Kocher, Gavin Achieve Career Milestones at Midlands
12/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 30, 2007
Evanston, Ill. - On a day when the Midlands Wrestling Championships celebrated its 45th anniversary and honored its numerous Olympic competitors, two Pitt Panthers decided to join in on the festivities.
Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) carved out yet another niche for himself in the school's record books, becoming the first Panther grappler to claim 100 career tournament victories in the history of the storied program. Adding to his 100 overall wins and school record for tournament victories, Kocher claimed his ground breaking victory after a pin in sudden victory of his quarterfinal bout against Wayne French of Great Falls. The pin gave him three on the day and upped his career total to 26, placing him fifth all-time in Pitt annals.
The fifth-year senior found himself trailing French, 4-2, after two periods of action, but kept his composure and capitalized on an opportunity in the third period with a three-point near fall. French was able to escape later in the third to send the bout into sudden victory. Kocher, the No. 3 seed in the 157-pound bracket, wasted little time in the extra period and put French on his back with just 29 seconds gone off the clock.
He will continue on to the semifinals of the championship bracket where he will face the No. 2 seed, Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State for a chance to go to the finals.
No. 1-ranked Keith Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) also reached a very prestigious plateau today. Gavin registered his 100th career victory in his first bout of the day, a 3-1 decision of Ryan Smith of Great Falls. He went on to post two more wins in the tournament's first day of competition, raising his win total to 102 and giving him a spot in tomorrow's semifinals against Illinois' John Dergo. Gavin, the nation's top wrestler at 174, is now an infallible 15-0 this season, including 9-0 in tournament competition. He joins Kocher as the only current Panthers with triple-digits wins.
Zach Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) was the other Panther who entered the tournament with a ranking in his weight class. The No. 7 seed used a forfeit and a 9-5 decision over Oregon State's Jack Clayton to advance to the quarterfinals where he met up with Mike Faust, the No. 2 seed from the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. The two titans battled to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. A 3-3 stalemate occurred after two overtime periods and Faust's slim two second advantage in riding time proved to be the tiebreaker in the bout.
Sheaffer will continue his quest tomorrow against Patrick Walker of Liberty in hopes of gaining a spot in the field of eight in the consolation bracket.
Ryan Bosso (Pequea, Pa./Penn Manor) rounds out the group of four Pitt wrestlers who will still be competing tomorrow. The 125-pounder finished the day with a 3-1 record and will match up against Troy Dolan of Missouri for a spot in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket.
The Panthers currently reside in eighth place in the team competition with 44 points, a meager two point behind seventh-place Purdue. They will look to build upon that team total tomorrow when competition resumes at Noon at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The semifinal and final rounds will be aired on the Big Ten Network.
Panther fans, be sure to log onto www.pittsburghpanthers.com throughout the day for updates from the Midlands.
For complete brackets from the Midlands, please visit the link below:
Midlands Championship Information