No. 12 Wrestlers Take Down Lake Erie, 23-13
     01/11/13... (Results) Dave Cawley (Pittsburgh, Pa.) got a second period pin to help the 12th-ranked Mountain Cat wrestlers open up a 13-3 lead after four bouts en route to a 23-13 victory over visiting Lake Erie (OH) College Friday night in the Sports Center.  Pitt-Johnstown made it four straight dual meet wins and improved to 5-2. 
     Evan Link (Cresson, Pa.) gave the Mountain Cats a 4-0 lead with an 11-2 major decision over Ian Ross at 125 lbs. but Lake Erie answered at 133 lbs.  Lake Erie National Qualifier Austin Gillihan used an escape and a riding time point to hold off All-American and eighth-ranked Dave Fogle (Summerhill, Pa.), 2-0, to make it 4-3.
     Pitt-Johnstown bounced right back with two straight wins to push its lead to 13-3.   Cawley pinned Cobey Fehr at 3:58 in the 141-lb. bout, before Jack Bachman (Grensburg, Pa.) erased a 5-2 deficit to start the third period to score an 8-5 win over Nate Ball with three back points with less than 10 seconds left in regulation.
     The Storm got back into the match with wins 157 and 165 lbs.  Zak Vargo cut the deficit to 13-7 with a 10-2 major decision over Joel Paolo (Weirton, WV), and All-American and third-ranked Matt Vandermeer got a reversal in the second overtime to hold off Keith Ryan (Shirleysburg, Pa.), 4-2 at 165 lbs. make the score 13-10.
     However, the Mountain Cats won the next three bouts to put the match away.  Decision victories by Gary Lantz (Delta, Pa.) at 174 lbs. and All-American and eighth-ranked Travis McKillop (Lower Burrell, Pa.) at 184 lbs. extended the lead to 19-10, before Nikos Garafola (Greensburg, Pa.) put the match away for the Mountain Cats with a 14-5 major decision over Mikey Samijlenko at 197 lbs.
     Lake Erie closed out the match and set the final at 23-13 when Almonte Patrick got a reversal in overtime to defeat Josh Duplin (Johnstown, Pa.), 3-2, at 285 lbs.
     With the loss, the Storm slipped to 6-3. 
     The Mountain Cats travel to Gannon University on Tuesday, before returning home to host 18th-ranked Ashland (OH) University on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.