Jump to content



  • Photo:

    Photo:

    Pitt Johnstown wins 19th Regional title with four champions

    Head Coach Pat Pecora and the #6-ranked Mountain Cat wrestlers claimed their third straight and 19th overall Regional title with four champions and eight National Qualifiers at Saturday's 2006 NCAA Division II East Regional Tournament at Kutztown University. Pitt Johnstown's 136 team points were 17 points better than second place Mercyhurst's 119 points. 2005 National Champion Thad Benton (141 lbs.) (Claysburg, Pa.) was named the 2006 East Region Outstanding Wrestler while Coach Pat Pecora was named East Region Coach of the Year.

    Sophomore Brandon Reasy (133 lbs.) (New Enterprise, Pa.), Benton (141 lbs.) and All-Americans Eli Garshnick (174 lbs.) (Armagh, Pa.) and Mike Corcetti (184 lbs.) (Export, Pa.) all won individual championships to lead the eight National Qualifiers. Reasy posted a 4-0 record and defeated Matt Moser (West Liberty State), 5-1 in the title bout, while Benton earned a 16-5 major decision over J.J. Zanetta (Mercyhurst) to claim the championship at 141 lbs. Corcetti and Garshnick both recorded 3-0 records on their way titles. Corcetti handed Shippensburg's Mark Murphy a 14-9 loss, and Garshnick defeated Tommy Clark (West Liberty State), 3-1, in their championship matches. Junior Mike Fowler (197 lbs.) (Carrolltown, Pa.) also placed third when he picked up a 14-5 major decision over Darryl Scott (Anderson).

    Senior two-time National Qualifier Zach Majocha (HWT.) (Upper Burrell, Pa.) placed second after suffering a 1-0 loss to Jacob Lininger (Shippensburg), while Albert Miles (165 lbs.) (Canonsburg, Pa.) battled back from an opening round loss to finish third. Miles dealt Alonzo Azumendi (Newberry) a 7-6 loss to win the Third Place match. Junior Joe Strittmatter (157 lbs.) (Ebensburg, Pa.) also rebounded from a first round loss to wrestle back and win the True Fourth place match. After defeating Herb Porter (Anderson), 4-2, in the Fifth Place match, Strittmatter had the chance to wrestle for a True Fourth and took advantage of his opportunity by winning an 11-3 major decision over Justin Goneau (West Liberty State) to advance to Nationals.

    Seniors Ryon Mazzocco (125 lbs.) (Cresson, Pa.) and Jay Matteo (149 lbs.) (New Castle, Pa.) both placed sixth. Mazzocco suffered a 5-0 loss to Daniel Clausing (Limestone) in the semifinals, before having to injury default in his next two matches. Matteo finished with a 1-3 record after falling 9-2 to Joey Hagedorn (West Liberty State) in the Fifth Place match.

    Pitt Johnstown and Mercyhurst finished first and second in team points, followed by West Liberty State (WV) College (97.5 pts.), Gannon (86.5 pts.), Shippensburg University (80 pts.), Kutztown University (68.5 pts.), Anderson (S.C.) College (45.5 pts.), Newberry (S.C.) College (43 pts.), Limestone (S.C.) College (35 pts.), UNC-Pembroke (31.5 pts.), Belmont-Abbey (N.C.) College (10 pts.) and American International (MA) College (.5 pts.).

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    There are no comments to display.



    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...