Maryland
Pittsburgh
No. 11 Pittsburgh Gets Past Maryland, 26-9
12/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
PITTSBURGH – Despite wins from No. 7 Geoffrey Alexander and No. 13 Shyheim Brown, the Maryland wrestling team fell to No. 11 Pittsburgh, 26-9, at the Fitzgerald Field House Friday night.
The dual was a back-and-forth affair early as the Terrapins (4-4, 0-2 Big Ten) traded the lead with the Panthers (4-2, 0-0 ACC) four times over the first six matches. Pittsburgh pulled away in the second half of proceedings, winning the final five matches.
"There were some good things," head coach Kerry McCoy said. "I think we had some opportunities that we could have taken advantage of and we missed some of them. We had a good fight. I think we can do better, but there were some good things to build on.”
Action started at 125 pounds with redshirt junior Josh Polacek taking on Dom Forys. The Panther freshman was able to nab a takedown and back points at the end of the second period, and eventually took the match, 16-4.
At 133 pounds, Alexander earned the decisive takedown with 52 seconds remaining in the third period to defeat Nick Zanetta, 3-1. Brown gave the Terps a 6-4 lead in the team score with a 5-2 win over Travis Shaffer. The sophomore secured a reversal at the beginning of the third period to help seal the win.
No. 19 Mikey Racciato put Panthers back in front with an 11-6 victory over senior Ben Dorsay. Redshirt junior Lou Mascola's 5-2 victory over Ronnie Garbinsky at 157 pounds put the Terps back in front going into intermission.
After the break, Cody Wiercioch got past redshirt sophomore Tyler Manion by major decision at 165 pounds. Troy Reaghard upped the Panther lead to 14-9, defeating junior Josh Snook, 4-2, in an extremely close bout.
No. 2 Max Thomusseit bumped the Pittsburgh margin to 20-9, pinning senior Tony Gardner at 3:45. No. 13 Nick Bonaccorsi extended the Panther winning streak to four wins with a 12-5 victory over senior Rob Fitzgerald.
John Rizzo defeated redshirt freshman Sean Twigg, 6-4, to give the Panthers a 26-9 win.
Alexander and Brown upped their respective records on the season to 5-0 and 9-1. Mascola earned his first road dual match win of the season.
Maryland returns to action next Thursday for its first-ever home Big Ten dual against No. 4 Penn State. Action is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. and the match will be broadcast live on BTN.
No. 11 Pittsburgh 26, Maryland 9125: Dom Forys (PITT) major decision over Josh Polacek (MD), 16-4 (4-0)
133: No. 7 Geoffrey Alexander (MD) decision over Nick Zanetta (PITT), 3-1 (4-3)
141: No. 13 Shyheim Brown (MD) decision over Travis Shaffer (PITT), 5-2 (4-6)
149: No. 19 Mikey Racciato (PITT) decision over Ben Dorsay (MD), 11-6 (7-6)
157: Lou Mascola (MD) decision over Ronnie Garbinsky (PITT), 5-2 (7-9)
165: Cody Wiercioch (PITT) major decision over Tyler Manion (MD), 13-5 (11-9)
174: Troy Reaghard (PITT) decision over Josh Snook (MD), 4-2 TB-1 (14-9)
184: No. 2 Max Thomusseit (PITT) fall over Tony Gardner (MD), 3:45 (20-9)
197: No. 13 Nick Bonaccorsi (PITT) decision over Rob Fitzgerald (MD), 12-5 (23-9)
285: John Rizzo (PITT) decision over Sean Twigg (MD), 6-4 (26-9)
-Maryland-
