EDINBORO, Pa. (Feb. 22, 2013) – Friday night's home finale for the Edinboro wrestling team came down the Fighting Scots' advantage in the lighter weights against Pittsburgh's stronger upper weight classes, with a bit of a twist. As has been the case for many of Edinboro's recent matches, it came down to the last match, with the Panthers overcoming an 18-0 deficit to win 19-18. Edinboro, ranked 15
th, is now 9-6 and finished up 3-1 in the EWL with a match remaining on Saturday night at West Virginia. Pittsburgh, ranked 17
th, is also 9-6 and 4-1 in the EWL.
The Fighting Scots jumped out to an 18-0 lead with wins in the first four bouts, including a pair of falls, but it wouldn't be enough as the Panther prevailed in the final six matches to defeat Edinboro for the fourth straight year. The loss spoiled Senior night for the Fighting Scots, with lone senior
Mike Horton recognized before the match.
The match got underway at 125 lbs., with
Kory Mines pinning Derrick Nelson at 1:32. He grabbed a 5-0 lead with a quick takedown and three near-fall points before pinning nelson. The win snapped a three-match losing streak for Mines as he improved to 14-16 with his first pin of the season.
A.J. Schopp, ranked fourth at 133 lbs., followed with a hard-earned 2-0 decision over rival and 17
th-ranked Shelton Mack in a matchup of nationally-ranked grapplers. A year ago Mack defeated Schopp 5-2 in the dual between the two, but Schopp came back for a 4-3 decision in sudden victory in the EWL finals. This one was another close match.
Following a scoreless first period, Schopp rode out Mack in the second. Mack would cut Schopp to start the third for the escape, and his riding time advantage of 1 minute, 58 seconds accounted for the final margin. Schopp is now 26-3, with Mack falling to 15-8.
Fourth-ranked
Mitchell Port continued his outstanding wrestling with a fall at 5:54 over Travis Shaffer at 141 lbs. The sophomore won his 12
th straight match while improving to 27-3, although there were a couple anxious moments.
Port's takedown accounted for the lone points in the first period. Shaffer (10-10) would pick up three near-fall points in the second, but Port quickly reversed him to make it 4-3. Port would gain a quick reversal to open the third and eventually worked Shaffer for his fourth pin of the year.
Dave Habat was up next, and his 8-6 decision at 149 lbs. over Ronnie Garbinsky (16-9) boosted Edinboro's lead to 18-0. The sophomore, ranked 17
th, led 4-2 after two periods thanks to a pair of takedowns. He opened the third period with a reversal for a 6-2 lead, then cut Garbinsky looking for bonus points. He recorded his third takedown of the match for an 8-3 lead and cut Garbinsky again, but the Panther would come up with his own takedown to close the gap and wipe out Habat's riding time advantage. Habat won for the sixth straight time while improving to 24-7.
Unfortunately, that would be the final Boro win of the night. Donnie Tasser (16-9) came up with the lone bonus points of the night for Pittsburgh, claiming a 10-2 major decision over
Casey Fuller (7-11).
Johnny Greisheimer continued to wrestle well but not well enough to beat a nationally-ranked wrestler at 165 lbs. The junior battled 17
th-ranked Tyler Wilps before falling 9-6, marking his third loss in the last month to a nationally-ranked opponent.
The back-and-forth match saw the two trade takedowns and escapes for a 3-3 tie late in the first period, but Wilps recorded his second takedown with 23 seconds left for a 5-3 advantage. Greisheimer pulled within a point at 5-4 midway through the second period, and led 6-5 thanks to a takedown with 17 seconds to go. Wilps would escape 30 seconds into the third period, and the Panther used a single-leg takedown for the winning score with 1:12 to go. He would add riding time for the final margin. The loss was the fourth in the last five matches for Greisheimer as he fell to 15-12, while Wilps is now 19-6.
Redshirt freshman
Patrick Jennings fell to 12-21 with a 6-1 loss to Nick Bonaccorsi (14-7) at 165 lbs. True freshman Vince Pickett got off to a solid start against 13
th-ranked Max Thomusseit at 184 lbs. with an early takedown and several close shots, but he ultimately would lose 7-2 as Thomusseit came up with takedowns in the second and third periods to improve to 13-4. The loss leaves Pickett with a 19-14 ledger.
That's when things got interesting. Trailing 18-13, Pittsburgh coach Rande Stottlemyre bumped up P.J. Tasser (21-7), who weighed in at 174 lbs., to 197 lbs. Tasser, a fifth-year senior who last year moved up to heavyweight at the EWL Championships, posted a 9-2 decision over redshirt freshman
Warren Bosch (12-16).
That left Edinboro clinging to an 18-16 lead, and Pitt called on Matt Wilps, ranked third at 197 lbs., to move up and face 19
th-ranked
Ernest James at heavyweight. Wilps gained a 1-0 lead with a second period escape, but James opened the third with a reversal to take a 2-0 lead. He was unable to ride Wilps long enough to gain riding time, with the Panther escaping at 1:03 to knot the score at 2-2.
After a scoreless overtime period, James began the first 30-second tiebreaker down, but he was unable to escape. Wilps gained the winning point in a 3-2 decision when he escaped four second into his 30-second period. He would boost his record to 18-2, while James is now 20-10.
#17 PITTSBURGH 19, #15 EDINBORO 18
Friday, February 22, 2013
McComb Fieldhouse
Edinboro, PA
EU-UP
125
Kory Mines (EU) fall over Derrick Nelson (UP), 1:32 6-0
133 #4
A.J. Schopp (EU) dec. #17 Shelton Mack (UP), 2-0 9-0
141 #4
Mitchell Port (EU) fall over Travis Shaffer (UP), 5:54 15-0
149 #17
Dave Habat (EU) dec. Ronnie Garbinsky (UP), 8-6 18-0
157 Donnie Tasser (UP) maj. dec.
Casey Fuller (EU), 10-2 18-4
165 #17 Tyler Wilps (UP) dec.
Johnny Greisheimer (EU), 9-6 18-7
174 Nick Bonaccorsi (UP) dec.
Patrick Jennings (EU), 6-1 18-10
184 #13 Max Thomusseit (UP) dec. Vince Pickett (EU), 7-2 18-13
197 P.J. Tasser (UP) dec.
Warren Bosch (EU), 9-2 18-16
HWT #3 Matt Wilps (UP) dec. #19
Ernest James (EU), 3-2 tb 18-19
Records: Edinboro 9-6, 3-2 EWL
Pittsburgh 9-6, 4-1 EWL
