#8 Wrestlers Roll Over Anderson and Belmont Abbey to Close Out East Coast Duals
01/24/09...After splitting a pair of matches on Friday, the #8-ranked Mountain Cat wrestlers cruised 27-10 over Anderson (S.C.) University and 38-3 over Belmont Abbey (N.C.) College to close out the 2009 East Coast Duals at St. Andrews Presbyterian (N.C.) College on Saturday. NCAA #3 Shane Valko (133 lbs.) (Windber, Pa.), Zach Lundgren (165 lbs.) (Dubois, Pa.) and Steve Makin (174 lbs.) (Portage, Pa.) all posted 3-0 records to help Pitt-Johnstown improve to 9-4 on the year.
The Mountain Cats kicked-off Saturday moring's action with a solid 27-10 victory over Anderson. Pitt-Johnstown trailed 3-0 after the 125-lb. bout, but Valko (133 lbs.) gave the Mountain Cats the lead for good with a fall over Chris Francis at 2:52. Adam Whetstone (141 lbs.) (Claysburg, Pa.) won a 7-1 decision over Anthony DiCarlo, before Ryan McIntyre (Claysburg, Pa.) upset NCAA #8 Nick DiCarlo 11-5 at 149 lbs. to increase the lead to 12-3. Anderson won a major decision at 157 lbs., but Lundgren and Makin followed with decision wins over Trevor Sanford and John Hamrick at 165 lbs. and 174 lbs., respectively. Anderson won its final match when Luis Audelo defeated Jon Moore (Leechburg, Pa.) 8-5 at 184 lbs. However, Pitt-Johnstown closed out the match with Patrick Walsh's (197 lbs.) (Leesport, Pa.) 3-1 decision over Zach Anderson and Chris Dempsey's (Sewickley, Pa.) fall over Jonah Adams at 4:39 of the heavyweight match. With the loss, Anderson fell to 6-11 on the year.
In Saturday's final match, Pitt-Johnstown ran out to a 19-0 lead after four matches en route to dominating Belmont-Abbey 38-3. Scott Morgan (125 lbs.) (North Huntingdon, Pa.) dealt NCAA #7 Chris Neidermeier a 4-1 loss to get the Mountain Cats started. Valko pinned Colby Yates at :49 in the next bout. Whetstone won by forfeit at 141 lbs., and Nathan Link (Cresson, Pa.) won a 13-1 major decision over Appolon Jean-Paul at 149 lbs. to put Pitt Johnstown up 19-0. Corey White's 8-5 decision over Mazen Kholi (Allentown, Pa.) at 157 lbs. marked the lone victory for Belmont-Abbey. Lundgren claimed his third victory of the duals by earning a 12-3 major decision over Nick Rees at 165 lbs, and Matt Moore (174 lbs.) (Blairsville, Pa.) defeated East Region #5 Adam Phillips 6-2 to give Pitt-Johnstown a 26-3 lead. Jon Moore and Walsh won by decision at 184 lbs. and 197 lbs., before Dempsey was awarded a forfeit victory at heavyweight to set the final score at 38-3. Belmont-Abbey dropped to 1-9.
Pitt-Johnstown opened the 2009 East Coast Duals with a solid 29-6 victory over Limestone Friday evening.
Paul Myers (125 lbs.) (Cresson, Pa.) and Matt Scherich (133 lbs.) (West Finley, Pa.) put the Mountain Cats up 6-0 with decision wins, before Limestone cut the deficit to 6-3 with Jeremy Parker's 4-0 win over Whetstone at 141 lbs. That was as close as it would get, as Pitt-Johnstown won the next six bouts to seal the victory. Link earned an 8-0 major decision over Dustin Baynes at 149 lbs. and Kholi scored an 8-1 win over Bryce Sopko at 157 lbs. to increase the lead to 13-3. Lundgren (165 lbs.) followed with an 11-3 major decision over Casey Bradley, and Makin upset East Region #1 Joby Schreckhise 9-8 at 174 lbs. The Mountain Cats continued to pour it. Jon Moore won a 7-2 decision over Aaron Winemiller at 184 lbs., and East Region #2 Walsh pinned Michael Walsh at :53 to put Pitt Johnstown up 29-3. Limestone set the final score at 29-6 when NCAA #7 and East Region #2 Trey Moss defeated East Region #4 Dempsey 3-1 in overtime in the heavyweight bout. With the loss, Limestone fell to 3-7 on the year.
In round two, the Mountain Cats fell behind 3-0, but Valko answered with a 15-5 major decision over Andrew Young at 133 lbs. to give Pitt-Johnstown its only lead of the match at 4-3. Newberry went on to win the next four bouts in close decisions. Tony Washington won 4-1 over Whetstone and #5 Latra Collick held off McIntyre 5-3 at 149 lbs. Then, Sean Byrnes defeated Kholi 6-5 at 157 lbs., but Pitt-Johnstown was deducted two team points for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Newberry led 12-2. After Brandon Kelly upset NCAA #4 Kyle Keane (Bradford, Pa.) 11-8 at 165 lbs. to increase the advantage to 15-2, Makin and Matt Moore (Blairsville, Pa.) pulled Pitt-Johnstown to within 15-8 with decision wins. Makin defeated Whitelock 7-5, and Moore handed East Region #1 Bryant Blanton a 4-3 loss in the 184-lb bout. However, Newberry won the last two matches to secure the victory. Walsh suffered a 7-6 loss to NCAA #3 Keeno Griffin at 197 lbs., and #2 Cy Wainwright won an 18-7 major decision over Dempsey at heavyweight. Newberry improved to 16-2.
The Mountain Cats return home to host #17-ranked Ashland (OH) University on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sports Center.