No. 24 Pitt Set for Friday Night Showdown
12/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 17, 2008
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PITTSBURGH - The 24th ranked University of Pittsburgh wrestling team will host No. 20 Northwestern Friday, December 19 at 7 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field House. Pitt leads the all-time series 4-0, with the two teams last meeting during the 2002-03 season at the 14th Annual Wendy's Big Classic Duals where Pitt was a 29-6 winner. Friday's match will feature seven wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of their respective weight classes, including a showdown at 141-pounds between Pitt's Tyler Nauman (No. 10) and Northwestern's Keith Sulzer (No. 6).
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS Northwestern enters this week's match with a 5-1 dual record. The Wildcats have posted wins over UT-Chattanooga (30-12), Eastern Michigan (23-13), Kent State (21-8), Stanford (25-15) and Northern Illinois (27-12). Their lone defeat came at the hands of UC Davis, 23-15. NU has four wrestlers in this week's USA Today/Intermat/NWCA poll, including second ranked Jake Herbert, the 2006-07 184-pound National Champion. Herbert leads NU with a perfect 10-0 record on the year.
SERIES HISTORY The Panthers and Wildcats will meet for the first time since the 2002-03 season and just the fifth time in history. Pitt owns a 4-0 mark against NU. Most recently, the Panthers were a 29-6 winner over the Wildcats back in 2002-03 at the 14th Annual Wendy's Big Classic Duals hosted by Ashland University. In its 29-6 win, Pitt took eight of 10 matches from Northwestern, including two major decisions and a pin.
MOVIN' ON UP After their fourth-place finish at the 27th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the Panthers found their way into the USA Today/Intermat/NWCA rankings in the No. 25 spot. Currently this week, the Panthers occupy the 24th spot in the rankings and will look to climb even higher with a win over No. 20 Northwestern, Friday night at Fitzgerald Field House.
GET FAMILIAR WITH THIS NAME Redshirt freshman Tyler Nauman made his debut in the national rankings at the No. 11 spot last week after a strong performance at the 27th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. In Vegas, Nauman rode a wave of upsets over the second, third and sixth seeded wrestlers to reach the finals. In the finals he fell 7-5 to Corey Jantzen (Harvard), nearly pinning Jantzen in the closing seconds of the match. Nauman, now the No. 10 ranked 141-pounder in the country will again face a challenge Friday night as Northwestern's Keith Sulzer enters the match as the No. 6 ranked wrestler at 141.
CANT NOBODY TAKE HIM DOWN Senior heavyweight Zach Sheaffer enters the Northwestern match with an 11-1 record. Despite the lone loss in the championship match at the Cliff Keen Invitational, Sheaffer has yet to be taken down this season. Prior to the two back points yielded in Las Vegas, Sheaffer had only given up escape points so far this season.
MILESTONE WATCH Head coach Rande Stottlemyer enters his 30th season with 248 career dual meet wins. Already the winningest coach in Pitt's history, Stottlemyer needs just two wins to reach 250 for his career. Senior Zach Sheaffer is in his final season for the Panthers and now has 96 career victories. He currently stands four wins away from reaching the century mark and just 10 wins from cracking the top-15 career wins list. He has posted at least 25 wins in each of his three seasons wrestled and picked up 35 last season, the fourth best total for a junior in Pitt history.
SHOW STEALER Of the 47 teams at the 27th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, 11 were ranked among the USA Today/Intermat/NWCA's top-25 poll. The unranked Panthers' fourth place finish bested eight of the 11 ranked teams present, stealing the spotlight from some of the best teams in the country.
PIN PARTY Pitt has recorded 42 pins this season. Two Panthers are tied for the team lead with five, redshirt freshman Tyler Nauman (141) and senior Zach Sheaffer (285).
RANKED PANTHERS Three Panthers enter this week's dual match with Northwestern ranked among the top 20 in their respective weight classes. Junior Jimmy Conroy is 16th in the 133-pound class, redshirt freshman Tyler Nauman is 10th at 141-pounds and senior heavyweight Zach Sheaffer is 6th in the heavyweight class.