#5 Wrestlers Celebrate Senior Night with 19-12 Win Over #10 Mercyhurst 02/17/06...Head Coach Pat Pecora and the #5-ranked Mountain Cat wrestlers celebrated Senior Night by setting the school record for wins in a season with a hard-fought 19-12 victory over #10 Mercyhurst College, Friday night in the Sports Center. Sophomore All-American Mike Corcetti (Export, Pa.) gave the Mountain Cats' a 13-12 lead that they would never give up with an 8-0 major decision victory at 184 lbs. Pitt Johnstown, now 24-4 on the year, has also won 32 straight home matches. Senior Ryon Mazzocco (125 lbs.) (Cresson, Pa.) wrapped up his Pitt Johnstown home career with an 8-4 win over Payne Lint to start the night, but Mercyhurst quickly tied the match with a decision at 133 lbs. After senior National Champion and #1-ranked Thad Benton (Claysburg, Pa.) defeated #8-ranked J.J. Zanetta, 3-0 at 141 lbs., the Lakers went on to win the next three matches, including a 7-6 win by #8 Don Cummings over senior Jay Matteo (New Castle, Pa.) at 149 lbs. and a 9-7 overtime decision by #8 Will Tedder over Joe Strittmatter (Ebensburg, Pa.) at 157 lbs. Trailing 12-6 with four matches left, the Mountain Cats needed to rally. Junior All-American Eli Garshnick (174 lbs.) (Armagh, Pa.) earned a 10-5 overtime win with a take down and three near-fall points, before Corcetti put Pitt Johnstown in the lead for good with his major decision win. Junior Mike Fowler (197 lbs.) (Carrolltown, Pa.) extended the lead to 16-12 with a 6-1 win over Trevor Gallo, and senior Zach Majocha (HWT.) (Upper Burrell, Pa.) ended his last home match with a 3-1 win over Paul Bergman to set the final score at 19-12. With the loss, Mercyhurst dropped to 14-8 and had its nine-match win streak snapped. Prior to the match, Pitt Johnstown recognized five seniors...2005 National Champion Thad Benton (141 lbs.), 2005 National Runner-up Ryon Mazzocco (125 lbs.), two-time National Qualifier Zach Majocha (HWT.) and four-year lettermen Jay Matteo (149 lbs.) (New Castle, Pa.) and Tom Prato (149 lbs.) (Indiana, Pa.). Pitt Johnstown travels to the 2006 East Region Tournament at Kutztown University on February 24-25 and the the 2006 NCAA Division II National Tournament at the University of Findlay (OH) on March 10-11.
VS. #10 MERCYHURST COLLEGE - 02/17/06 #5 Pitt Johnstown #10 Mercyhurst College 125 lbs. Ryon Mazzocco (UPJ) Decision Payne Lint (MC) 8-4 3-0 133 lbs. Leonard Calhoun (MC) Decision Brandon Reasy (UPJ) 4-2 3-3 141 lbs. Thad Benton (UPJ) Decision J.J. Zanetta (MC) 3-0 6-3 149 lbs. Don Cummings (MC) Decision Jay Matteo (UPJ) 7-6 6-6 157 lbs. Will Tedder (MC) Decision Joe Strittmatter (UPJ) 9-7 OT 6-9 165 lbs. Zack Schafer (MC) Decision Albert Miles (UPJ) 10-3 6-12 174 lbs. Eli Garshnick (UPJ) Decision Hudson Harrison (MC) 10-5 OT 9-12 184 lbs. Mike Corcetti (UPJ) Major Decision Frank Zatta (MC) 8-0 13-12 197 lbs. Mike Fowler (UPJ) Decision Trevor Gallo (MC) 6-2 16-12 HWT. Zach Majocha (UPJ) Decision Paul Bergman (MC) 3-1 19-12
