Panther wrestling with up-and-down season

By Rob Biertempfel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, January 9, 2005

Pitt wrestler Ron Tarquinio has had his chances this season, but he still is waiting for a breakout win.

The junior from McDonald is ranked fifth in the country at 141 pounds by Intermat. Saturday afternoon, he went up against No. 3 Cory Cooperman of Lehigh, the third time this season Tarquinio has faced a higher-ranked foe.

Unfortunately for Tarquinio (West Allegheny), it also turned out to be his third loss of the year. Cooperman surged to a 7-3 victory.

Sixth-ranked Lehigh wiped out No. 25 Pitt, 34-12, at Fitzgerald Field House. “He’s wrestled everybody, “Pitt coach Rande Stottlemyer said of Tarquinio (West Allegheny). “Tarq is in the mix. He’s just got to get a little bit better mental focus. To me, it’s not a physical thing. He’s got to keep on himself and get it done.”

Cooperman (8-1) was coming off his first loss of the season, an 8-1 decision Friday night against DeWitt Driscoll of Penn State. That snapped Cooperman’s streak of 23 straight dual-meet victories.

Tarquinio pushed the pace early in the match. He fooled Cooperman with a couple of feints and scored a single-leg takedown midway through the first period.

Thirty seconds into the second, however, Cooperman went up 4-2 with an escape and a quick takedown. By the end of the period, he was leading 6-3 and had built up more than a minute of riding time.

“After we got into a couple of scrambles, I was out there thinking too much instead of attacking like I did in the first period, “Tarquinio said.

Similar periods of lethargy cost Tarquinio (13-3) earlier this season. He lost, 4-2, against top-ranked Nate Gallick of Iowa State and dropped a 6-2 decision against No. 4 Andy Simmons of Michigan State.

“That put me in a position where I was tired of losing to those top-five guys, “Tarquinio said. “I’ve wrestled everybody so close, I knew I had to let myself be more aggressive, especially against guys who are tough to score on. That helped me right away in the next two tournaments.”

Tarquinio placed first in the Mat Town Tournament and the Las Vegas Invitational.

At the Las Vegas tourney in early December, Tarquinio beat his five opponents by a combined score of 25-5. In the title bout, Tarquinio took a 3-2 win against Matt Murray of Nebraska, who was an NCAA finalist last year.

“Every match, I went in aggressive and pushed the pace, “Tarquinio said. “Things just kind of opened up from there. It was a huge confidence boost, going into the second half of the season. I’ve got high expectations.”

After Tarquinio’s strong showing in Las Vegas, WrestlingReport.com named him the Eastern Wrestling League wrestler of the week. It was his second straight honor, making him just the second EWL wrestler — former national champ Josh Koscheck of Edinboro was the first — to be recognized in back-to-back weeks. Tarquinio and former standout Rob Loper are the only Pitt wrestlers to win the weekly award more than once.

In other action yesterday, defending national champion Troy Letters of Lehigh rolled to a 17-6 win against Justin Nestor at 165 pounds.

Letters (Shaler Area) traded one-for-two points throughout the bout, allowing six escapes and getting seven takedowns and a reversal. It was the third major-decision victory this year for Letters (6-0).

Two former WPIAL standouts clashed at 184. Lehigh’s Matt Cassidy (Plum) pinned Eric Cassidy (North Allegheny) in 4 minutes, 1 second.

Notes: Jon Trenge, Lehigh’s third-ranked 197-pounder, did not wrestle. Friday night, Trenge (12-2) was disqualified for flagrant misconduct after throwing Joe Edwards of Penn State. However, Lehigh officials said Trenge’s absence yesterday was not related to the DQ. … Pitt has dropped eight straight dual meets against Lehigh. The Panthers’ last win in the series came during the 1996-97 season.

Rob Biertempfel can be reached at [email protected] or (724) 853-2110.