Wrestling Wins Third Straight Dual Meet With 26-11 Victory Over Virginia Tech

1/25/2004

Drew Headlee and Ronald Tarquinio scored bonus points in their wins to help the Panthers to a 3-0 start in EWL action.

BLACKSBURG, Va. — The Pittsburgh wrestling team won its third straight dual meet and improved its Eastern Wrestling League record to 3-0 with a 26-11 victory over Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg.

The Panthers (6-4, 3-0) got a major decision from freshman Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) and a pin from sophomore Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) in the first three bouts for a 10-4 advantage.

Headlee scored a 10-0 major decision victory at 125 pounds for the Panthers' first four points and after a major decision loss by Mike Ciotti (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe), Tarquinio was able to pin his opponent in the 141-pound bout just 20 seconds into the second period.

Freshman Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) lost his first dual meet after a nine-meet winning streak to start his career. He was defeated, 9-1, by 25th-ranked Reed Carpenter of the Hokies (6-4, 1-2). Sophomore Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) got the Panthers back on the winning side with a 3-0 win at 157 pounds to extend the overall lead to 13-8. Virginia Tech picked up its final victory in the 165-pound match, when No. 19 Chris Stith upset No. 17 Zachariah Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) by a 12-7 count.

At 174 pounds, sophomore Francis Iorfido (Johnsonburg, Pa./Johnsonburg) was a 12-6 decision winner over Steve Borja of the Hokies. Junior Mike Croyle (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) followed that up with a 2-1 win at 184 pounds to push the Panthers' lead to 19-11.

In the final two bouts of the meet, 197-pounder Josh Birt (Spokane, Wash./North Idaho JC/East Valley) earned four points with a 12-4 major decision over Canaan Prater and at heavyweight, Travis Shirley (West Middlesex, Pa./Kennedy Christian) was an 8-3 winner over Kris Wiedegreen.