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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS

Wrestling

No. 3 Wrestlers Post 2-2 Record at East Coast Duals

01/22/2010

In Friday's opener against East Region No. 13 Belmont-Abbey (0-8), the Mountain Cats bounced back from a loss in the first bout to win nine straight matches in the 41-4 victory. Paul Myers (Cresson, Pa.) jumped out to a 4-2 lead after one period, but Shane Summerlin outscored Myers 11-1 the rest of the way to give the Crusaders a 4-0 after the 125-lb. bout. Valko evened the score with an 8-0 major decision over Ryan Devita to start a streak that saw the Mountain Cats win the next nine matches. Pitt-Johnstown took the lead and never gave it up after Matt Sherich (West Finley, Pa.) pinned Tawshawn Takeall at 4:42 in the 141-lb. bout. McIntyre pinned Peter Petties at 2:36 to increase the lead to 16-4, before Lundgren got an extra point for riding time to secure an 8-0 major decision over Trevor Sterverson at 157 lbs. The Mountain Cats kept rolling. Keane won a 7-3 decision over Jake Varilek at 165 lbs., and Makin (174 lbs.) defeated Ryan Gregory 11-4 to increase the lead to 26-4 to put the match out of reach with three bouts remaining. Pitt-Johnstown closed things out with three more victories. Walsh won by forfeit at 184 lbs., before Brentzel (197 lbs.) got a take down and a riding time point in the third period to hold off Tom McGee 6-2. Dempsey set the final at 41-4 in favor of the Mountain Cats with a fall over Kyle Spar at 3:18.
That set up the showdown between No. 3 Pitt-Johnstown and No. 2 Newberry in front of the Indians' home fans. After battling back and forth with Newberry, Pitt-Johnstown needed a fall at heavyweight, but got a decision by Dempsey and suffered a narrow 18-16 loss.
NCAA No.7 and East Region No. 1 Matt Oliver climbed out to a 5-1 lead after two periods and his way to defeating East Region No. 2 Link (125 lbs.) 8-1 and giving Newberry (10-4) a 3-0 lead. Pitt-Johnstown evened the score at 133 lbs. in a battle of two of the top-four wrestlers in the country. Valko, ranked no. 1, outscored No. 4 Sheridan Moran 6-0 in the second period on his way to a 10-4 decision. At 141 lbs., East Region No. 3 Whetstone and East Region No. 4 Derel Brown exchanged escapes to force overtime with the score tied 1-1. After a scoreless overtime, both wrestlers got escapes in the next rideout period, but Brown secured a 4-3 decision in the third overtime to put Newberry up 6-3. The Mountain Cats bounced back at 149 lbs. when McIntyre got a late take down and a riding time point to defeat Dale DeBacco, 7-4 and even the score at six. Once again, the Indians answered with Latra Collick's 5-2 decision over Lundgren at 157 lbs. to make it 9-6. Pitt-Johnstown finally got the lead at 10-9 when East Region No. 2 Keane earned a convincing 13-5 major decision over East Region No. 3 Josh Whitelock at 165 lbs.
However, the lead was short-lived. Makin had a two-point lead in the third period, but Curtis Chenoweth, ranked No. 3 in the region at 174 lbs., got a reversal and pinned the region's no. 5-ranked wrestler at 6:08 to give the lead back to Newberry 15-10. The Mountain Cats answered again and cut the deficit to 15-13 when NCAA No. 8 Walsh got an overtime take down to upset NCAA No. 1 Bryan Blanton, 7-5. It all came down to the heavyweight match after Keeno Griffin, the no. 1 ranked wrestler in the region, defeated East Region No. 3 Brentzel 8-4 at 197 lbs. give the Indians an 18-3 advantage. A pin by Dempsey in the heavyweight bout would give the Mountain Cats a victory. Dempsey picked-up a 7-2 decision, but it wasn't the fall Pitt-Johnstown needed,a nd Newberry held on for the 18-16 victory.
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