Head Coach Rande Stottlemyer felt the team's effort was better in this match, and he was particularly happy with the performances from Mike Ciotti, Ronald Tarquinio, Joey Ecklof and Justin Nestor. Three of those wrestlers put Pitt on the scoreboard, and Tarquinio, despite a tough loss at 141 pounds, fought hard against the No.2-ranked wrestler, Cory Cooperman.
Lehigh took an early lead at 125 pounds after Matt Fisk won a 17-0 tech fall over Pitt's Brad Gentzle (Easton, Pa./Easton) at the 6:12 mark. Lehigh was winning 5-0 going into the 133 bout. Senior Mike Ciotti (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) was able to earn three points for the Panthers after a 7-1 decision over Lehigh's John Stout.
At 141 pounds, the matchup between Pitt's Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) and Lehigh's Cooperman was the most anticipated bout of the evening. The two went head-to-head earlier this season at the Southern Scuffle where they took the championship match into overtime. Cooperman won that match, 3-2. Tarquinio, again, fought hard in this second matchup, this time losing by a narrow 5-3 decision. Cooperman's victory put Lehigh ahead 8-3.
In front of a hometown crowd, freshman Joey Ecklof (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) earned his third dual victory of the season after a 8-3 decision over Lehigh's Trevor Chinn. Ecklof narrowed the scoring gap, adding another three points for Pitt.
Another Lehigh Valley local, Sean Richmond (Emmaus, Pa./Easton) faced a tough bout at 157 pounds where he was up against Lehigh's No.11 Derek Zinck. Zinck scored another victory for the Mountain Hawks with a 15-6 major decision, keeping Lehigh in the lead 12-6.
Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) earned another victory for the Panthers at 165 pounds with a 6-0 shutout over Lehigh's Dave Nakasone. Nestor is now 4-2 in dual wins for the season, moving up in the Pitt record books with 108 career victories.
The Mountain Hawks dominated the final four bouts of the evening. Pitt's Nick Padezan (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) faced No.12 Travis Frick at 174 pounds, where he lost by an 11-3 major decision. At 184, Lehigh's Dave Helfrich won a 5-2 decision over Pitt freshman Kyle Deliere (Cecil, Pa./Canon-McMillan), and at 197 pounds, No. 16 Matt Cassidy won a close 2-1 decision over the Panthers' Mike Heist (Orefield, Pa./Parkland).
In the final bout of the evening, Lehigh worked off their momentum as heavyweight Paul Weibel pinned Pitt's Lou Thomas (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) at the 6:27 mark to give Lehigh the 28-9 victory.
The Pitt vs. Lehigh matchup was televised on Fox College Sports Atlantic, and will air locally for Panther fans on FSN Pittsburgh. The re-broadcast is scheduled for noon on Sunday, January 22. The Panthers (2-4, 0-1 EWL) return to Pittsburgh next weekend for a 7:30 p.m. matchup against Michigan State on Friday, January 20.
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