RU Wrestling Edged by No. 24 Pittsburgh, 21-18
Dec 12 | Wrestling
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Dec. 12, 2009) – The Rutgers wrestling team fell to No. 24 Pittsburgh in a hard fought match that came down to the heavyweight bout in the Fitzgerald Field House on Saturday night.
The Scarlet Knights (5-4, 1-1 EIWA) split the 10 matches with the Panthers (1-0) but Pittsburgh claimed two pin falls to give it an 21-18 victory.
RU was leading 18-15 heading into the final match between two top-15 wrestlers - No. 8 Dominick Russo (Netcong, N.J.) of Rutgersand No. 12 Ryan Tomei of Pittsburgh. Neither heavyweight could get on the scoreboard in the first period. Russo took the bottom in the second period and quickly scored a reversal to take a 2-0 advantage. However, Russo got called for a defensive pin at the 4:02 mark, giving the Panthers the win.
“We did a good job of fighting back, but unfortunately with only 10 weight classes you can’t get pinned at this level - it is too many bonus points,” said Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale. “It’s an unfortunate ending but it happens in wrestling.
“DJ Russo has won a lot of matches for us and a defensive pin is something you rarely see. I also look at other spots like 125 and 141. If you want to knock off nationally-ranked programs you have to win those matches, especially matches you are ahead. Hopefully our young guys will learn from this and move forward.”
Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead with Anthony Zanneta clamming a 7-4 decision over redshirt freshman Joseph Langel (Howell, N.J.).
No. 18 Billy Ashnault (South Plainfield, N.J.) continues to be a star for Rutgers as he picked up his sixth pin of the season and improved his record to 11-2 by pinning high school teammate Jimmy Conroy in 6:53.
“Billy is the way we want our guys to wrestle,” commented Goodale. “He is nonstop and he finds a way to win. He is not the best wrestler but he keeps at it and doesn’t quit. Hopefully it catches up to our younger guys.”
The Panthers quickly stole the momentum by claiming a comeback decision at 141 and a 2:06 pin at 149 to go ahead 12-6.
The Scarlet Knights began to crawl back in the contest by picking up decisions from three underclassmen - sophomore Gregory Zannetti (Edison, N.J.), redshirt freshman Daniel Rinaldi (Lodi, N.J.) and freshman Daniel Seidenberg (Red Bank, N.J.) - to go ahead 15-12.
After Pittsburgh claimed an 8-3 decision at 184 to tie the score at 15-all, redshirt senior Lamar Brown (Red Bank, N.J.) went into overtime with Matt Wilps. Brown executed a takedown in OT to gain a 3-1 victory giving Rutgers’ an 18-15 lead heading into the heavyweight match.
Rutgers will be out of action for the next two weeks before returning to the mat on Dec. 29 at the Midlands tournament.
No. 24 Pittsburgh 21, Rutgers 18
125 Anthony Zanneta (Pitt) dec. Joseph Langel (RU) 7-4 3-0
133 #18 Billy Ashnault (RU) pins Jimmy Conroy (Pitt) 6:53 3-6
141 #13 Tyler Nauman (Pitt) dec. #19 Trevor Melde (RU) 8-7 6-6
149 Eric Albright (Pitt) pins #19 David Greenwald (RU) 2:06 6-12
157 Kellen Bradley (RU) dec. Mark Powell (Pitt) 2-1 9-12
165 Greg Zannetti (RU) dec. Karl Deciantis (Pitt) 6-4 12-12
174 Daniel Rinaldi (RU) dec. Dave Sullivan (Pitt) 15-12 15-12
184 Zac Thomusseit (Pitt) dec. Daniel Seidenberg (RU) 8-3 15-15
197 Lamar Brown (RU) dec. Matt Wilps (Pitt) 3-1 in overtime 18-15
285 #12 Ryan Tomei (Pitt) pins #8 Dominick Russo (RU) 21-18
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