WVU Falls at No. 24 Pitt

From the WVU Website

December 15, 2018

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Redshirt senior Christian Monserrat remains undefeated in dual action, as the West Virginia University wrestling team suffered a 37-3 loss at the hands of No. 24 Pitt on Saturday, at the Fitzgerald Field House, in Pittsburgh.

Wrestling at 149 pounds, Monserrat put the Mountaineers on the board with a 4-0 decision over Robert Lee. Monserrat scored an early takedown to carry a 2-0 lead in the second stanza. The Methuen, Massachusetts, native chose to start the second period on bottom eventually earning an escape to ride Lee through the match, as he tacked on the riding time point at the end of regulation for the 4-0 decision.

The Mountaineers started the match in a 17-0 hole after forfeiting a pair of matches at 125 and 141 pounds, respectively, and losing by technical fall at 133 pounds. True freshman Lucas Seibert donned a Mountaineer singlet for the first time in his career, but suffered a 19-4 technical fall to No. 6 Micky Phillippi in the second bout of the evening.

Following Monserrat's win, redshirt junior Zachary Moore squared off with No. 10 Taleb Rahmani at 157 pounds. The two grapplers split their head-to-head matches a year ago, but Moore was unable to come out on top in a 3-1 decision, as West Virginia entered the 10-minute intermission trailing Pitt by a score of 20-3.

Sophomore Nick Kiussis competed against Jake Wentzel, who is ranked as high as No. 17 via FloWrestling, for the second year in a row at 165 pounds. Wentzel notched a takedown and two nearfall points in the first period for the 4-0 advantage and never looked back. Kiussis scored a late takedown in the final frame, but it wasn't enough, as Wentzel added on the riding time point at the end of the match for the 6-2 decision.

True freshman Josh Ramirez dropped a 5-3 decision to Gregg Harvey at 174 pounds, as the Panthers added a tech. fall victory at 184 pounds to take a 31-3 lead in the match with two bouts remaining.

At 197 pounds, redshirt freshman Noah Adams came out firing on all cylinders, as he scored the first takedown against Kellan Stout for the 2-1 lead following three minutes of action. However, Stout collected two nearfall points for the 3-2 advantage entering the final frame. Stout elected to start the third period on bottom, earning the escape and the 5-3 decision over Adams.

Pitt capped the dual with a 6-4 decision in the heavyweight bout, as junior Brandon Ngati wrestled in his first dual match of the season against No. 13 Demetrius Thomas.

Following the Backyard Brawl, the Mountaineers welcome the Virginia Tech Hokies to the WVU Coliseum on Wednesday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m., before the team departs for a holiday break. Wednesday is Dollar Night, and all tickets and select concessions will be available for $1 each. Autographs also will take place after the match.

No. 24 Pitt 37, West Virginia 3
125: Brendon Fenton (Pitt) wins by forfeit
133: No. 6/5/6 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) tech. fall Lucas Seibert (WVU), 19-4 [TF – 4:05]
141: LJ Bentley (Pitt) wins by forfeit
149: Christian Monserrat (WVU) dec. Robert Lee (Pitt), 4-0
157: No. 11/11/10 Taleb Rahmani (Pitt) dec. Zachary Moore (WVU), 3-1
165: No. 18/17 Jake Wentzel (Pitt) dec. Nick Kiussis (WVU), 6-2
174: Gregg Harvey (Pitt) dec. Josh Ramirez (WVU), 5-3
184: No. 15/12/12 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) tech. fall Jackson Moomau (WVU), 16-1 [TF – 3:21]
197: Kellan Stout (Pitt) dec. Noah Adams (WVU), 5-3
HWT: No. 11/12/13 Demetrius Thomas (Pitt) dec. Brandon Ngati (WVU), 6-4



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