University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Ronald Tarquinio and Josh Birt Win EWL Titles
3/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Ronald Tarquinio and Josh Birt Win EWL Titles
3/7/2004
Sophomore Ronald Tarquinio is the EWL Champion at 141 pounds. |
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. ? For the first time in three seasons, the Pittsburgh wrestling team has an Eastern Wrestling League champion and doubled up on first-place finishes on the second day of competition at the EWL Championships at the Nelson Field House in Bloomsburg, Pa.
Sophomore Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) won the 141-pound crown with a 6-4 decision over West Virginia's Joe Clarke in the finals. A first-period reversal helped Tarquinio gain the momentum needed to win his first league crown and advance to his second NCAA Tournament in two years.
At 197 pounds, senior Josh Birt (Spokane, Wash./North Idaho JC/East Valley) was able to avenge an earlier loss to Matt Daddino of West Virginia with a 6-1 decision in the finals. Birt allowed just one point in his three EWL bouts this weekend and will now move on to his first national meet.
Two other Panthers, freshman Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College Area) and sophomore Francis Iorfido (Johnsonburg, Pa./Johnsonburg) came close to adding to the Panthers' list of victors. Kocher lost a tough 6-5 decision to Deonte Penn of Edinboro in the 149-pound final. Kocher's second-place finish qualifies him for his first trip to the NCAAs. Joining Kocher as a first-time NCAA participant will be Iorfido, who was defeated 7-4 by Nate Yetzer of Edinboro in the final at 174 pounds.
Pittsburgh also will be sending sophomore 157-pounder Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) and junior 165-pounder Zachariah Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) to the NCAA Championships as both grapplers finished third in their respective weight classes.
Nestor will be going for the second consecutive year after defeating Josh Loew of Bloomsburg, 12-0, in the consolation semifinals and then topping Jason Effner of Cleveland State for the second time in the tournament, a 3-0 decision in the third-place bout.
Doll also had an outstanding second day at the EWLs, winning a 5-0 decision over Clarion's Jeremy Reitz to advance to the third-place bout, and then pinning Jason Gilligan of Lock Haven at the 2:50 mark for his second fall of the the tournament and his third automatic berth in the NCAA Championships.
Freshman Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) was forced to forfeit both of his matches on Sunday and finished in sixth place at 125 pounds after dropping a tough 9-4 decision to Casey Brewster of West Virginia in the semifinals on Saturday evening.
Sophomore Mike Ciotti (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) placed for the second consecutive year at 133 pounds, moving up one spot to fifth in 2004. Ciotti lost his first match of the day, a 7-3 decision to Seth Lisa of West Virginia in the consolation semifinals, but came back to defeat Dave Predko of Lock Haven by a score of 6-1 to win the fifth-place match.
Senior heavyweight Travis Shirley (West Middlesex, Pa./Kennedy Christian) finished his Panthers career with a fifth-place finish at EWLs. Shirley lost a tough 6-4 decision to Ryan Chulada of Bloomsburg in the consolation semifinals, but rebounded with a 9-0 major decision over Steve Itterly of Lock Haven in the fifth-place bout.
Edinboro and West Virginia tied for the league title, with each school tallying 99.5 points. The Panthers finished third, just two points behind the Fighting Scots and Mountaineers.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. Edinboro - 99.5
1. West Virginia - 99.5
3. PITTSBURGH - 97.5
4. Cleveland State - 80.5
5. Bloomsburg - 79
6. Clarion - 70
7. Lock Haven - 57.5
8. Virginia Tech - 44.5
EWL Champions
125 - Peter Derstine, Clarion
133 - Jacob Gray, Edinboro
141 - Ronald Tarquinio, Pittsburgh
149 - Deonte Penn, Edinboro
157 - Chris Horning, Clarion
165 - Matt King, Edinboro
174 - Nate Yetzer, Edinboro
184 - Greg Jones, West Virginia
197 - Josh Birt, Pittsburgh
HWT - Russ Davie, Cleveland State
