NCAA Wrestling Championships
Blog # 4 (3/18)
By Jon Brennan
You can tell it’s getting big with only two mats remain in the center and two outer mats on each end. The middle mats will feature the semifinals while the outer mats will host the consolation brackets. All the winners of the outer mats in the consolation bracket will move into the final eight, guaranteeing them All- America accolades.
That brings us to Pitt’s lone representative remaining in the tournament, junior Zac Thomusseit.
It was a tough day in general for the Panthers as Anthony Zanetta, Tyler Nauman, Donnie Tasser, Max Thomusseit and Ryan Tomei were knocked out of the tournament today.
When you qualify for the NCAA Wrestling Championships, you’re amongst the top-33 grapplers in the nation. Simply getting here is an amazing accomplishment within itself. With that being said, no matter how you fair at this tournament, you should walk out with our head held high.
I know it’s easier said than done, but I like to compare it to being named an All-Star in a professional sport. You don’t get there without impressive numbers. And unlike the pro’s, you can’t get just because fans voted you there. It’s all about the blood, sweat and tears. Although I don’t think there is much of the third one.
At the beginning of the season, I’ll openly admit that I knew very little about wrestling. As I sit here tonight, I’m not about to call myself an expert, but I’ve come to understand this sport much better and my appreciation – and interest in the sport – has grown tremendously.
The future of collegiate wrestling is bright, and if anyone wants to question that, I’d simply ask them to make one trip to the NCAA Championships to see just how passionate the fans and followers of the sport are.
Today I had a chance to you’re the Philadelphia Eagles football stadium, Lincoln Financial Field. It was pretty cool but, Heinz Field will I don’t think I could ever put it above Heinz Field. Nevertheless, fans were able to go on the field as well as tour the locker room. Good to see former Pitt Panther LeSean McCoy’s locker. Still seems like just yesterday I was watching “Shady” shake and bake his way through hopeless would-be tacklers.
Should Zac lose tonight, this will likely be my final entry. If that’s the case (and we all hope it isn’t) I’d like to send out my thanks and appreciation to the organizers of this great tournament. Working at Pitt and assisting in hosting the opening rounds of the women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, I can tell you first hand just how much time and dedication it takes to make everything run.
As always, H2P!
NCAA Wrestling Championships
Blog # 3 (3/18)
By Jon Brennan
I’m feeling a bit like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day as day three in Philadelphia is upon us. In the same seat, I find myself surrounded yet again by 17,289 screaming fans and eight mats of intense championship wrestling.
Slowly but surely, we’re narrowing down the fields. Penn State continues to lead the tournament while Cornell and Iowa appear to be the two-teams capable of catching the Nittany Lions.
The weather here has been great, and temperatures are expected to top out around 75 degrees today. Not too shabby.
So the big story for the Panthers on day one was the performance of Zac Thomusseit. There was a lot of speculation coming into the tournament as to how he would fair coming off his injury to his knee. “Big Thoms” as his teammates call him, answered that question with authority. Thomusseit took out Matt Casperson of Boise State with a 10-2 major decision followed up by a 3-2 win over the 10th seed Logan Brown of Purdue. If he can win his match this session, Thomusseit will move into the semifinals and be guaranteed All-America honors. He’ll certainly have his work cut out for him, as No. 2-seeded Clayton Foster of Oklahoma State awaits.
In all, six Panthers advanced beyond day one. As I type, two of them (Anthony Zanetta and Tyler Nauman) have already booked their spots in the next round of the wrestlebacks. “Z” took out Hofstra’s Steve Bonanno with a 5-3 decision while Nauman earned an 8-2 decision over Hicks Manson of Cornell.
One of the lead stories of this tournament has been the story of Arizona State’s Anthony Robles, the number one seeded wrestler at 125. Despite being born with only one leg, Robles uses incredible upper body strength and technique to dominate his opponents. I read up a little bit last night at the hotel about Robles and it’s really an incredible story. He’s a two-time All-American but this year looks to claim his first National Championship.
Starting to get to the upper weights, so time to gear up for the big three.
More to come tonight during the evening session…
H2P
NCAA Wrestling Championships
Blog # 2 (3/17)
By Jon Brennan
Welcome back to the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships. After the first session, four Panthers claimed opening match victories. Sophomore Anthony Zanetta (125), redshirt junior Tyler Nauman (141), freshman Max Thomusseit (184) and junior Zac Thomusseit (197) all won their opening matches to advance to the second round main draw this evening.
Certainly not to be counted out, redshirt freshman Dane Johnson (149), redshirt sophomore Donnie Tasser (157), redshirt junior Ethan Headlee (165) and redshirt-senior Ryan Tomei (285) all will compete in the “wrestlebacks” bracket tonight as well.
I’d like to open up this blog by applauding Coach Stottlemyer’s holiday spirit. Coach is rocking a green tie for St. Patrick’s Day.
We just recently opened up the second round, but not before Buffalo wrestler Chris Conti gave a fantastic performance in singing the Star Spangled Banner.
The place is absolutely jam packed for the second session and the parking lots outside would lead you to believe that the Philadelphia Eagles were playing next door at Lincoln Financial Field. The crowd is electric and team chants are echoing through the arena.
The truth is that wrestling nation is as die-hard a following as any collegiate sport. People come from all over the country to support their team – and in many cases – only one or two wrestler’s who qualified from the respective school.
After the first session, the Panthers are tied for 15th overall. Seventy-three teams are on hand competing for this year’s championships.
Before concluding tonight’s blog, I’d of course like to congratulate the men’s basketball team for advancing to the second round of the “Big Dance.”
H2P!
NCAA Wrestling Championships
Blog # 1 (3/17)
By Jon Brennan
From the city of brotherly love, greetings Panthers fans and welcome to the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships! As I speak, our first Pitt wrestler, Anthony Zanetta is taking to the mat. We’re less than a half hour into the championships and let me tell you, for those of you who have never been to the NCAA Championships, I can only describe it in one word, chaos!
There are eight mats running at once and from my seat (I’m on the floor in the end zone) cheers are pouring from every section of the Wells Fargo Center. It’s a packed house and Iowa fans seem to have the largest contingency. Not to be outdone, the Pitt fans gathered up in section 203 can easily be spotted and heard from my seat here on the floor.
I’m happy to report that Zanetta just took out the No. 10 seed Alan Watters of Missouri, with a 7-2 decision.
I haven’t been to Philadelphia in quite some time, but I’m impressed so far with what I’ve seen. Of course, being a Pittsburgh native, that’s a hard thing for me to say, or type.
After arriving here at the arena, I was exploring the complex when I decided to have a bagel at the breakfast area. As I finished eating, a man approached me and said, “Best of luck today Coach, you guys have done a great job this year.”
Not fully grasping what he had said, I nodded and replied with a thank you. A few seconds later, I couldn’t help but smile that someone thought of me as a coach. What would lead them to think I was a coach? Well, upon walking out, I quickly realized why. The sign on the door read, Welcome to the coaches hospitality room. Oops.
As my ego returned to the ground, I met up with Coach Stottlemyer to go over any last second needs he might need. He was all set to go, and I’m not surprised in the slightest bit. Coach has been to the NCAA Championships 31 times, more than any active coach here at the tournament.
Returning NCAA All-American Tyler Nauman just gave the Panthers a 2-0 record to start the day. Nauman notched a 7-3 decision.
Before I go, quick shout out to Coach Dixon, the men’s basketball team and Panther Nation in the DC area. Good luck guys.
Check out my twitter account: PittBrennan for up-to-the-minute results and tidbits.
H2P!