Eight Wrestlers Advance to Nationals as Mountain Cats Claim 20th Regional Title
02/24/07...Head Coach Pat Pecora and the Pitt Johnstown wrestlers claimed their 20 Regional Tournament Championship with 120 team points, 6.5 points better than second place Mercyhurst College, Saturday afternoon at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke. Four Pitt Johnstown wrestlers earned runner-up finishes and a total of eight will advance to the 2007 NCAA Division II National Tournament at the University of Nebraska-Kearney on March 9-10.
After advancing eight to the semifinals and holding a commanding lead after Friday's first day of wrestling, the Mountain Cats got the job done, despite winning no individual titles. Junior All-American Brandon Reasy (133 lbs.) (New Enterprise, Pa.), nationally #1-ranked Mike Corcetti (184 lbs.) (Export, Pa.), 2006 National Qualifier Mike Fowler (197 lbs.) (Carroltown, Pa.) and true freshman Chris Dempsey (HWT.) (Sewickley, Pa.) all reached the finals, but finished second. Kutztown's Joe Kemmerer defeated Reasy, 1-0, in the title bout and Shippensburg's Mark Murphy upset Corcetti with a fall at :53. At 197 lbs., Fowler suffered a 5-1 loss to the tournament's top-seeded Derek Brunson (UNC-Pembroke) and Dempsey lost, 9-5, to Jason Groller (Shippensburg, Pa.) in the championship after knocking off #1-seeded William Moss (Limestone), 3-2, in overtime in the semifinals.
Junior Derrek Bosso (125 lbs.) (Pequea, Pa.), 2006 National Qualifier Joe Strittmatter (157 lbs.) (Ebensburg, Pa.) and All-American Eli Garshnick (174 lbs.) (Armagh, Pa.) placed third after reaching the semifinals to earn a trip to the National Tournament. Bosso dropped a, 12-7, decision to eventual champion Payne Lint (Mercyhurst) in the semifinals, but responded with a fall, before scoring a, 10-0, major decision over Ian Barker (Limestone) to place third. Strittmatter lost in the semifinals, but defeated Jacob Wilson (Shippensburg), 3-2, and Mikel Bush (Limestone), 13-7, to finish third, while Garshnick pinned Todd Neptune (Limestone) at 6:54 and won, 3-0, over Quinn Toldbert (Newberry) to secure third place.
Red-shirt reshman Shane Valko (141 lbs.) (Windber, Pa.) also advanced to the semifinals and placed fourth to become eighth Mountain Cat to advance to nationals. After suffering a 12-8 decision to Steve Fittery (Shippensburg) in the semis, Valko defeated Bret Martinez, 7-1, but lost, 9-1, to Doug Surra (West Liberty State) in the Third Place Match.
Red-shirt freshman Adam Whetstone (149 lbs.) (Claysburg, Pa.) and 2006 All-American Albert Miles (165 lbs.) (Canonsburg, Pa.) competed in the Regional Tournament, but did not place.
TEAM STANDINGS: PITT JOHNSTOWN (120 PTS.), Mercyhurst (113.5 pts.), Shippensburg University (100.0 pts.), West Liberty State (WV) College (91.5 pts.), Newberry (SC) College (86.0 pts.), Kutztown University (69.5 pts.), Gannon University (58.0 pts.), UNC-Pembroke (57.0 pts.), Belmont Abbey (NC) College (56.0 pts.), Limestone (NC) College (44.5 pts.), American International (MA) College (11.0 pts.), Anderson (SC) College (11.0 pts.), St. Andrews Presbyterian (NC) College (.5 pts.)