WVU Tames Panthers
By Scott Castleman
WVU Sports Information Office
February 3, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -The West Virginia University wrestling team won its third consecutive dual meet by defeating EWL rival Pitt 20-13 on Friday, Feb. 3, at the WVU Coliseum.
“Every match feels good when its over and you come out on top,” said head coach Craig Turnbull. “Overall I thought that was a very hard fought match.”
The dual meet was delayed 45 minutes due to the referee getting held up on his trip to Morgantown. However, the delay did not dampen the excitement of the 1,051 in attendance to see the Mountaineers (4-4, 3-0 EWL) claim its fifth-straight win over the Panthers (2-8, 0-3 EWL).
After dropping the first two matches of the evening No. 17 Brandon Rader got WVU rolling in the 141-pound bout by knocking off ninth-ranked Ron Tarquinio 8-2. The Parkersburg, W.Va., native dominated the entire match and did not allow Tarquinio to score an offensive point.
Rader’s win was followed up by a pair of wins by freshman David Jauregui (149) and No. 2-ranked Matt Lebe (157). Jauregui pulled out a 3-1 decision over opponent Joey Ecklof, while Lebe cruised to a 9-5 decision over Sean Richmond in a bout that was never in doubt.
Freshman Larry Hall dropped a very close 6-4 decision to No. 19 Justin Nestor in the 165-pound bout to give the Panthers their final lead of the night. The Mountaineers would close the dual meet by winning three of the last four bouts to pull away.
Freshman Kurt Brenner held on for a 3-2 decision over Nick Padezan in the 174-pound match and was followed by freshman Chance Litton who continued his winning streak in the 18-pound class by earning a 5-1 decision over Kyle Deliere.
Sophomore Jared Villers had the most impressive win on the evening as he recorded a technical fall at the 4:13 mark against Mike Heist in the 197-pound bout.
The win for West Virginia extends its home EWL winning streak to 16 matches.
WVU returns to action on Friday, Feb. 10, when it travels to Athens, Ohio to face the Ohio Bobcats at 7 p.m.
Pitt Match Results (W, 20-13)
125: Brad Gentzle (UP) MAJOR Scott Stuart (WVU), 14-4
133: Mike Ciotti (UP) DEC Seth Lisa (WVU), 8-2
141: Brandon Rader (WVU) DEC Ron Tarquinio (UP), 8-2
149: David Jauregui (WVU) DEC Joey Ecklof (UP), 3-1
157: Matt Lebe (WVU) DEC Sean Richmond (UP), 9-5
165: Justin Nestor (UP) DEC Larry Hall (WVU), 6-4
174: Kurt Brenner (WVU) DEC Nick Padezan (UP), 3-2
184: Chance Litton (WVU) DEC Kyle Deliere (UP), 5-1
197: Jared Villers (WVU) TECH Mike Heist (UP), 16-0 4:13
HWT: Lou Thomas (UP) DEC Matt Holsopple (WVU), 7-5
Referee: Joe Tauber
Attendance: 1,051
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