#8 Wrestlers Post 3-1 Record East Coast Duals
01/26/08...After recording three lopsided victories, Head Coach Pat Pecora's #8 Mountain Cat wrestlers suffered a, 22-17, loss to #10 Newberry (SC) College in Saturday's fourth round of 2008 East Coast Duals at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke. The Mountain Cats went 3-1 at the duals and are now 12-5 on the year.
Pitt Johnstown fell behind Newberry, 4-0, but a forfeit victory by #1-ranked Brandon Reasy (New Enterprise, Pa.) at 133 lbs. gave the Mountain Cats their lone lead at, 6-4. Newberry's Tony Washington upset #7 Shane Valko (141 lbs.) (Windber, Pa.), 6-3, to start a string of three straight wins. A fall by Newberry at 149 lbs. and a 7-5 decision victory at 157 lbs., increased the lead to, 16-6. Sophomore Kyle Keane (165 lbs.) (Clearfield, Pa.) responded with a 5-0 win over Dustin Harvey, and #7 Albert Miles (174 lbs.) (Canonsburg, Pa.) won a 13-4 major decision over Bryant Blanton to close the gap to, 16-13. An upset by Keeno Griffin over #2 Mike Corcetti (Export, Pa.) at 184 lbs. gave Newberry a 19-13 lead. Once again, the Mountain Cats answered when Patrick Walsh (197 lbs.) (Leesport, Pa.) pulled off an, 18-7, major decision upset over #5 Kelly Anundson to cut the deficit to 19-17. However, Cy Wainwright defeated heavyweight Zach Majocha (Upper Burrell, Pa.), 3-1, to set the final score at 22-17. Newberry improved to 12-5.
Following two convincing victories in Friday's action at the Duals, Pitt Johnstown came out on Saturday and dominated Belmont Abbey by winning eight matches in a, 34-6, victory. #7 Shane Valko (141 lbs.) (Windber, Pa.) pinned Kevin James at 4:52, and #7 Miles (174 lbs.) won by fall at 6:50 over Dave Hoggard at 6:50, while #2 Corcetti won a, 19-3, technical fall over Joe Kent at 5:50 in the 184-lb. bout. Sophomores Keane (165 lbs.) and Walsh (197 lbs.) both won, 10-1, major decisions. Reasy (New Enterprise, Pa.), Adam Whetstone (149 lbs.) (Claysburg, Pa.) and Nathan Tomporoski (HWT.) (Natrona Height, Pa.) all won by decision for the Mountain Cats. Belmont Abbey, 6-6-1 on the season, scored decision wins at 125 lbs. and 157 lbs.
Reeasy, Keane, Miles and Walsh all posted 4-0 record, while Tomporoski went 2-0. In addition, Valko and Whetstone were both 3-1, while Mazen Kholi (157 lbs.) (Allentown, Pa.) was 2-1 for the Mountain Cats.
Valko (141 lbs.) scored a technical fall and Majocha upset #7 Trey Moss at heavyweight to lead the #8 Mountain Cat wrestlers to a, 28-6, win over #18 Limestone (S.C.) College in Friday evening's First Round. After falling behind, 3-0, #1-ranked Reasy (133 lbs.) earned a, 12-3, major decision over Brent Clausing to give Pitt Johnstown a 4-3 lead and spark a streak that saw the Mountain Cats win six straight matches. Valko followed with a 22-5 technical fall over Riley Pike at 4:30. Whetstone (149 lbs.), Kholi (157 lbs.) and Keane (165 lbs.) all won by decision, and Miles (174 lbs.) won a 12-4 major decision over Joby Shreckhise to increase Pitt Johnstown's lead to 23-3. Limestone, 11-2 on the year, cut the lead to 22-6 when #5 Dan Scanlan upset Corcetti, 9-5 in the 184-lb. bout. However, Majocha ended the match and set the final score at 28-6 with his 6-2 decision over #7 Moss at heavyweight.
In Friday's second round, the Mountain Cats won all 10 bouts, including three by fall, in a 46-0 shutout over Carson Newman. Junior Scott Morgan (125 lbs.) (North Huntingdon, Pa.) got Pitt Johnstown rolling with an 18-3 technical fall over Josef Smith at 6:15, before Reasy (133 lbs.) picked-up a 3-2 decision over Kent Pierson to give Pitt Johnstown an 8-0 lead. Valko followed-up his first round technical fall victory with a fall over Drew Roberts at 5:12 at 141 lbs., before Whetstone (149 lbs.) defeated Kurtis Hess, 6-5. Kholi (157 lbs.) then pinned Alex Kate at 4:36 and Keane won by forfeit at 165 lbs. to increase the lead to 29-0. The Mountain Cats kept the pressure on, as Miles (174 lbs.) pinned Ryan Brock at the 1:56 mark, and Corcetti rebounded from the opening round loss by defeating Will Campbell, 8-1. Pitt Johnstown closed out the match with a, 17-2 technical fall by Walsh at 2:56 over Adam Cable at 197 lbs. and a 3-2 decision by Tomporoski over Tom Minwell at heavyweight. With the loss, Carson Newman dropped to 6-10.
The Mountain Cats travel to #11 Ashland (OH) University on Friday and to #15 University of Findlay (OH) on Saturday. Pitt Johnstown will host its next home match on Wednesday, February 13, when West Liberty State (WV) College visits the Sports Center at 7:00 p.m.