Feb. 22, 2002

PITTSBURGH-Despite coming back from 10-3 and 21-9 deficits, the No. 21 Pittsburgh wrestling team was defeated by No. 15 Edinboro, 24-18, at Fitzgerald Field House on Friday evening. It was the last dual meet of the year for the Panthers, who finished the 2001-02 season with a 12-5 mark and 4-3 in the Eastern Wrestling League.

The meet started with two nationally ranked wrestlers squaring off at 165 pounds. Pittsburgh junior Carl Fronhofer (Salem, N.Y./Salem), ranked 20th in the nation by InterMat, was defeated by No. 10 Matt King of Edinboro, 6-1, to give the Fighting Scots an early 3-0 lead. King scored a first-period takedown and held a 2-1 advantage into the third period before putting the match away.

The Panthers were able to tie the match at 174 pounds when Matt Catullo (Oakmont, Pa./Riverview) earned his 10th victory of the season with a 12-9 decision over Vinnie Courts in a closely contested battle. Matt Camino got the Fighting Scots back into the lead with a major decision over Rob Black (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel), one of six Panther seniors honored before the match as part of Senior Night. Camino won the match, 11-2, to give Edinboro a 7-3 lead.

The 197-pound match between No. 8 David Shunamon of Edinboro and No. 17 David Sandberg (Spokane, Wash./North Central) was a defensive struggle. Both wrestlers earned an escape point over the the first three regulation periods and overtime. In the 30-second sudden-death period, Shunamon was able to score a reversal and won the match, 3-1.

With the Fighting Scots ahead, 10-3, Pittsburgh got a lift from redshirt sophomore Jacob Lininger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) in the heavyweight match. Lininger fell behind Josh Pearce early but was able to score a reversal and then pin Pearce at 1:40 of the first period to give the Panthers six points. It was Lininger's 31st victory and 12th pin of the season. The 31 wins are tied for fourth most among sophomores in Panther history and the 12 pins in one season are tied for fifth most in one year. Lininger tied teammate Justin Giovinco (Norristown, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) for sixth place on the all-time falls list with 18.

Edinboro dominated the next two matches with a five-point technical fall victory in the 125-pound match by Shawn Bunch over James Thornton (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and a pin by 15th-ranked Cory Ace over Shawn Amistade (Washington, Pa./Trinity) at 133 pounds to take a 21-9 advantage. The Panthers got six points back on a fall by Blaise Mucci (Blairsville, Pa./Derry Area) over Chad Caros at the 2:54 mark to close the gap to 21-15.

Giovinco then cut the Fighting Scots' lead to three points with a 5-2 decision victory over Michael Ashby at 149 pounds, setting up one match for the Panthers to complete the comeback.

Sophomore Zachariah Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) couldn't hold off Ryan Yates of Edinboro, however, and lost the 157-pound match by a score of 7-3 to give the Fighting Scots their 10th dual meet win of the season. Pittsburgh will compete in the EWL Championships at Lock Haven on March 9-10.

165 - Matt R. King (EU) dec. Carl Fronhofer (UP), 6-1		125 - Shawn Bunch (EU) tech. fall over James Thornton (UP), 19-3, 6:07
174 - Matt Catullo (UP) dec. Vinnie Courts (EU), 12-9		133 - Cory Ace (EU) pinned Shawn Amistade (UP), 2:03
184 - Matt Camino (EU) maj. dec. Rob Black (UP), 11-2		141 - Blaise Mucci (UP) pinned Chad Caros (EU), 2:54
197 - David Shunamon (EU) dec. David Sandberg (UP), 3-1 SV	149 - Justin Giovinco (UP) dec. Michael Ashby (EU), 5-2
HWT - Jacob Lininger (UP) pinned Josh Pearce (EU), 1:40		157 - Ryan Yates (EU) dec. Zachariah Doll (UP), 7-2