"Matt Kocher and Keith Gavin wrestled ‘unattached' while winning their respective weight classes and competed exceptionally well. They both won weight classes that were very competitive," said Head Coach Rande Stottlemyer. "Other wrestlers included Dave Kapetanovich, Brandon Skonieczky, Matt Darnell, Julian Warshaw and Justin Hunt who also competed well. They showed good improvement from their previous competition and can use it as a building block for the next open event which will be held at Edinboro. The only way to get experience is to compete in these events as often as they can. It's imperative to their development as Division I wrestlers."
Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) had a landmark tournament at 157 pounds, capturing his 100th career victory in just three seasons. His championship title is his sixth of the season, and he's placed in every tournament he's competed in so far. In his opening bout, he won a 9-2 decision over Bloomsburg's Alex Canover. His fall in the second match was his 100th win. He pinned Michael Mannozzi in one minute. Kocher went on to win a major decision in the quarterfinals over Central Michigan's Zack Strunk. He won the semifinals with a 3-2 decision over West Virginia's Donnie Jones, and in his final match of the tournament won a 1-0 decision over Indiana's Matt Coughlin.
Wrestling at 174 pounds, Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) won his second tournament this season in addition to placing in three others. Gavin's 4-0 record from the Kent State Open moves him to 27-7 for the season with six pins. He won his first bout with a fall over Michigan State's Dash Dudley at the 1:50 mark. In the quarterfinals, Gavin defeated Penn State's Brian Cantoalupi with a 3-1 decision. He went on to win a 2-1 decision over Michigan State's Rocky Cozart before winning the championship match with a 2-0 decision over Maryland's Jason Kiessling.
At 125 pounds, freshman Brandon Skonieczky (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) finished 1-2 in the tournament with his win coming from a 7-5 overtime decision over Maryland's Charles Golden. Freshman Justin Hunt (Salem, N.Y./Salem) also finished 1-2, earning his first collegiate major decision with a score of 17-3 over Kent State's Pat Lahan.
Sophomore Julian Warshaw (New York, N.Y./Poly Prep) finished 0-2 in the tournament with losses to Virginia's Trevor Bowers and West Virginia's Josh Oliver. Freshman Dave Kapetanovich (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills/CCAC) ended 2-2 in the tournament earning wins over Ashland's Devin Finegan with a 9-3 decision and Gary Chaney with a 7-2 decision. Redshirt freshman Matt Darnell (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) also finished 2-2. He won a 6-0 decision over Virginia Tech's Matt Woods and a 5-0 decision over Findlay's Josh Fox.
Several Panthers will compete this weekend in the Edinboro Open. The team will resume league matches this week as well. They'll face Clarion on Tuesday evening and Lock Haven on Friday evening. Both matches will be held at the Fitzgerald Field House.
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now