NO. 24 PITT FALLS, 35-9, TO NO. 1 MISSOURI

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Pitt wrestling team suffered its second loss of the season with a 35-9 defeat at No. 1 Missouri. The Panthers (4-2, 1-0 EWL) won bouts at 133 and 141 pounds with the Tigers (4-0) earning bonus points in seven bouts.
The Tigers started with a 3-0 lead as John Olanowski won a 9-3 decision over Pitt sophomore Brad Gentzle (Easton, Pa./Easton). Pitt came back at 133 pounds though as No. 8 Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) pinned No. 10 Tyler McCormick at the 3:52 mark in their second matchup of the season.
 

The Panthers, ahead 6-3, recorded three more points as redshirt sophomore Joe Ciampoli (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) won a 7-3 decision over Missouri’s Amond Prater. The Panthers’ nine points would be their total for the evening as Missouri went on to win the next seven bouts, each with bonus points.
At 149 pounds, Josh Wagner won a 16-8 major decision over Pitt’s Joey Ecklof (Northampton, Pa./Northampton). No. 13 Michael Chandler went on to win a 15-4 major decision over freshman Mark Generalovich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson). The Tigers moved ahead, 11-9.
Missouri’s No. 7 Matt Pell pinned Pitt’s Sean Richmond (Emmaus, Pa./Easton) at the 1:40 mark to move the Tigers ahead, 17-9. The anticipated re-match of No. 1 Ben Askren and No. 2 Keith Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) went in Askren’s favor again as he won with a fall at the 2:34 mark, putting the Tigers up, 23-9.
In the last three bouts, the Tigers had major decisions. No. 6 Raymond Jordan won against Pitt’s Kyle Deliere (Cecil, Pa./Canon-McMillan), 17-4. No. 1 Max Askren won a 14-2 major decision over Pitt’s Eric Cassidy (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), and in the final bout Missouri’s Mark Ellis defeated Zach Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley), 13-2. Missouri extended its win streak against the Panthers to three with a 35-9 victory.
Next up for the Panthers will be the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. The two-day tournament will be held from Dec. 29-30 and will feature some of the nation’s top teams.

125:  John Olanowski (M) dec. Brad Gentzle (P), 9-3                                    [3-0, Missouri]
133:  Drew Headlee (P) WBF Tyler McCormick (M), 3:52                           [6-3, Pitt]
141:  Joe Ciampoli (P) dec. Amond Prater (M), 7-3                                      [9-3, Pitt]
149:  Josh Wagner (M) maj. dec. Joey Ecklof (P), 16-8                                 [9-7, Pitt]
157:  Michael Chandler (M) maj. dec. Mark Generalovich (P), 15-4              [11-9, Missouri]
165:  Matt Pell (M) WBF Sean Richmond (P), 1:40                                       [17-9, Missouri]
174:  Ben Askren (M) WBF Keith Gavin (P), 2:34                                        [23-9, Missouri]
184:  Raymond Jordan (M) maj. dec. Kyle Deliere (P), 71-4                         [27-9, Missouri]
197:  Max Askren (M) maj. dec. Eric Cassidy (P), 14-2                                [31-9, Missouri]
285:  Mark Ellis (M) maj. dec. Zach Sheaffer (P), 13-2                                  [35-9, Missouri]