The 13
th-ranked Mountain Cat wrestlers erased an early five-point deficit with falls from
John Blankenship (165 lbs.),
Travis McKillop (184 lbs.), and
Zac Bennett (197 lbs.) in a 35-15 road win at Ohio Valley (WV) University on Friday. Pitt-Johnstown made it four straight wins and improved to 6-1.
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Fourth-ranked
Dave Fogle (125 lbs.) opened the match with a 10-0 major decision over Tyree Gardner, but Ohio Valley quickly answered with two straight wins to go up 9-4. Cory Parsons pinned
Luke Palamides in the first period at 133 lbs., before Josue' Rodriquez earned a 5-3 decision over
Craig Dawson at 141 lbs.
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Pitt-Johnstown came right back to regain the lead with wins from
Sam Hanau and
Sam Molina. Hanau won an 8-0 major decision over Nick Varazashvilli at 149 lbs., and Molina rode-out Tyler Green in the third period at 157 lbs. to secure a 3-2 win that put the Mountain Cats back in front 11-9.
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John Blankenship then increased it to 17-9 with a fall over Jabari Irons at 2:22 at 165 lbs.
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Following a forfeit victory by Ohio Valley at 174 lbs. that cut it to two, Pitt-Johnstown closed the match strong.
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Second-ranked
Travis McKillop pinned Ben Willard in just 33 seconds, and
Zac Bennett followed with a fall over Kobina Henriques at 6:18 to build it to 29-15, before
Josh Duplin won by forfeit at 285 lbs. to set the final at 35-15.
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With the loss, Ohio Valley dropped to 0-5.
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Pitt-Johnstown closes out a stretch of five straight road matches at Alderson-Broaddus (WV) College on Saturday and at Seton Hill University on Wednesday, before returning home to host Millersville University on January 25 at 11 a.m. in the Sports Center.
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125 – #4
Dave Fogle (UPJ) Major Decision Tyree Gardner (OVU) 10-0Â
4-0 UPJ
133 – Cory Parsons (OVU) FallÂ
Luke Palamides (UPJ)Â 1:49Â
6-4 OVU
141 – Josue' Rodriguez (OV) DecisionÂ
Craig Dawson (UPJ) Â 5-3Â
9-4 OVU
149 –
Sam Hanau (UPJ) Major Decision Nick Varazashvilli (OVU) 8-0Â
9-8 OVU
157 –
Sam Molina (UPJ) Decision Tyler Green (OVU) 3-2Â
11-9 UPJ
165 –
John Blankenship (UPJ) Fall Jabari Irons (OVU) 2:22Â
17-9 UPJ
174 – Austin Antill (OVU) Won By ForfeitÂ
17-15 UPJ
184 – #2
Travis McKillop (UPJ) Fall Ben Willard (OVU) :33Â
23-15 UPJ
197 –
Zac Bennett (UPJ) Fall Kobina Henriques (OVU) 6:18Â
29-15 UPJ
285 –
Josh Duplin (UPJ)Â Won By ForfeitÂ
35-15 UPJ