Wrestling drops third straight, Ohio State wins 20-17
By ALAN SMODIC
Senior Staff Writer
A lot can ride on the heavyweight battle of a wrestling match, especially when the two teams are tied at 17, and the wrestlers are even with two points each as the third period begins.
Pitt’s heavyweight wrestler Zach Sheaffer found himself in this situation Friday night when he locked up with Ohio State’s Kirk Nail.
Nail recorded an escape point on Sheaffer early in the period and was able to avoid a takedown to hold on for a 3-2 decision over Sheaffer. The decision gave the Buckeyes the final three team points and a 20-17 victory over the Panthers in the Pete.
“We felt real confident going into the match after splitting the first five, but Sheaffer got kind of surprised early and ended up having to come back most of the match,” head coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “This is something he will learn from and get better through.”
Pitt found itself down by an early score of 6-0 after both Zach Bowman and Mike Ciotti lost in the first two matches.
Ron Tarquinio, however, ended an Ohio State run with a 6-3 win over Jason Johnstone. Tarquinio scored on two takedowns in the match, while Johnstone never scored on anything other than escapes.
After Pitt’s Julian Warshaw lost by a technical fall at 17-1, Matt Kocher, Justin Nestor, Zach Doll and Eric Cassidy ran off four straight wins, providing Pitt a 17-11 lead with two matches remaining.
Kocher gained complete control over the Buckeyes’ Keegan Mueller with an early takedown and two near-fall points. Mueller never recovered and failed to score a single point, suffering a 7-0 shutout loss to Kocher.
Nestor matched up with Ohio State freshman John Vogel and notched eight of his points off of takedowns alone. The freshman Vogel couldn’t climb out of the hole and lost by a major decision.
Ohio State’s Nathaniel Auguston scored on a reversal late in the 174-pound matchup with Doll to tie the match at four, but Doll countered with a reversal of his own and recorded a riding point as the third period ended for a 7-4 win.
After gaining their first lead of the day at 13-11, the Panthers added to their winning streak with one more win ” a 12-2 major decision by Cassidy over Alex Picazo in the 184- pound battle.
“That is the best Cassidy has wrestled all year,” Stottlemyer said. “He beat the kid earlier in the year in a tight match, but this time he just went out and pounded him.”
Pitt freshman Lou Thomas faced a daunting task in the 194-pound weight class when he found himself up against the No. 4-ranked J.D. Bergman of Ohio State.
Bergman wasted no time with Thomas and scored an early takedown and eventually pinned him while having him on his back for six team points to tie the match at 17.
With the match coming down to them, Sheaffer and Nail locked up for a battle in the heavyweight class.
Nail jumped out on the aggressive side with a takedown of Sheaffer in the first three seconds of the match. Sheaffer stumbled backward when Nail came forward, which led to the easy takedown.
Sheaffer escaped from the takedown and added another escape point in the second period to tie the match at two heading into the third period. Nail, however, escaped in the period and held off Sheaffer for a 3-2 victory and a 20-17 team victory for Ohio State.
Pitt will resume action Wednesday when it travels to Slippery Rock for a matchup with The Rock scheduled for 7 p.m.
“We came up just short in a couple matches we thought we could win,” Stottlemyer said. “As long as we go out and continue to wrestle hard, we’ll be able to overcome the injuries and adversity we’ve been going through for the past weeks.”
Wrestling Gear
