Tomei Shines Again, But No. 17 Pitt Wrestling Falls Short Against Kent State, 16-15 The Panthers drop to 4-3 on the season.
Dec. 12, 2010
PITTSBURGH—The Pitt wrestling team fell to 4-3 on the season after dropping a 16-15 match against Kent State on Sunday at Fitzgerald Field House. Both teams won five bouts each, with the Golden Flashes picking up the extra point by way of a major decision at the 165-pound division.
“This was obviously a frustrating loss for our team, but I thought our guys put up a good effort today,” Pitt Head Coach Rande Stottlemyer said after the match. “If you look at the results, both teams won five matches each, so it could have gone either way. Today it went their way.”
Redshirt senior Ryan Tomei (285) won his seventh consecutive dual match with another victory over a ranked opponent. Tomei defeated No. 13 Brendan Barlow, 6-5, in the final bout of the day. Tomei is ranked second in the country at the heavyweight division.
After Kent State took the opening bout, freshman Shelton Mack evened the team score with a 6-2 decision over Tyler Small at 133. Mack used two takedowns in the first period and added a third in the final round to clinch the victory.
Redshirt junior Tyler Nauman put the Panthers ahead with a tight 6-5 victory at 141. Nauman recorded a late reversal to record a third period comeback.
The Golden Flashes tied the match at 6-6, taking the 149 bout with a 2-1 victory in the third tiebreaker.
Kent State also took 157 with a very close 11-10 victory by Matt Cathell. Redshirt sophomore Donnie Tasser made a valiant effort to comeback, picking up two takedowns in the final 10 seconds, but Cathell took the decisive point on riding time.
Trailing 13-6, Pitt picked up back-to-back victories by redshirt junior Ethan Headlee (174) and freshman Max Thomusseit (184) to pull the Panthers within one point, 13-12.
Headlee jumped ahead 4-1 after the first period and used a late escape in the final minute of the third period to record the 6-5 win.
Thomusseit used two takedowns, a near fall and two escapes while adding a point with riding time in a 12-7 victory over Casey Newburg.
In a matchup of top-10 wrestlers at 197, No. 1 Dustin Kilgore of Kent State improved to 15-0 on the season with a 9-5 win over No. 9 Zac Thomusseit. The two grapplers entered the match with a combined 28-1 record.
Tomei picked up his 11th win on the season with the victory over Barlow, but the three-point decision allowed Kent State to hold on for the one point win.
“We saw some real good things despite falling short today,” Stottlemyer added. “Guys like Shelton Mack and Max Thomusseit, two freshmen, stepped up big. That’s always a good thing to see.”
The Panthers will have a 16 day break before the team travels to Evanston, Ill. for the Midlands Championships on Dec. 29 and 30.