Pitt
Wilkes Open
Panther Wrestling Team Places Five in Wilkes Open
1/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 2, 2002
PITTSBURGH-The Pittsburgh wrestling team, ranked No. 18 by the National Wrestling Coaches of America, competed in the Wilkes Open on Dec. 28-29 and five Panthers placed in the invitational tournament.
Sophomore Zach Doll (Quakertown, Pa./Pottstown) competed for the first time this season after missing the first part of the season due to injury. Doll won five of his six matches at 157 pounds, including two by pinfall and one by major decision to earn a third-place finish. His 4-3 decision over Don Carlo-Clauss of Virginia in the third-place match capped a strong start to his season.
Two Panthers also earned second-place finishes by making it to the championship match of their respective weight classes. Freshman Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) was also wrestling for the first time in 2001-02 and he won four consecutive matches at 157 pounds before falling to Robbie Griffin of Harvard in the final. Nestor won his first two matches by pinfalls in a combined total of 2:35.
The other second-place winner was junior Justin Giovinco (Norristown, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) at 149 pounds. Giovinco scored pinfall victories in his first two matches at 0:18 and 1:10, respectively, before scoring 5-3 and 3-1 wins to gain entry into the final against Jason Woodall of Penn State. He fought hard before falling by a score of 4-2.
The other Panther wrestlers who placed were heavyweight Jacob Lininger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) (5th-285 lbs., 3-2 record) and freshman Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) (6th-141 lbs., 5-2).
Pittsburgh, 2-1 in dual matches and 1-0 in the Eastern Wrestling League, will travel to face non-conference foe Penn State on Sat., Jan. 5, before returning home to wrestle Slippery Rock on Jan. 9 at Fitzgerald Field House.
