Gavin Second, Tomei Fifth at U.S. Open
4/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
April 15, 2009
LAS VEGAS — Several members of the Pitt wrestling team as well as alumni competed at the United States Open and the FILA Junior Nationals this past weekend April, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
Ethan Headlee, Karl DeCiantis, Zac Thomusseit, Matt Wilps, Ryan Tomei and the brothers Albright, Chris and Eric, were among the Panther wrestlers that joined alumni Keith Gavin and Drew Headlee in competition.
In the FILA Junior Freestyle tournament, Wilps placed seventh in the 96kg/211.5lbs. bracket, posting a 4-3 mark on the day that included three straight wins at one point. DeCiantis and Thomusseit both competed at 84kg/185lbs., going 1-2 and 3-2 respectively. Chris Albright won two straight in the 60kg/132.25lbs. bracket before falling to Bryan Pearsall (Penn State) and finishing the day 2-2.
In the Senior Men’s Freestyle U.S. Open, former Panther All-American Drew Headlee took sixth place with a 3-3 mark in the 60kg/132lbs. division. Eric Albright, who will enter his final season of collegiate wrestling following a redshirt year after transferring from Virginia, went 0-2 on the day.
In the 74kg/163lbs. bracket, Ethan Headlee finished 0-2 while 2007-08 NCAA Champion and Pitt assistant coach Keith Gavin went 3-1 to finish in second place. Gavin met Travis Paulson in the finals, falling 0-1, 1-0, 1-0.
At 120kg/264.5lbs., Tomei captured fifth place with a string of wins over former NCAA All-Americans. A 1-1, 1-0 loss to Dominique Bradley set up a match with David Zabriskie (Sunkist Kids), who finished fifth at the NCAA Championships just a few weeks ago. Tomei won in dominating fashion, 4-0, 7-0. A 3-0, 1-0 win over Trey McLean was followed by a 3-2, 1-0 loss to Les Sigman (Sunkist Kids). In the match for fifth place, Tomei pinned two-time All-American Ryan Gritter (Gator Wrestling Club) in 1:59.
Players Mentioned
