Boro wrestling drops to #10 Pitt

The Edinboro Fighting Scots wrestling team fell to nationally ranked Pittsburgh in a non-conference match on Sunday. The No. 10 Panthers, out of the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC), won eight out of 10 bouts en route to a 28-6 win over Edinboro.

The Fighting Scots’ two wins came at 149 and 174 pounds, as senior Tyler Vath and nationally ranked Jacob Oliver both picked up victories by decision. Vath racked up the points in a 10-5 win over Pittsburgh’s Luke Kemerer, making his record 10-11. Oliver, No. 19 in the nation, won a much closer 4-1 battle with Gregg Harvey, improving the junior’s impressive season record to 19-4. 

Many of the matches lost by Edinboro were close affairs against quality Panther wrestlers. At 157 pounds, redshirt sophomore Peter Pappas lost a 7-5 decision to Taleb Rahmani, No. 28 this year and a 2019 NCAA qualifier. 

“Peter was really close to beating a quality kid,” said Head Coach Matt Hill regarding Pappas’ match. 

Redshirt senior Dylan Reynolds and junior Jon Spaulding each had tough matches, as well. Both were against 2019 NCAA qualifiers and both lost by decision. Reynolds fell 2-0 to Kellan Stout, while No. 20 Spaulding fell 3-0 to No. 9 Demetrius Thomas. 

Second year coach, and former Edinboro wrestler, Hill is proud of the way his athletes competed against Pittsburgh. 

“We had some good individual performances even though we didn’t come out on top,” he said. “Getting  our guys to believe they can wrestle with anyone in the country is very essential,” added Hill. 

Edinboro wrestling resumes MAC Conference competition Feb. 6 when they travel to Lock Haven. With four matches to go, the Fighting Scots overall record sits at 10-6, and they hold a 3-4 record in MAC action with three conference duals remaining. The other dual left on the schedule is a home matchup against Big Ten Conference member and nationally ranked Michigan on Feb. 21.

The Fighting Scots compete next on Feb. 2 at the prestigious Edinboro Open hosted at the Mike S. Zafirovsky Sports and Recreation Dome here at Edinboro University.

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