Pitt-Johnstown Claims Second Consecutive Wrestling Dual Meet Title
Courtesy of Pitt-Johnstown Sports Info
Since Pitt-Johnstown joined the PSAC in 2013, it’s come down to No. 4 Pitt-Johnstown and No. 7 Mercyhurst for the conference dual meet championship, and 2016-17 was no different. On Saturday, the fourth-ranked Mountain Cats made the trip to Erie to take on No. 7 Mercyhurst and used a pin from No.1-ranked Cody Law (157 lbs.) and a major decision from Levi Niebauer (184 lbs.) to build a 19-11 lead, then held off the Lakers 19-18 to claim Pitt-Johnstown’s second straight PSAC Dual Meet Championship.
Pitt-Johnstown wrapped up the regular season with a 14-2 overall record and a 7-0 mark in the PSAC.
Mercyhurst started fast with No.1-ranked Willie Bohince’s 15-0 technical fall at 5:00 over Sam Holandez at 125 lbs., but the Mountain Cats came right back with a 7-3 decision by Tanner Cahill over Jeff Sisk at 133 lbs., and a 5-0 win by Chris Eddins over to Braden Flinn at 141 lbs. to take their first lead at 6-5.
After Logan Grass held off Cole Landowski, 4-2, to give the lead back to the Lakers, Law made short work of Cole Gavin at 157 lbs. Law pinned Gavin in 1:29 to give Pitt-Johnstown a 12-8 advantage and set up a match-up at 165 lbs. between the top-two wrestlers in the country in Mercyhurst’s #1-ranked Fran Mizia and Pitt-Johnstown defending National Champion and No. 2-ranked Tyler Reinhart.
Reinhart got a late reversal to take a 4-3 lead after the first period. An escape in the second period put Reinhart up 5-3 going into the third period, but Mizia battled back to defeat Reinhart, 8-6, and get the Lakers to within one at 12-11.
Wins at 174 lbs. and 184 increased Pitt-Johnstown’s lead to 19-11 with two bouts left. At 174 lbs., No. 12 John Blankenship secured a 7-1 decision over Kevin Holman, and Niebauer built an 11-1 lead after two periods on his way to a 16-4 major decision win over Nick Konyk.
Mercyhurst stayed alive and narrowed the deficit to four with Wes Phipps’ 8-0 major decision over Nico Pecora, but the Lakers need bonus points from fourth-ranked Andy Welton if they had any chance of sharing the PSAC title.
Pitt-Johnstown’s two-time NCAA National Qualifier D.J. Sims didn’t allow that to happen. Sims suffered a 3-1 loss to Welton, but his efforts preserved the one-point Mountain Cat victory and the second straight PSAC Championship.
With the loss, Mercyhurst dropped to 10-5 overall and 5-2 in the PSAC.
# 4 Pitt-Johnstown at #7 Mercyhurst University – 02/11/17
125 lbs. #1 Willie Bohince (MU) Technical Fall Sam Holandez (UPJ) 15-0 (5:00)
5-0 MU
133 lbs. Tanner Cahill (UPJ) Decision Jeff Sisk (MU) 7-3
5-3 MU
141 lbs. Chris Eddins (UPJ) Decision Braden Flinn (MU) 5-0
6-5 UPJ
149 lbs. Logan Grass (MU) Decision Cole Landowski (UPJ) 4-2
8-6 MU
157 lbs. #1 Cody Law (UPJ) Fall Gavin Cole 1:29
12-8 UPJ
165 lbs. #1 Fran Mizia (MU) Decision #2 Tyler Reinhart (UPJ) 8-6
12-11 UPJ
174 lbs. #12 John Blankenship (UPJ) Decision Kevin Hilman (MU) 7-1
15-11 UPJ
184 lbs. Levi Niebauer (UPJ) Major Decision Nick Konyk (MU) 16-4
19-11 UPJ
197 lbs. Wes Phipps (MU) Major Decision Nico Pecora (UPJ) 8-0
19-15 UPJ
285 lbs. #4 Andy Welton (MU) Decision D.J. Sims (UPJ) 3-1
19-18 UPJ