Story Courtesy of Eric Knopsnyder, The Tribune-Democrat

After suffering a 30-7 loss to No. 2-ranked St. Cloud State (MN) University in Saturday's Semifinals of the 2016 NWCA Division II National Duals in Fort Wayne, IN, the seventh-ranked Pitt-Johnstown wrestlers bounced back to knock off top-ranked Maryville (MO) University, 19-18, on Criteria for having more points scored to claim third-place.

The Mountain Cats had to bounce back quickly – as did Maryville, which was upset by Notre Dame College in the semifinal round – for the third-place match.

Link and Roberts made sure they did. Link, a Penn Cambria graduate, beat Jeret Singh 5-3 at 135 and Roberts, a North Star alumnus, scored a 9-1 major-decision victory over Kodi Byrd at 9-1.

Maryville was without top-ranked Nate Rodriguez at 141 pounds, and Sam Hanau made the Saints pay, pinning Dakota Bauer for a 13-0 Pitt-Johnstown lead.

UPJ's Travis Shaffer suffered a head injury at 149 and was forced to default to James Krischke. Greg Hegarty's 12-6 victory over Devin Austin at 157 and Dmitri Willis' 8-6 overtime win over Tyler Reinhart tied the dual, as Pitt-Johnstown was deducted a team point.

"That's me, right there," Pecora said of losing the team point. "They tied it up with no seconds left on the clock with a very questionable takedown. We weren't getting the stall calls the whole time. He didn't have to ding me. It wasn't anything flagrant. I was speaking my mind."

Blankenship, a United graduate, got Pitt-Johnstown back on track with a 3-2 victory over second-ranked Zeb Wahle.

McKillop followed with a 4-2 victory over fourth-ranked Nick Burghardt at 184 to put UPJ up 18-12 with two bouts remaining.

Ryan Beltz, who is No. 2 at 197, beat Hart 3-2 and Donnell Walker edged Sims by the same score at 285.

That momentarily tied the dual at 18 and worried Pecora.

"I was thinking, oh my God, if we lose this match because of me, I'm going to be really upset," he said.

Instead, the Mountain Cats came away with the win and some momentum heading into the rest of the season.

"We went in seeded sixth and ended up third," Pecora said. "It was a great tournament for us. I think we saw that we can be in contention for a national title. We've got a lot of work to do between now and nationals. I think the team is committed to putting the work in to get there."

Third-Place Match vs. #1 Maryville (MO) University
125 lbs.  #8 Evan Link (UPJ)  Decision  Jaret Singh (MU)  5-3  3-0 UPJ
133 lbs.  Nick Roberts (UPJ)  Major Decision  Kodi Byrd (MU)  9-1  7-0 UPJ
141 lbs.  Sam Hanau (UPJ)  Fall  Dakota Bauer (MU)  1:53  13-0 UPJ
149 lbs.  James Krischke (MU)  Injury Default  Travis Shaffer (UPJ)  1:42  13-6 UPJ
157 lbs.  Greg Hegarty (MU) Decision  Devin Austin (UPJ)  12-6  13-9 UPJ
165 lbs.  #3 Dimitri Willis (MU)  Decision  Tyler Reinhart (UPJ)  8-6 OT  12-12 UPJ
Pitt-Johnstown Deducted One Point for Unsportsmanlike Conduct  18-18
174 lbs.  John Blankenship (UPJ)  Decision  #2 Zeb Wahle (MU)  3-2  15-12 UPJ
184 lbs.  #2 Travis McKillop (UPJ)  Decision  #4 Nick Burghardt  4-2  18-12 UPJ
197 lbs.  #2 Ryan Beltz (MU)  Decision  Jacob Hart (UPJ)  3-2  18-15 UPJ
285 lbs.  Donnell Walker (MU)  Decision  #3 D.J. Sims (UPJ)  3-2  18-18 UPJ
PITT-JOHNSTOWN WINS ON CRITERIA 3 (Most Points Scored)