Pitt
Clarion Open
Wrestling Places 14, Wins Six Titles at Clarion Open
11/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 8, 2010
CLARION, PA.—Pitt's wrestling team started the season Saturday at the Knight Point Clarion Open the way it wrestled most of last year, by dominating the competition. In all, 14 Panthers placed and six won titles. Champions included Tyler Nauman, Adam Counterman, Ethan Headlee, Max Thomusseit, Zac Thomusseit and Ryan Tomei.
The Panthers finished fifth or better in all nine weight classes entered (Pitt did not have any participants at the 125-weight class). In three weight classes, the championship bout featured an all-Pitt final.
Coming off an All-America season, Nauman won the 141 title for the second year in a row, defeating fellow Panther Mike Tully, 9-2, in the final. Nauman finished the tournament 4-0, while Tully went 4-1.
Counterman picked up his first career title, wining at 165 over teammate P.J. Tasser, 3-1, in the final. Counterman improved on last year's fourth-place finish at the tournament.
At 174, Headlee picked up his second consecutive title in Clarion, defeating Greg Zannetti (Rutgers), 9-6, in the final. Headlee trailed 6-2 in the match, but fought back to win. Headlee recorded two falls on the way to the championship with both coming at exactly 3:30 into the match.
Freshman Max Thomusseit started off his career at Pitt in winning fashion, recording two falls while going 4-0 en route to claiming the 184 title. Thomusseit defeated teammate Andy Vaughan, 11-7, in the final.
Older brother Zac Thomusseit followed up with a victory of his own at 197. The junior cruised through the competition, going 3-0 on the day, picking up a fall and a major decision. In the final, Thomusseit defeated Alex Thomas (Clarion), 11-5, to pick up his first career title.
At the heavyweight division, Tomei won all four matches, including two by fall and one by a tech fall to take the title. In the final, Tomei recorded a 12-5 decision over Quintas McCorkle of Clarion.
Tomei recorded the quickest fall of his career, pinning Joe Welton (Mercyhurst) 39 seconds into his opening round match.
At 133, freshman Shelton Mack took third place after recording a 4-1 record. Mack recorded one fall and picked up a 1-0 decision over Connor Hannafee (Army) in the third-place match.
At 149, Dane Johnson took third place, defeating teammate Josh Pascazi, 1-0, in the consolation final. Johnson finished 3-1 on the day while Pascazi went 3-2. Johnson's first victory of the day came by fall at 0:38. The pin was the quickest recorded by a Panther since Chris Kochkinsky pinned Alex Moritz of Rider at (0:33) on Nov. 28, 2009 at the MAT Town Open.
Redshirt sophomore Donnie Tasser placed fourth at 157. Tasser was forced to default the third place match after an injury in the semifinal. Freshman Tyler Wilps placed fifth, posting a 6-1 record.
No. 14 Pitt returns home to host No. 17 Lehigh in the season opening dual meet on Friday, Nov. 12 at Fitzgerald Field House. The match will begin at 7 p.m.
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Players Mentioned
