March 20, 2008
ST. LOUIS--Six Pitt Panthers began their journeys toward an NCAA Championship today in St. Louis, Mo., as the first round of action got underway at the Scottrade Center. Four Pitt grapplers advanced to the second round of the championship bracket, while the other two will continue to compete in the consolation bracket later today.
Jimmy Conroy (South Plainfiled, N.J./South Plainfield) started things off for the Panthers as he matched up with the No. 3 seed in the 133-pound bracket, Oklahoma State's Coleman Scott. Conroy hung tough with Scott throughout the majority of the first period, but the Cowboy grappler was able to earn a takedown with 43 seconds left in the opening frame, registering the first points of the match.
Conroy chose down to start the second, but was unable to shake free from Scott's grasp and faced a 2:42 disadvantage in riding time at the start of the third period. Scott added an escape in the third and a bonus point for his riding time to set the final score at 4-0.
2005 All-American Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) was the next Panther to take to the mat, as he battled the No. 11 seed Keith Sultzer from Northwestern. Headlee jumped on Sultzer early with a takedown less than a minute after the opening whistle. Sultzer would answer seconds later, however with an escape to cut Headlee's lead in half.
Headlee took down for the bout's second period and spent 1:30 under Sultzer's watch before wriggling free and bumping his lead back to two points. Those two points proved to be the difference, as Headlee went on to take the bout by that 3-1 margin.
The No. 6 seed entering the tournament, 2007 All-American Matt Kocher(State College, Pa./State College) was involved in one of the more exciting matches of the first round when he and Iowa's Ryan Morningstar needed two sudden victory periods to settle their bout at 157 pounds.
Kocher used an early takedown in the first to grab a 2-0 lead, but Morningstar answered with escapes at the end of the first and one to open the second to even the score. The match remained tied and went to a sudden victory period after Morningstar held onto Kocher for the entire third frame, refusing to let Pitt's All-American advance without a struggle.
After a scoreless sudden victory period and two 30 second rideouts, Kocher was finally able to take down Morningstar one final time in the bout's second sudden victory to take the match and advance by a count of 5-3.
Ethan Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) drew a tough draw in the 165-pound bracket, as he wound up with the No. 1 seed Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan as his first round opponent. Headlee held his own in his first NCAA Tournament bout, racking up a considerable amount of riding time, but could not pull the upset and fell 5-3.
No. 1 ranked and undefeated Keith Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) locked up with Northern Iowa's Alex Dolly in a David vs. Goliath battle at 174 pounds. Gavin needed just 30 seconds to take down Dolly and continued to pummel throughout the next six and a half minutes. Gavin added four more take downs throughout the bout while sprinkling in an escape and a three-point near fall to cruise to a 17-3 major decision victory and advance to the next round.
Zach Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) was the last qualifier to grapple this afternoon for the Panthers. The No. 10 seed went up against Boise State's Nick Smith, who beat Sheaffer earlier this year at the Las Vegas Invitational. Smith did not fare so well this time around as Sheaffer controlled the match from the onset and put the Bronco on his back with 4:11 gone in the bout, giving Pitt its first fall of the championships.
Pitt is currently tied for 18th in the team race. Competition will continue tonight at 6:30 p.m. from the Scottrade Center. The second session will consist of round two of the championship bouts and the first round of consolations, or "pigtails."
For the most up to date coverage from St. Louis, please visit the following link:
http://www.intermatwrestle.com/college/coverage/2008/d1coverage.aspx
