Jan. 28, 2002

PITTSBURGH-For the second time this season, the Pittsburgh wrestling team defeated Eastern Wrestling League rival Virginia Tech, 26-16, on Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.

The Panthers, ranked 21st in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, were down 12-9 midway through the match but fought back to win four of the final five matches.

Pittsburgh (11-3, 3-0 Eastern Wrestling League) got an early six points from heavyweight Jacob Lininger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) in a fall 2:50 into the match over Pete Pool of the Hokies. For Lininger, it was his 29th victory of the year, which tied him with former Panther Kyle Nellis (29-7 in 1993-94) for the eighth most wins in a season by a sophomore in the long history of Pittsburgh wrestling. It was also his 11th pin in 2001-02, which is the sixth most in Panther annals. His 17 career falls are eighth-most in Pittsburgh history.

The Hokies fought back with a win at 125 pounds by Geoff Head over Pittsburgh's James Thornton (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) by an 8-4 decision. Virginia Tech then tied the match at 6-6 with a decision win by David Hoffman, ranked 19th in the country at 133 pounds, over Shawn Amistade (Washington, Pa./Trinity) of the Panthers. The 9-6 win by Hoffman was followed by a pin by second-ranked Sean Gray of the Hokies at 141 pounds over Blaise Mucci (Blairsville, Pa./Derry Area) at 3:49.

With four consecutive victories, the Panthers turned a 12-6 deficit into a 23-12 advantage. Justin Giovinco (Norristown, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) edged Reed Carpenter at 149 pounds by a score of 6-5. Pittsburgh got the lead back with a four-point, major decision victory (8-0) by Zachariah Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) over Mike Cox at 157 pounds.

Redshirt junior Carl Fronhofer (Salem, N.Y./Salem) upped his season record to 20-4 with a pin at 6:46 of Shaun Guttridge of the Hokies at 165 pounds. That was followed by another major decision by Matt Catullo (Oakmont, Pa./Riverview) over Virginia Tech's Tomas Ovalle.

Scott Justus of the Hokies remained unbeaten with his 20th win in a 24-9 major decision over Pittsburgh's Rob Black (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) at 184 pounds, which closed the Panther lead to seven points at 23-16.

Senior David Sandberg (Spokane, Wash./North Central) earned a 2-1 win in the final match of the dual meet over Canaan Prater to account for the final 26-16 margin.

The Panthers will be off until Feb. 9 when they host EWL rival Lock Haven at 7:30 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field House. Pittsburgh finishes with a home meet against Clarion (Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m.), at West Virginia (Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m.) and home against Edinboro (Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m.)