Jan. 25, 2008

Contact: Gene Natale, Jr.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State wrestling team dropped its first EWL dual meet of the season, losing 32-5 to Pittsburgh Friday night at Woodling Gymnasium. The Vikings were led in defeat by Marcus Effner and Josh Palivoda.

CSU drops to 4-6 (0-1 EWL), while the Panthers improve to 10-3 (3-0 EWL).

"It's really disappointing," head coach Jack Effner said. "We're working so hard, but we're just not bringing it to match time, which is very frustrating. We've had some unfortunate luck, and some things you just can't control, but we just have to get it done with our backups."

The Vikings went into the day having won the last two meetings against Pittsburgh, but this Panther squad features four who have achieved NCAA All-American status, as well as several who are ranked in the top 20 in the nation in their respective weight classes.

The meet started off on a good note for Cleveland State as Marcus Effner defeated Pitt's Ethan Headlee with a workmanlike 3-2 decision on the strength of a second period takedown and third period escape at 165 pounds. With the win, Effner (21-7) is now tied with teammate Ryan Hurley on the career wins list with 69.

With the Vikings ahead in the match 3-0, the Panthers were nonetheless in a good position to make a run with their best wrestler competing in the next match at 174. Keith Gavin of Pitt went into the match undefeated on the season and despite the best efforts of the Vikings' JT Miller, he scored a technical fall in the bout to give the Panthers a 5-3 lead which would not be relinquished.

Following Miller's defeat, the Panthers proceeded to win four consecutive matches. Although both Alek Hughes (197 pounds) and Rashard Goff (Heavyweight) wrestled very close matches, neither was able to come out on top. With both Viking 125-pounders sidelined for the weekend, a forfeit at 125 pounds set Pitt's lead at 21-2 going into the 133 pound bout.

CSU's Josh Palivoda had his work cut out for him as he faced Pitt's Jimmy Conroy, who had 19 victories on the season. Palivoda, a state champion in high school last season, was unfazed, and battled hard all throughout regulation. The freshman was behind for nearly the entire regulation, but a late takedown and escape tied  the score up at eight apiece as the match headed into the one minute sudden victory period.

Palivoda got into trouble early in sudden victory as he tumbled to the ground with Conroy and was on the verge of being turned into position for a pin. The officials ruled that the wrestlers were too far from the center of the mat, and reset the two with neutral advantage back in the center, while the Pitt coaches shouted in protest. With a fire in his eyes, Palivoda charged his opponent as the whistle sounded, grabbed his legs and catapulted Conroy down to the mat to score a two point takedown for the win, as the crowd roared and Coach Effner beamed.

"Palivoda had a nice win against a guy [Conroy] who placed at Midlands," Effner said, "Josh made some silly mistakes early, but he kept wrestling hard. It's a great story because he hung in there. He just needs to keep progressing."

Palivoda's win would unfortunately be the last that the Vikings would manage for the remainder of the match, as the Panthers closed out the evening with wins at 141, 149, and 157 pounds. CSU's Mike Hurley had difficulty scoring in facing a former All-American at 141 pounds in Drew Headlee, falling to a 8-1 decision, while brother Ryan suffered a similar fate, dropping an 8-4 decision.

Shaun Mitchell made his first start of the season at 157 pounds in the final bout of the evening. Despite fighting hard in the first period, several near falls suffered by Mitchell led to his defeat by a 22-7 technical fall to the Pitt's Mark Kocher, who is currently ranked fourth amongst the nation's 157 pounders.

Coach Effner remained upbeat despite the tough loss. "We had some bright spots today, a couple of good wins," he said, "We need to get back at it, keep fighting, and stay optimistic. The beauty of the conference schedule is that you can get things done with the duals, but if you don't, you can turn it right around by having a good tournament. The key is that you have to keep believing in yourself. We just have to keep working at it."

The Vikings return to action next week as they travel to Pennsylvania for back to back dual meets at Lock Haven (Feb. 1) and Bloomsburg (Feb. 2). The meets are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m., respectively.

 

Pittsburgh 32, Cleveland State 5

165: #29 Marcus Effner dec. Ethan Headlee (Pitt), 3-2            3-0
174: #1 Keith Gavin (Pitt) tech. fall JT Miller, 16-0, 3:59      3-5
184: Dave Sullivan (Pitt) maj. dec. DJ Cummins, 10-0             3-9
197: Dave Crowell (Pitt) dec. Alek Hughes, 15-11 SV              3-12
285: #12 Zach Scheaffer (Pitt) dec. #24 Rashard Goff, 3-2        2-15*
125: Brad Gentzle, win by forfeit                                2-21
133: Josh Palivoda dec. Jimmy Conroy (Pitt), 10-8 SV             5-21
141: #20 Drew Headlee (Pitt) dec. Mike Hurley, 8-1               5-24
149: Joe Ciampoli (Pitt) dec. Ryan Hurley, 8-4                   5-27
157: #4 Matt Kocher (Pitt) tech. fall. Shaun Mitchell, 22-7      5-32 Pitt

 

*CSU penalized one point for unsportsmanlike conduct.