Pitt Coach Jason Peter’s Talks of Strength of Schedule to Takedown Wrestling

PITTSBURGH–The University of Pittsburgh wrestling team released its 2011-12 schedule on Wednesday. The slate includes 16 dual meets and three tournaments.

In dual meet competition, the Eastern Wrestling League champion Panthers will take on six teams that finished in the top 30 at last season’s NCAA tournament. Included in that group is the defending national champion, Penn State.

During its six-match EWL schedule, Pitt will host three matches at Fitzgerald Field House. The final conference match will be at home against Edinboro (Feb. 17). The Panthers and Fighting Scots have combined to win the past eight EWL dual meet titles, including the previous two by Pitt.

In addition to hosting Edinboro, other home opponents include Michigan (Nov. 19), Ohio State (Dec. 9), Lock Haven (Jan. 13), Clarion (Jan. 20) and Hofstra (Feb. 10).

On Jan. 7, the Panthers will wrestle four matches when they host the Pitt Duals. Teams scheduled to attend are Columbia, Davidson, Eastern Michigan, Princeton and VMI. The complete schedule for the event will be finalized at a later date.

The Panthers’ road opponents are Lehigh (Nov. 12), Drexel (Nov. 13), Cleveland State (Dec. 11), Bloomsburg (Jan. 15), West Virginia (Feb. 4) and Penn State (Feb. 19).

Scheduled tournaments include the Buffalo Open (Nov. 6), Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas (Dec. 3) and the Lock Haven Invitational (Dec. 29). The Cliff Keen Invitational could be some of the toughest competition Pitt sees during the season as 12 of the top 25 teams from last year are expected to attend.

The 37th EWL Championships will be held at Clarion University on Sunday, March 4. Pitt is the defending team champion in the event after winning its first-ever title last season. Individually, Tyler Nauman will attempt to become Pitt’s first-ever four-time EWL champion and only the sixth wrestler from any school to accomplish the feat.

Pitt returns six national qualifiers from a team that set a program-record with eight wrestlers making the NCAA Championships. Returning qualifiers for the Panthers are seniors Nauman (141), Ethan Headlee (165) and Zac Thomusseit (197), juniors Donnie Tasser (157) andAnthony Zanetta (125), and sophomore Max Thomusseit (184). Matt Wilps, who redshirted last season but won the highly competitive Midlands Tournament, was a national qualifier in 2010. The NCAA Championships will be held March 15-17 in St. Louis, Mo. 

Fans will get their first chance to check out this year’s team at the Blue vs. Gold Match on Thursday, Oct. 27 at Fitzgerald Field House.

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