#3 Mountain Cat Wrestlers Post 25-15 Victory at #7 Shippensburg 12/01/05...Once again, the #3-ranked Mountain Cat wrestlers faced a tough challenge and passed the test. This time, Head Coach Pat Pecora's squad traveled to #7 Shippensburg University on Thursday and handed the Red Raiders a 25-15 loss to improve to 8-1 on the season. Senior national Champion and #1-ranked Thad Benton (141 lbs.) (Claysburg, Pa.) pinned Tyler Gilson at 2:33 to lead the Mountain Cat attack. After Shippensburg's #3-ranked Jamie Thomas defeated #1-ranked Ryon Mazzocco (Cresson, Pa.), 9-4, at 125 lbs., Pitt Johnstown's Tom Brambley (133 lbs.) (Breezewood, Pa.) responded with a 9-4 win over Darren Murray to even the score at 3-3. Benton put the Mountain Cats up 9-3 with his pin, but it was a short-live lead because Dan Nauman pinned sophomore Eric Svec (149 lbs.) (Grensburg, Pa.) at 5:57 to re-tie the score. The Mountain Cats went up 13-9 when junior Joe Strittmatter (Ebensburg, Pa.) earned an 11-1 major decision over Chris Murray at 157 lbs. The Red Raiders battled back to make the score 13-12 with a decision at 165 lbs. However, that was as close as Shippensburg would get, as the Mountain Cats got a 9-2 win by #6 Eli Garshinck (Armagh, Pa.) at 174 lbs., a 7-5 decision by #1 Mike Corcetti (Export, Pa.) at 174 lbs. and a forfeit win by junior Mike Fowler (Carrolltown, Pa.) at 197 lbs. With Pitt Johnstown leading 25-12, the Red Raiders set the final score at 25-15 when #7 Jake Lininger defeated #6 Zach Majocha (Upper Burrell, Pa.) in the heavyweight bout. Shippensburg fell to 0-1 with the loss. Pitt Johnstown travels to the Penn State Open on Sunday, before hosting East Region rival Kutztown University on Friday, December 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sports Center.
AT #7 SHIPPENSBURG UNIVERSITY - 12/01/05 #3 Pitt Johnstown 25 Shippensburg University 15 125 lb. #3 Jamie Thomas (SU) Decision #1 Ryon Mazzocco (UPJ) 9-4 0-3 133 lbs. Tom Brambley (UPJ) Decision Darren Murray (SU) 6-4 3-3 141 lbs. #1 Thad Benton (UPJ) Fall Tyler Gilson (SU) 2:33 9-3 149 lbs. Dan Nauman (SU) Fall Eric Svec (UPJ) 5:57 9-9 157 lbs. Joe Strittmatter (UPJ) Major Decision Chris Murray (SU) 11-1 13-9 165 lbs. Kirby Fanua (SU) Decision Albert Miles (UPJ) 8-3 12-13 174 lbs. #6 Eli Garshnick (UPJ) Decision Ian Zearfaus (SU) 9-2 16-12 184 lbs. #1 Mike Corcetti (UPJ) Decision Peter Grodziak (SU) 7-5 19-12 197 lbs. Mike Fowler (UPJ) FORFEIT 25-12 HWT. #7 Jake Lininger (SU) Decision #6 Zach Majocha (UPJ) 7-0 15-25
