WVU falls to Pitt on Senior Night

The West Virginia wrestling team had its biggest test Saturday night against No. 9 Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl.

The Panthers improved to 17 straight EWL wins against the West Virginia Mountaineers by a score of 26-12. Pittsburgh, who is the defending EWL Champions, improved to 12-1 on the season with a perfect 5-0 EWL record. With the loss, WVU dropped to 6-4 on the season with a 2-2 EWL mark.

The highlight of the night came from 141-pound Michael Morales. Morales was able to earn a pin after the Mountaineers fell behind 6-0 to start the match.

"That was a big match for me because it was our main rival Pitt," Morales said. "I know I had to make up for the lost points from Shane and Nate's matches."

"We had seven weights that could have gone either way for us tonight," said Coach Craig Turnbull following the match. "It was pretty easy to see heading into the match that it was going to play out that way, but we didn't take any of those matches."

Both No. 26 Shane Young and No. 24 Nathan Pennesi were both defeated by ranked opponents. Young was defeated by No. 16 Anthony Zanetta by a score of 2-0, while Pennesi, who was on a five-match win streak, fell to No. 20 Shelton Mack 8-5.

Redshirt senior Matt Ryan, who wrestled his last match at the WVU Coliseum, was able to defeat No. 32 Andy Vaughan of Pitt on Senior Night. Ryan, who is ranked No. 17, was able to win his match in a tight fashion.

"Matt Ryan had to work hard for his win tonight," Turnbull said. "That is good for him to get a tough match as we head into the final stretch run of the season."

With another forfeit at 197, WVU trailed Pitt 26-9 going into the heavyweight match.

Brandon Williamson, ranked No. 18, battled illness in his 7-2 decision victory. Pitt finished with a victory of 26-12 and continued its EWL streak at 17.

"I was really proud of Brandon tonight because he was very sick this morning," Turnbull said. "He called our trainer around 5 a.m. this morning from the hospital after he contracted some type of flu. I tried to convince him not to wrestle, but he was adamant about wanting to wrestle on Senior Night. It was against my better judgment, but those kind of things are good for you."

The Mountaineers will return to the mat against Ohio in Athens, Ohio, this Friday at 7 p.m.