Pitt Wrestling Sends Six To NCAA Tournament
3/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 10, 2010
PITTSBURGH -
Pitt’s wrestling team will send six to the upcoming NCAA Championship to be held March 18-20 in Omaha, Neb.
The Panthers earned five automatic qualifiers following its Eastern Wrestling League Championship, and picked up an at-large bid to redshirt senior Eric Albright at 149.
Joining Albright (York, Pa./Red Lion Area/Virginia) will be Anthony Zanetta at 125, Tyler Nauman at 141, Zac Thomusseit at 184, Matt Wilps at 197 and Ryan Tomei at 285.
Zanetta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks), a true freshman at 125, has recorded a 33-8 record on the season. In his first championship, he will meet up with Andre Gonzales (22-11) of Cal State Fullerton in the first round.
At 141, Nauman (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) will be making his second consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. As a sophomore, Nauman (33-3) is seeded No. 10 and will face Cole Schmitt (20-16) of Wisconsin.
Albright (20-15) picked up Pitt’s lone at-large spot and will make his second trip to NCAAs and will face Mario Mason of Minnesota (19-10). The transfer from Virginia earned a spot on the Cavaliers’ NCAA team in 2008.
Thomusseit (St. Paris, Ohio/St. Paris Graham), who has recorded a 20-8 record on the year, earns his first trip to the tournament at 184 and will face No. 2-seeded John Dergo (26-2) of Illinois in the opening round.
At 197, Wilps (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) hopes to use the momentum from his EWL title as he heads to his first NCAA Championship. Wilps (31-8) will face No. 11 seed Patrick Bond (16-11) of Illinois.
Rounding out Pitt’s representatives will be Tomei (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford), who has earned the eighth seed in his first-ever NCAA appearance. Tomei (32-5) will face Ziad Haddad (17-9) of North Carolina.
Zanetta, Nauman, Wilps and Tomei each won their weight class at the EWL Championships on March 7 while Thomusseit finished second and Albright took third.
The NCAA Championship three-day event will be held at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.