CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Pittsburgh wrestling team spotted Eastern Wrestling League rival Cleveland State a 16-6 lead but won the final four matches and ended up with a 24-15 victory over the Vikings.

Pittsburgh (5-4, 2-0 EWL) dropped the first two bouts when 157-pound sophomore Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) was defeated by Cleveland State's Jason Effner by a 4-2 count and junior Zachariah Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) lost for just the third time this season, a 6-3 decision to Matt Klinger at 165 pounds.

The Panthers got their first three points of the dual meet in dramatic fashion when sophomore Francis Iorfido (Johnsonburg, Pa./Johnsonburg) took down the Vikings' Derek Pace for an 8-6 sudden victory. Cleveland State (6-6, 0-2) came right back with a major decision in the 184-pound match with Ron Howard defeating freshman Eric Cassidy (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) by a final score of 12-3.

Senior 197-pounder Josh Birt (Spokane, Wash./North Idaho JC) improved to 15-7 for the season with a 10-5 decision over Joe Phillips to cut the Vikings' lead to four points. Cleveland State pushed its lead to 16-6 with a pin by Russ Davie at the 4:16 mark over Pittsburgh's Travis Shirley (West Middlesex, Pa./Kennedy Christian).

Pittsburgh then put together a strong run by winning the match's final four bouts. First, it was freshman Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) getting six points back with a fall at 4:09 over DeAngelo Penn. Then in the 133-pound bout, the Panthers' Mike Ciotti (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) earned a default victory over Kevin Linich of the Vikings and a point was deducted from the Vikings' team score for unsportsmanlike conduct. The seven-point turn gave Pittsburgh an 18-15 advantage.

Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) earned the Panthers' second sudden victory of the evening with a 4-2 win over Anthony Coleman in a battle of nationally ranked grapplers. Coleman was ranked 25th by WrestlingReport.com prior to Thursday's match. In the final bout, freshman Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) improved to 9-0 in dual meets with a 7-4 overtime win over Matt DePolo of the Vikings.

The Panthers will visit Virginia Tech for an EWL meet this Sunday at 1 p.m.