First-year Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson has said on many occasions that he hates to lose. At anything. Especially wrestling. So, even after his No. 14 Nittany Lions (5-1-1) overcame seemingly insurmountable odds Saturday night at Fitzgerald Field House to tie No. 24 Pitt (6-1-1), 19-19, Sanderson bottom lined the match. “A tie is a loss,” he said. The Nittany Lions had to forfeit at 197 because Clay Steadman had been suspended for the weekend’s dual meets for breaking team rules. Then, during pre-match warmups, starting heavyweight Cameron Wade severely sprained his ankle and couldn’t go, forcing backup Brendan Herlihy, a fifth-year senior who has been a career backup, into action.

Despite those impediments, Sanderson still thought the Nittany Lions could have pulled out a win. Penn State piled up a 29-10 advantage in takedowns but could manage just a 5-5 split in the 10 bouts. “We had a lot of opportunities to win that match. Every one of those guys had the chance to win that dual meet for us,” he said. “That’s just good practice for them. Things aren’t ever going to be perfect and you’ve got to make do with what you’ve got. Really, they came out and hammered us in those first three matches and that kind of put us in a tough hole. I was proud of the way those guys fought back.” Pitt stormed to a 9-0 lead sweeping to decisions at 125, 133 and 141. The real shocker came at 125 where Panther freshman Anthony Zannetta dominated No. 7 Brad Pataky, 15-9. “Zanetta, people don’t realize, he’s pretty good,” 30-year Pitt head coach Rande Stottlemyer said. “He’s the kind of kid who always gives himself a chance to win because he wrestles hard from start to finish.”

Penn State rallied from that deficit to take a 19-9 lead by sweeping the next five matches, from 149 to 184. No. 6 Frank Molinaro shook off an elbow injury to earn a 13-4 major decision at 149. No. 3 Cyler Sanderson accumulated 11 takedowns in a 26-11 match termination at 157. At 165, No. 9 Dan Vallimont used six takedowns to engineer a 16-5 major decision. And, at 184, No. 14 David Erwin posted a 13-4 major decision.

In between, came the most crucial win — freshman Justin Ortega’s 4-2 decision over David Sullivan at 174. “Ortega’s was a big match. We needed him to go out there and win, bottom line,” Sanderson said. “He did it. It was good to see. Hopefully that will work as a confidence builder for him.” After Pitt received its forfeit at 197, to close the deficit to 19-15, Pitt looked in good shape to pull out a win with No. 12 Ryan Tomei taking on Herlihy. Herlihy, however, wrestled a smart, defensive tactical match and almost held Tomei to a decision. But, with five seconds left in the bout, Tomei converted a double for a takedown and a 10-1 major decision to force the tie, which sent the partisan Pitt crowd into a frenzy.

Thanks to Andy Elder and the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article