KUTZTOWN, PA (January 8, 2011) – The Golden Bears had five wrestlers win matches in an exciting back and forth matchup, but the Kutztown University wrestling team dropped a 24-15 decision to the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Saturday night at Keystone Arena. (COMPLETE RESULTS)
After returning from its trip to Phoenix to compete in the 2011 Grand Canyon duals, Kutztown came out energized and motivated to take down one of the top schools in the country. Pitt-Johnstown (5-0) came into Saturday's match ranked sixth in Division II.
Desmond Moore (Easton, PA/Easton) (125) was the first wrestler to compete and gave the fans in attendance an immediate reason to get up and cheer their Golden Bears on. Moore's match against UPJ's David Fogle went into overtime after the two were tied 4-4. He then took down Fogle with a pair of takedowns, earning him an 8-4 win to start the night for KU. This was Moore's third dual meet win of the year.
KU won three of its first four matches with its only loss coming off a forfeit at 141. Austin Williams (Pen Argyl, PA/Pen Argyl) (133) and John Paukovits (Northampton, PA/Northampton) (149) each won their matches by decision. Williams now has seven dual meet victories this year and Paukovits has five.
Paukovits seemed to control most of his match against UPJ's Nathan Link. Despite going down with an injury halfway through the match, Paukovits nearly earned himself a fall as he continued to wrestle hard winning by a 10-5 decision and giving Kutztown three crucial points.
“I'm thrilled,” said head wrestling coach Rob Fisher. “It was a great match for us. We've never beat these guys before and we came out tonight and split matches with them. We're getting better and better every day. By the end of the year, we are going to be a tough team to beat.”
Also winning for Kutztown was Tim Darling (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) at 184 and Justin Grant (Easton, PA/Easton) at 285. Darling defeated A.J. Brentzel by a 3-2 decision and has continued to prove why he is ranked fifth in Division II. Darling and Grant are tied with a team-leading nine wins in dual meets this season.
Grant went up against UPJ's only ranked wrestler in the lineup on Saturday in Chris Dempsey. Dempsey is currently ranked seventh in Division II. Grant defeated Dempsey by an 11-6 decision and closed Saturday's match on a high note for the Golden Bears.
Despite falling in his match at 197, Giovanni Ortiz (Reading, PA/Reading) wrestled well and often found himself on the attacking end. Kutztown's focus this year has not particularly been on wins and losses, but on wrestling hard each time it hits the mat. Ortiz's tenacity and perseverance throughout the match was a great sign of things to come in the second half of the season.
KU returns to action next weekend as it will compete in a pair of dual matches on Saturday January 15th at Keystone Fieldhouse beginning at 10:00 a.m. Wrestling against Kutztown will be West Liberty State, followed by Seton Hill.
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