Feb. 16, 2007

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst wrestling team, ranked No. 12 in the country, ended its regular season with a surprising 18-18 tie against No. 5 Pitt-Johnstown Friday at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. The match was Senior Night for wrestlers J.J. Zanetta and Zack Schafer.

The two squads have finished in the top two spots in the East Regional Championships for the past three seasons and neither team was ready to back down.

Six wrestlers came into the match ranked nationally and several were ranked in the East Region as well. Although seniors Zanetta and Schafer had the spotlight, it was Trevor Gallo and Kenny Bluska who came up with late heroics to get the tie.

With Mercyhurst trailing 18-12, Gallo picked up a 5-3 win over Patrick Walsh at 197, leaving the Lakers down three and needing a win from Bluska in the final match of the evening. The heavyweight answered the bell, defeating Chris Dempsey 3-2.

Although the match came down to the wire, there was plenty of intrigue prior to the final two matches. Mercyhurst's No. 5 ranked Don Cummings pinned UPJ's Brian Cook in 42 seconds and Pitt-Johnstown's No. 1 ranked Mike Corcetti pinned the Lakers' Gerred Tolson in 1:52 for the only stoppages of the night.

Zanetta, ranked No. 7, faced off against the No. 2 ranked Shane Valko. Zanetta had an impressive comeback upset in the late seconds of the match to win 3-2. Schafer, ranked No. 2 nationally, battled off with the No. 7 ranked wrestler Eli Garshnick. Garshnick had the lead in the match until Schafer came back in the third to tie the match, but in the late seconds Garshnick again bounced back to win 8-6.

The only other Mercyhurst victory came at 157 where Brian Pogel upset the No. 2 ranked wrestler in the East, Joe Strittmatter, 7-3.

Pitt-Johnstown is now 19-5-1 on the year, while Mercyhurst ends the regular season 11-6-1. Both teams will compete next in the NCAA East Regional February 23-24 at Pembroke, N.C.

125 - Derrek Bosso (UPJ) WBD Payne Lint (MC) 9-5
133 - Brandon Reasy (UPJ) WBD Braxdon Scaletta (MC) 6-2
141 - J.J. Zanetta (MC) WBD Shane Valko (UPJ) 3-2
149 - Don Cummings (MC) WBF Brian Cook (UPJ) 0:42
157 - Brian Pogel (MC) WBD Joe Strittmatter (UPJ) 7-3
165 - Albert Miles (UPJ) WBD Hudson Harrison (MC) 5-4
174 - Eli Garshnick (UPJ) WBD Zack Schafer (MC) 9-6
184 - Mike Corcetti (UPJ) WBF Gerred Tolson (MC) 1:52
197 - Trevor Gallo (MC) WBD Patrick Walsh (UPJ) 5-3
HWT - Kenny Bluska (MC) WBD Chris Dempsey (UPJ) 3-2