Pitt
Penn St
Wrestling Tops No. 21 Penn State, 18-12
1/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 7, 2002
PITTSBURGH-The Pittsburgh wrestling team, ranked 19th by the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, topped No. 21 Penn State, 18-12, at Rec Hall on Saturday afternoon for its third consecutive win in dual meets.
Fifth-year senior Shawn Amistade (Washington, Pa./Trinity) got things started for the Panthers in the 133-pound match with a 5-2 decision over Marat Tomaev, gaining revenge after losing to Tomaev, 7-6, at the Mat Town Invitational on Nov. 24.
Penn State fought back with three consecutive victories to take a 9-3 advantage. No. 17 Scott Moore topped Blaise Mucci (Blairsville, Pa./Derry Area), 7-3 at 141 pounds to even the match at 3-3. The Nittany Lions then took the lead when Jason Woodall narrowly edged Justin Giovinco (Norristown, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh), 8-6, at 149 pounds.
In his first dual meet of the year, sophomore Zach Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) dropped a 13-9 decision in overtime to James Woodall at 157 pounds to put Pittsburgh's deficit at six points.
Carl Fronhofer (Salem, N.Y./Salem) got three of those points back in the 165-pound match with a 9-4 overtime win over Doc Vecchio of the Nittany Lions. In what turned out to be a crucial match, Matt Catullo (Oakmont, Pa./Riverview) earned his biggest win of the season with an 8-6 decision over Todd Brennan at 174 pounds to tie the match at 9-9.
Penn State took another lead when ninth-ranked Mark Becks earned a 3-1, overtime victory over No. 14 Dan Stine (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) at 184 pounds.
The Panthers came back to win the last three matches of the dual meet to earn the 18-12 victory. In another overtime match, No. 18 David Sandberg (Spokane, Wash./North Central) topped Pete Mielnik, 3-1, at 197 pounds, to tie the score at 12-12.
Another Panther gained revenge when heavyweight Jacob Lininger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) scored a 4-3 win over Josh Walker to give Pittsburgh a 15-12 lead heading into the final match. Redshirt freshman Mike May (Derry Area, Pa./Derry Area) secured the victory with a 5-1 decision over Justin Kast at 133 pounds.
Pittsburgh moved to 3-1 on the season while Penn State, coupled with a loss to No. 8 West Virginia in a second dual match after Pittsburgh, dropped to 1-3 on the year.
The Panthers will host Slippery Rock in a dual meet on Wednesday at Fitzgerald Field House. The meet starts at 7:30 p.m.
