Panthers Advance Seven to EWL Semifinals

3/5/2005

Pittsburgh is currently in third place with 44 points, eight behind Edinboro after one session.

CLARION - Seven Pittsburgh wrestlers will compete in Saturday evening?s Eastern Wrestling League semifinals, four of which advanced with victories in the first session today at Clarion?s Tippin Gymnasium. Bloomsburg and Edinboro lead the way with eight semifinalists, while the Panthers and West Virginia have seven apiece. Cleveland State will have five wrestlers in the semifinals, Lock Haven will have three and host Clarion will have two.

The Panthers are currently in third place with 44 points, trailing second-place West Virginia by just a half of a point and first-place Edinboro by eight points.

In the 125-pound quarterfinals, freshman Zach Bowman (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) wasn?t able to maneuver Shawn Cordell of West Virginia and lost by a 11-0 major decision. The two wrestlers did not meet during the regular season as Cordell won a 14-0 bout over Pitt freshman Geoff Moy (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica). Bowman dropped into the wrestlebacks and will take on the loser of the semifinal bout between Bloomsburg?s Mike Sees and Cleveland State?s Joe Wornoff.

Sophomore Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) and junior Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) drew byes in the first round at 133 and 141 pounds, respectively. Headlee will meet West Virginia?s Seth Lisa in the semifinals, who defeated Lock Haven?s Jim Collins in the quarterfinals. Lisa topped Headlee, 4-3, in the dual match back in February.

Tarquinio also drew a bye at 141 pounds and will meet Rick McLaughlin of Edinboro in the semifinals, whom he defeated 16-8 in the Feb. 18 dual against the Fighting Scots. McLaughlin topped West Virginia?s Vince Gioiella, 11-1, in the quarterfinals.

Junior Mike Ciotti (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) lost his quarterfinal bout against Ron Doppelheuer of Edinboro by an 11-1 count, scoring only an escape point for his second loss to the Fighting Scot grappler in two weeks after a 7-2 loss in the season?s final dual. Ciotti will now take on West Virginia?s Terry Adams in the wrestlebacks after Adams was defeated by Ryan Hurley of Cleveland State.

At 157 pounds, sophomore Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) took a 4-2 lead with four points in the second after a scoreless first period. Kocher got his first two on a reversal and after an escape by Marcus Effner of Cleveland State, Kocher got a takedown with 34 seconds left to make it 4-1 but Effner again escaped and added another escape point at the beginning of the third period. Kocher improved to 29-7, however, with the 4-3 victory and advanced to meet Clarion?s Chris Horning in the semifinals. Horning defeated Kocher by a slim 3-2 margin in the February dual between the schools.

Junior 165-pounder Justin Nestor (Reynolds, Pa./Transfer) took on Lock Haven?s B.J. Mikeska in his quarterfinal bout on Saturday afternoon. Nestor had won both of the previous meetings this season by an 8-3 count at the Mat Town Invitational and a 3-1 decision at the dual meet. Nestor was able to score an early first-period takedown and added an escape point at the beginning of the second period for a 3-0 advantage. Another takedown late in the second period extended Nestor?s lead to 5-0 and finished the bout in the third period with a fall for the Panthers at 6:33. It was Nestor?s 28^th career pin, giving him sole possession of third place in Pittsburgh annals, behind Pat Santoro (43) and Scott Hovan (33). Nestor moves on to the semifinals to meet Bloomsburg?s Jim Bertulis, who defeated Nestor by a count of 9-4 at the dual back in November.

In senior Zachariah Doll?s (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) quarterfinal match at 174 pounds against Clarion?s Chris Goings, a takedown in the first minute by the Golden Eagles? freshman gave him a 2-0 advantage but an escape a half-minute later cut Goings? lead to 2-1. Right before the horn sounded for the end of period one, Goings got another two-point takedown for a 4-1 lead. Doll climbed back into the match with a reversal in the second period and turned it into a fall at the four-minute mark to move to the semifinals against Edinboro?s Eric Ring. It was Doll?s 22^nd win of the season and the 27^th fall of his career, tying him with Joe Solomon for fourth place on the Panthers? all-time list.

Sophomore 184-pounder Keith Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) was the third Panther that drew a bye through to the semifinals. Gavin will meet either Bloomsburg?s Jesse Hasseman or Cleveland State?s Ron Howard in the semifinals with an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships on the line.

The 197-pound quarterfinals saw freshman Lou Thomas (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) wrestle for the first time at the EWL Championships. He gave up an early takedown to Cleveland State?s Joe Phillips but came back to tie the match with two escape points at 2-2. Phillips scored another takedown in the second and the two wrestlers traded escape points before Phillips was able to score a takedown-fall combination to end the match at the 5:26 mark. Thomas dropped to the wrestlebacks, where he will wrestle the loser of the semifinal between West Virginia?s Jared Villers and Lock Haven?s Morgan Horner for a spot in the third-place match.

Freshman heavyweight Zach Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) battled to a scoreless first period with Clarion?s John Fager in the quarterfinals and from the up position in the second frame, held Fager down for the entire two minutes to build up his riding time. From the down position to begin period three, Sheaffer escaped in the first three seconds for a 1-0 lead and added a takedown at the 6:00 mark to make it 3-0. Fager earned an escape point but Sheaffer got one more takedown and with riding time, made it a 6-1 victory ? his 23^rd of the season. He will meet Edinboro?s Joe Hennis in the semifinals in a rematch of the Feb. 18 dual, in which Hennis earned a 10-7 decision to win the bout for the Fighting Scots.

PITTSBURGH?S FIRST SESSION RESULTS:

125 pounds ? Shawn Cordell (WV) maj. dec. Zach Bowman (P), 11-0

149 pounds ? Ron Doppelheuer (E) maj. dec. Mike Ciotti (P), 11-1

157 pounds ? Matt Kocher (P) dec. Marcus Effner (CS), 4-3

165 pounds ? Justin Nestor (P) pinned B.J. Mikeska (LH), 6:33

174 pounds ? Zachariah Doll (P) pinned Chris Goings (C), 4:00

197 pounds ? Joe Phillips (CS) pinned Lou Thomas (P), 5:26

285 pounds ? Zach Sheaffer (P) dec. John Fager (C), 6-1

EWL CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM SCORES: