#5 Wrestlers Defeat Western State to Place Fifth at National Duals

01/14/2007

Head Coach Pat Pecora's #5-seeded Mountain Cat wrestlers posted a 4-1 record and placed fifth at the 2007 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Dual Tournament at the University of Northern Iowa University. Pitt Johnstown went 3-1 on Saturday, before battling back from a 15-6 deficit with falls in three of the last four matches to earn a 27-15 victory over #9 Western State (CO) College in Sunday's Fifth Place match. The Mountain Cats are now 9-5 on the year.
Pitt Johnstown opened the tournament with a 28-15 win over Wisconsin-Parkside, before suffering a 22-13 loss to #4 University of Nebraska-Omaha in the Quarterfinals. However, Pitt Johnstown responded with a convincing 39-3 over Chadron State in the Second Round of the Consolations, before ending Saturday's action with a 22-10 win over West Liberty State in the Third Round of the Consolations..
After wrestling four matches on Saturday, Pitt Johnstown fell behind 15-6 to Western State after six matches, before roaring back for the win. Western State jumped out to a 3-0 lead with Eddie Lopez 5-1 win at 125 lbs. over junior Derrek Bosso (Pequea, Pa.). The Mountain Cats took a 6-3 lead with a pair of decision wins of their own. All-American Brandon Reasy (133 lbs.) (New Enterprise, Pa.) defeated Marques Bravo, 5-4, and red-shirt freshman and #4-ranked Shane Valko (Windber, Pa.) dealt #3-ranked Chris Freije a 6-1 loss. However, Western State won the next next three matches with a fall at 149 lbs. and a pair of decisions at 157 lbs. and 165 lbs. Once again, Pitt Johnstown recovered and stormed back. Senior All-American and #2-ranked Eli Garshnick (Armagh, Pa.) pinned Larry Wilbanks at 1:31 at 174 lbs. and Mike Corcetti (Export, Pa.), undefeated on the season and the top-ranked wrestler at 184 lbs., earned a fall over Charlie Pipher at 5:31 to put the Mountain Cats up 18-15. Senior National Qualifier and #4-ranked Mike Fowler (197 lbs.) (Carrolltown, Pa.) followed with a 3-2 win over Cody Mumma, prior to freshman heavyweight Chris Dempsey (Sewickley, Pa.) sealing the match with a fall at 2:04 over Lars Lueders to give Pitt Johnstown the 27-15 victory.
The Mountain Cats return home to host the 2007 East Coast Duals on Friday, January 19 and Saturday, January 20 in the Sports Center. Wrestling will begin on January 19 at 6:00 p.m. and at 9:00 a.m. on January 20.

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