March 4, 2007

CLEVELAND - The Pitt wrestling team had two wrestlers make it into the third-place bouts this morning, and two went on to earn fifth-place finish in the morning session of the EWL Championships. Pitt moved to fifth in the team standings. Edinboro took the lead from West Virginia with 105 points. The Mountaineers trailed with 99.5 Also ahead of the Panthers were Lock Haven and Bloomsburg.

Heading into tonight's finals, Pitt has four representatives. Both Edinboro and Bloomsburg also have four. West Virginia leads the way with five finalists. Lock Haven has two, and Clarion has one.

Brad Gentzle (Easton, Pa./Easton) led the team with a third-place finish at 125 pounds. In his first bout of the day, he defeated West Virginia's Scott Stuart with a fall at the 2:25 mark to advance to the third-place bout. There he faced Edinboro's Eric Morrill, and Gentzle came away with a 5-4 decision. In regular season duals, Gentzle defeated Stuart and had lost to Morrill. He'll wait for the wild card selections later today to find out if he'll earn is his second consecutive trip to the national tournament.

At 141 pounds, Joe Ciampoli (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) placed fifth. He lost his opening match in today's consolations by a 9-0 major decision to Edinboro's Daryl Cocozzo. Ciampoli, however, fought back in his final bout to win a 6-4 decision over Cleveland State's Mike Hurley.

Kyle Deliere (Cecil, Pa./Canon-McMillan) was the other Pitt wrestler to make it to the third-place bout. In his opening match, he wrestled Cleveland State's David Gilkey in an ugly bout but managed to come away with the 10-7 decision. In the match for third, he fell by a 3-0 decision to West Virginia's Chance Litton to take fourth place.

Pitt's Mike Heist (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) was a 2006 NCAA qualifier at 197 pounds, and today he finished fifth in that weight class. Heist lost his first match of the day by a 3-0 decision to Lock Haven's Jeremie Cook. He went on, however, to defeat Clarion's Dixon Jordan by a 4-0 decision to capture the fifth-place finish.

Pitt did not have any placewinners at 149 pounds or heavyweight, but the team has four wrestlers competing in this evening's championship finals.

CONSOLATIONS - SEMIFINALS
125: Brad Gentzle (P) WBF Scott Stuart (WVU), 2:25
141: Daryl Cocozzo (E) maj. dec. Joe Ciampoli (P), 9-0
184: Kyle Deliere (P) dec. David Gilkey (CS), 10-7
197: Jeremie Cook (LH) dec. Mike Heist (P), 3-0

THIRD-PLACE MATCHES
125: Brad Gentzle (P) dec. Eric Morrill (E), 5-4 - Third Place
184: Chance Litton (WV) dec. Kyle Deliere (P), 3-0 - Fourth Place

FIFTH-PLACE MATCHES
141: Joe Ciampoli (P) dec. Mike Hurley (CS), 6-4 - Fifth Place
197: Mike Heist (P) dec. Dixon Jordan (C), 4-0 - Fifth Place

Team Standings
1-Edinboro - 105
2-West Virginia - 99.5
3-Lock Haven - 94
4-Bloomsburg - 92.5
5-Pitt - 89.5
6-Cleveland State - 77.5
7-Clarion - 35