Wilps captured a fourth place finish at the Penn State Open when he tallied a 10-1 major decision over former Panther A.J. Brentzel of Pitt-Johnstown.
Ryan Tomei continued to make his presence known when he claimed the Panthers’ best place of the day, finishing second in the heavyweight class. Tomei accrued four consecutive wins before appearing in the championship round where he fell to third-ranked Zachery Rey of Lehigh with a 3-2 decision.
Stottlemyer’s 30-Year Stint
Pitt head coach Rande Stottlemyer is in his 31st season at the helm of the Panther program. In his 31st season, Stottlemyer is the winningest coach in Pitt history, recording a 257-216-12 record, including a 4-7-1 mark last season and 6-1-1 this season in dual action.
Stottlemyer helped guide four wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament last season, with three of those returning in 2009-10.
197 Battle
At 197 this season, head coach Rande Stottlemyer has a good problem on his hands. Stottlemyer has two successful wrestlers available for the lineup as Matt Wilps holds a 19-4 record on the year and A.J. Hunte has challenged all season with an 8-4 record. In the Clarion Open, Hunte earned a second place finish with a 3-1 mark.
He’s Back!
Former Pitt wrestler Matt Kocher is back with the Panther program. This time, as an assistant coach. Kocher joined the Pitt staff this summer and has been an invaluable addition to the squad.
While at Pitt, Kocher was a four-time NCAA qualifier and currently sits at second on the all-time wins list in Pitt history at 151-45.
Players Mentioned
