"It's great for our guys; they believe they can beat anybody and I preach that to them everyday," said head coach John Stutzman after the win. "I honestly believe they're in the best condition in the country. I believed in them the whole time."
Stutzman knew the team matched up well in certain spots against Pittsburgh, but had no idea how tight the match would end up.
"I thought they had a big-time advantage at a couple of weights, but we had some guys come up big for us," he said. "I knew we were right there with them, but I didn't know how close it was going to be."
The Huskies were without 2005 NCAA qualifier Jim Bertulis (Aston/Garnett Valley) who was sidelined with an injury.
"Without Jim, Jason Crawford went in there and wrestled gutsy, not giving up a pin or a tech fall and Ricky Donald didn't give up any bonus points," Stutzman said. "Nate Shirk and George Hickman got us two big overtime wins and wrestled really gutsy at those spots."
125- Mike Sees (Northumberland/Shikellamy) got the Huskies off to an early 5-0 lead with a 18-2 technical fall win over Pittsburgh's Brad Gentzle. After a Gentzle takedown, Sees rattled off an escape, a takedown and six backpoints to take a 9-2 lead after the first period. In the second, Sees got a quick escape after selecting the defensive position. Sees scored a takedown, five backpoints and earned a point on riding time to get the technical fall at the end of the second period.
133- Mike Ciotti put Pittsburgh on the board with a 7-2 decision over the Huskies' Ricky Donald (Milton/Bloomsburg). Donald got the early lead on a takedown in the first period, but Ciotti jumped back on top with four backpoints in the second period after Donald selected the defensive position. In the third, Ciotti, choosing to remain on offense, scored on two backpoints and also earned a point for riding time to cut the Huskies' lead to 5-3.
141- Despite a late escape with less than 20 seconds remaining in the bout, Brad Forbes (Downingtown/Downingtown) fell to the Panthers' Ron Tarquinio in a 2-1 decision. After a scoreless first period, Tarquinio got a quick escape in the second after choosing the down position. Tarquinio won the match after tallying 1:33 of riding time in the third period.
149- In the night's most exciting match, George Hickman (Wilmington, NC/Riverside) won in a 7-5 decision in overtime. With four seconds remaining in the overtime period, Hickman got a takedown against Pittsburgh's Joey Ecklof. Going into the third period, Hickman built a 5-4 lead on a takedown, a reversal and an escape. After choosing the defensive position, Ecklof got an escape to tie the bout and send it into overtime.
157- Aric Fuhrman (Spring Grove/Delone Catholic) got a tight 3-2 win over the Panthers' Sean Richmond to give the Huskies an 11-6 lead. In the first period, Fuhrman got a takedown, owning a 2-1 lead after the first. Richmond evened the score at 2-2 in the second on an escape, tying the score going into the final period. Fuhrman, after selecting the defensive position, scored on an escape to win the match for the Huskies in the final period.
165- 16th-ranked Justin Nestor cut the Huskies' lead to 11-10 with a 10-2 major decision win over Bloomsburg's Jason Crawford (New Albany/Wyalusing Valley). Nestor took a 3-2 lead going into the second period where he scored two points from the offensive position. In the third, Nestor scored four points on an escape from the defensive position and a takedown. His final point came on riding time.
174- Francis Iorfido used a first-period takedown to get a 2-1 win over Bloomsburg's Frank Beasley (Oden, IL/Centralia). Beasley chose the offensive position in the third period, but was unable to score, earning his lone point on riding time.
184- Nate Shirk (Middleburg/Middleburg) got another exiting overtime win for the Huskies, defeating Kyle Deliere, 4-2 in overtime. All the scoring came in the second period. Deliere scored first on an escape from the defensive position. Shirk came back with a takedown, which Deliere responded to with another escape. In the third, Shirk and Deliere wrestled even after Shirk selected the neutral position. In overtime, Shirk got a takedown 18 seconds into the overtime period to give the Huskies a 14-13 lead in the match.
197- A takedown with 11 seconds remaining gave Lou Thomas a 5-2 win over Bloomsburg's Jesse Hasseman (Franklin, IN/Franklin). Thomas took a 3-0 lead going into the third period, where Hasseman got two points on an escape and a point against Thomas for stalling.
HWT- Spaid gave the Huskies the win with a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh's Mike Heist. Spaid got an escape in the second period to take a 1-0 lead and was awarded one point on Heist's unnecessary roughness penalty.
The Huskies will travel to New York this weekend for the Buffalo Duals. Matches are slated to being at 4:00 p.m.
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