The evening began with a burst of excitement in the 149 pound bracket as both of the opening matches ended with falls in the first period. Mark Generalovich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) made quick work of teammate Christian Fagan (North Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) by pinning him 35 seconds into the bout on the blue mat. Jeff Warusz (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), a transfer from Elizabethtown, won his match over freshman Kyle Patton (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop) soon after on the gold mat.
Both of those first round victors could not advance any farther, however, as Generalovich was defeated by Joe Cimapoli (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) and Warusz fell at the hands of the bracket's eventual champion Joey Ecklof (Northampton, Pa./Northampton).
Pitt's two returning All-Americans from last season Keith Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) and Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) appeared to have picked up where they left off last season by locking up their starting spots in only two matches. Kocher squared off against Adam Counterman (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) in the two-man 157 pound bracket and pinned the freshman with just over a minute gone in the first period. Gavin followed suit by earning a fall against freshman Ethan Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) with less than five minutes gone in the first finals match of the 174 pound division.
The Panthers' other returning All-America honoree, Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg), had a more difficult time in his 141 pound finals match up with highly touted freshman Tyler Nauman (Middletown, Pa./Middletown). Headlee looked to be in a bit of bind as Nauman pulled out to 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series, but the 2005 NCAA All-American found his form and took the next two bouts from the impressive newcomer by scores of 6-4 and 8-5, respectively.
Another absolute battle occurred in the 125 pound class, where redshirt sophomore Ryan Bosso (Pequea, Pa./Penn Manor) and former NCAA qualifier Brad Gentzle (Easton, Pa./Easton) took part in two of the harder fought matches of the evening. Gentzle began his night with a major decision over freshman Eric Rosencranz (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) and prevailed in both squabbles with Bosso by scores of 3-1 and 5-2 en route to claiming the team's starting spot.
Redshirt junior Sean Richmond (Emmaus, Pa./Easton) entered the night as one of five wrestlers eyeing the starting slot in the 165 pound division. After getting past A.J. Brentzel (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) in his first match 3-2, Richmond matched up against Dave Kapetanovich (Pittsburgh, Pa./CCAC-North) and grabbed the starting job with scores of 7-5 and 3-1.
Dave Sullivan (Dingmans Ferry, Pa./East Stroudsburg), a transfer from East Stroudsburg swept his two skirmishes with Matt Darnell (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) by scores of 4-0 and 8-0, respectively. In the heavyweight division, Zach Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and Ryan Tomei (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) split a pair of matches before an injury prevented the third bout from coming to fruition. Sheaffer took the first duel by the score of 3-2 and Tomei returned the favor in the second match by the same score.
The Panthers will take to the mats again for their first regular season contest at Lehigh on Sunday, Nov. 11. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. They open up their home slate at Fitzgerald Field House on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 7:00 p.m. against the Missouri Tigers, who are ranked in the top 10 nationally.
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