March 20, 2008

ST. LOUIS--The NCAA Wrestling Championships resumed this evening at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., with four Pitt wrestlers still in the championship bracket and two more clawing away in the consolation rounds. By the end of the night, five of the six Panthers remained in the field, four of whom will be competing in the consolation brackets when competition continues tomorrow morning.

 

Just as he was in the first round, Jimmy Conroy (South Plainfiled, N.J./South Plainfield) was the first Pitt grappler to take to the mat in session two. He competed against UNC Greensboro's Jeff Hedges in the first round of the consolation bracket.

 

Hedges jumped on Conroy early with a takedown less than five seconds into the bout, but Conroy recovered with an escape seconds later to close the gap to one point. Hedges proceeded to trade his takedowns for Conroy's escapes and built a 6-3 lead early in the second period. The Spartan then ripped off the next eight points in the match, including a point for riding time, while holding Conroy scoreless and setting the final tally at 14-3. The defeat signaled the end of Conroy's tournament. 2008 marked his first trip to nationals in just his second varsity season.

 

Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) was one of the four Panthers to enjoy a victory in the morning session and he was rewarded with the No.6 seed Jeff Jaggers of Ohio State. The two 141-pounders battled through a scoreless first period, but the drought was broken early in the second with a Jaggers escape. The Buckeye then executed with a two-point takedown, establishing a three-point advantage before Headlee could get on the board with an escape.

 

The third period saw Jaggers rack up a three-point near fall that proved to be too much for Pitt's 2005 All-American to match. Headlee mustered another escape, but nothing more and fell by a count of 7-2 after Jaggers added a point for riding time.

 

In similar fashion to his first round match, No. 6 seed Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) needed more than three periods to decide his second round bout with Boise State's Tyler Sherfey, the No. 11 seed.  Kocher appeared to be in a jam when he was down by two points with less than a minute left in the third, but used a stall point against Sherfey and more than a minute of riding time to even the contest at the end of regulation.

 

After a sudden victory period and two rideouts, the 157-pounders traded escapes in the second sudden victory period, but Sherfey held an 11 second advantage in riding time which would prove to be the difference as he took the bout and sent Kocher to the consolation bracket.

 

Keith Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail), the tournament's No. 1 seed at 174 pounds, stepped to the mat against a familiar foe in West Virginia's Chance Litton for his second round bout. After a scoreless first frame that was held up because trainer Brian Bonnar had to attend to a gash around Gavin's mouth, the Pitt grappler chose down to begin the second and registered an escape with just five seconds gone in the period. Litton answered with an escape of his own early in the third before Gavin used a takedown to distance himself once again. Gavin went on to a 4-2 decision and advanced to the next round of the championships bracket.

 

Gavin advanced, but not unscathed. Stitches were needed to close his gash at the conclusion of the match.

 

Zach Sheaffer's (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) scuffle with No. 7 seed David Zabriskie ended amid a cloud of controversy. A tightly contested bout from start to finish, the officials declared that Zabriskie earned a takedown near the perimeter of the mat with eight seconds left in the final period, giving Zabriskie a 3-1 advantage and all but sealing the victory for the Cyclone.

 

Sheafffer logged an irrelevant escape in those final eight seconds, seemingly setting the final at 3-2. But as soon as the final whistle blew assistant coach Jason Peters went to the scorer's table to plead his case. After several minutes of discussions, NCAA officials ruled that the initial decision stood and Zabriskie was awarded the 3-2 decision.

 

After suffering a defeat Ethan Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) finished the second session for the Panthers by grabbing a 10-3 decision over Boise State's Kurt Swatz. The Pitt freshman used a handful of takedowns to establish a comfortable lead, while limiting Swatz' offensive opportunities and keeping the Bronco at bay. Headlee survived day one of his first tournament appearance and will now look to keep his momentum rolling into the second day of competition.

 

The wrestlers will be back in action tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with Gavin being the lone Panther still in the national championship hunt.

 

For the most up to date coverage from St. Louis, please visit the following link:

http://www.intermatwrestle.com/college/coverage/2008/d1coverage.aspx