Jan. 22, 2004
CLEVELAND - Despite winning four of the first six matches, the Cleveland State wrestling team dropped a tough decision to Pittsburgh, 24-15, at Woodling Gymnasium on Thursday night. The Vikings fall to 6-6, 0-2 in the Eastern Wrestling League on the season, while Pitt moves to 5-4, 2-0 in the EWL.
After Jason Effner and Matt Klinger opened with strong decision wins, Derek Pace lost a tough 8-6 sudden victory match to Pitt's Francis Iorfido to bring the match back to 6-3. A major decision by Ron Howard staked the Vikings to a 10-3 lead, before Joe Phillips lost at 197 to cut the Viking lead to 10-6. Russ Davie then scored a pin over Travis Shirley at the 4:16 mark of the match, giving CSU a 10-point lead with four matches to go before the wheels began to come off.
At 125, DeAngelo Penn lost by fall at 4:09, cutting the lead to 16-12. Kevin Linich, wrestling at 133, was carrying a lead at the end of the second period when a mental error cost him the match. Linich was disqualified from the bout, resulting in a six-point win for Pittsburgh, and taking one point away from the Vikings, making the score 18-15.
Still, the Vikings had two chances to pick up the win. Anthony Coleman missed out on a chance to even the score, but lost a 4-2 sudden victory point at 141. Needing a pin to even the match, Matt DePolo took Matt Kocher to overtime, but fell, 7-4, resulting in the final margin.
Cleveland State will next host the CSU Open on Sat., Jan. 24, at Woodling Gym. Action in the open begins at 9 a.m. The next dual match for the Vikings will be on Fri., Jan. 30, at Ohio.
