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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS

Wrestling

Benton Wins Title and Corcetti Places Second to Lead Four All-Americans and Mountain Cats to Sixth Place Finish at National Wrestling Tournament

03/10/2006

Thad Benton (141 lbs.) (Claysburg, Pa.) became the third Pitt Johnstown wrestler to win more than one National Championship, and Mike Corcetti (184 lbs.) (Export, Pa.) followed with a National Runner-up finish to lead four Mountain Cat All-Americans at the 2006 NCAA Division II National Wrestling Tournament at the University of Findlay (OH) on Saturday. As a team, Pitt Johnstown placed sixth with 63 points to mark the 23rd Top-20 finish under Head Coach Pat Pecora.
Benton, who joins Carlton Haselrig (6-time National Champion) and Jody Strittmatter (2-time National Champion) with multiple National Championships, cruised to the finals with two decisions and a fall before earning a 4-2 decision over Central Oklahoma's Kyle Evans in the title bout. Benton, a two-time National Champion and a three-time All-American, finished his Pitt Johnstown career tied for 10th with John Strittmatter on the Mountain Cat All-Time Career Wins List with 112 victories.
Corcetti improved on last year's fourth place finish by placing second in 2006. After opening the tournament with a technical fall and two decision victories, Corcetti suffered a tough, 10-7, loss to Tanner Linsacum (University-Nebraska Kearney) in the title bout. Corcetti reached the championship match by dealing Greg Nurrenbern (Truman State (MO) University) a 4-3 loss in the Semifinals.
Sophomores Brandon Reasy (133 lbs.) and Albert Miles (165 lbs.) (Canonsburg, Pa.) also joined the ranks of the Mountain Cat All-Americans. After reaching the semifinals with a fall and a decision, Reasy suffered three straight losses and placed sixth when Ralph Acosta (Upper Iowa University) defeated him, 3-2, in the Fifth Place Match. On the other hand, Miles had a more challenging road to All-America status. Miles lost his first match, 5-2, to Ross Taplin (University of Nebraska-Omaha), but rebounded with three straight wins to earn another shot at Taplin in the Wrestleback Semifinals. However, Taplin earned a 3-1 decision over Miles, forcing him into the Fifth Place Match. Once again, Miles responded. This time, Miles pinned Cort Peterson (University of Central Oklahoma) at :41 to claim fifth place.
2005 All-American Eli Garshnick (174 lbs.) (Armagh, Pa.), junior Mike Fowler (197 lbs.) (Carrolltown, Pa.) and two-time National Qualifier Zach Majocha (HWT.) (Upper Burell, Pa.) all won their opening matches, but were eliminated after losing their next two. Junior Joe Strittmatter (157 lbs.) (Ebensburg, Pa.) was 0-2 at the tournament.
Nebraska-Omaha earned the 2006 NCAA Division II National Team Championship for the third straight year with 117 team points. Nebraska-Kearney finished second (98.5 pts), followed by Shippensburg (66.5 pts.), Central Oklahoma (64.5 pts.), Minnesota State-Mankato (63.5 pts.) and PITT JOHNSTOWN (63 POINTS). Augustana (S.D.) College (60 pts.), Findlay (55 pts.), Adams State (CO) College (52 pts.) and the University of Indianapolis (51.5 pts.) rounded out the Top-10.
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