Feb. 8, 2007

EDINBORO, Pa. - Two true freshmen from Pitt's wrestling team placed third in last weekend's Edinboro Open. Jimmy Conroy competed at 133 pounds, and Ryan Tomei placed at 285 pounds. They were joined by six teammates for the final open tournament of the season.

Conroy (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) finished 4-1 for third place. He won his opening match with a fall over Eastern Michigan's Vincent Licari at the 2:48 mark. Conroy then won a 9-0 major decision against Maryland's Mookie Golden. In the semifinals, he fall by a 6-0 decision to Sean Clair of Eastern Michigan. Conroy then came back in his next match, pinning Clarion's Sal Lascari in 46 seconds. In the bout for third place, he defeated Clarion's Robert LaBrake by a 12-1 major decision.

Tomei (Penn Trafford, Pa./Penn Trafford) also went 4-1 for third place at heavyweight. In his first bout, he defeated Findlay's Dan Thoburn, 1-0. Tomei went on to pin Lock Haven's Michael Cook at the 4:19 mark. In the semifinals, he lost a 3-2 decision to Navy's Scott Steele. Tomei came back in consolations with a fall at the 1:16 mark over CCAC's Sam Brownlee. He won a 4-2 decision over Justin Dobies of North Carolina to take third place.

Pitt had two wrestlers at 125 pounds. Ryan Bosso (Pequea, Pa./Penn Manor) finished 1-1 with a major decision over Lock Haven's George Ester. John Sutika (Curwensville, Pa./Curwensville Area) finished 0-2. At 157 pounds, Dave Kapetanovich (Pittsburgh, Pa./CCAC) finished 1-2, winning a decision over Eastern Michigan's Justin Brandel.

At 165 pounds, freshman Brock Mantella (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic) also finished 1-2, winning a 3-2 decision against Art Moss of Gannon. Jake Pelletier (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) lost his first match at 174 pounds, but he made a strong comeback, finishing 3-2 in the tournament. He earned his first career fall over Chuck Schultz of Edinboro at the 0:47 mark. Pelletier also defeated Kent State's Greg Heinz and Dave Woodall of Drexel. A.J. Hunte (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) finished 1-2 at 197 pounds. He defeated Nathan Andrews of Penn State by a 5-3 decision.