The No. 12-ranked Mountain Cat wrestlers clawed back from an early 7-0 deficit to win eight straight bouts, including NCAA eighth-ranked Travis McKillop's (Lower Burrell, Pa.) technical fall over Super Region No. 2-ranked Zack Zelcs, to lead Pitt-Johnstown to a 27-7 victory at Gannon University on Tuesday.  The Mountain Cats made it five straight dual meet wins and improved to 6-2.     

Gannon jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two bouts in a pair of matches that featured regionally-ranked wrestlers.  In the opener at 125 lbs., Super Region I No. 3-ranked Matthew Turek won a 12-3 major decision over fifth-ranked Evan Link (Cresson, Pa.), and in a battle of the top-two wrestlers in the region, No. 2 Jose Matos upset top-ranked and national No. 8 Dave Fogle (Summerhill, Pa.), 5-3, at 133 lbs.    

However, the Mountain Cats took control and won he final eight matches to take home the victory.     

Dave Cawley (Pittsburgh, Pa.) shutout Adam Weinell, 4-0, at 141 lbs., and Jack Bachman (Greensburg, Pa.) earned a 6-4 win over Michael Krysiak, before Joel Paolo (Weirton, WV) used a third period takedown to hold off Casey Page, 2-1, at 157 lbs. to give Pitt-Johnstown its first lead of the night at 9-7.    

Decision wins by Keith Ryan (Shirleysburg, Pa.) (165 lbs.) and Gary Lantz (Delta, Pa.) extended the Mountain Cat lead to 15-7, and McKillop scored a 15-0 technical fall over Zelcs at 184 lbs. to put the match away.     

Pitt-Johnstown closed it out and set the final at 27-7 with Nikos Garafola's (Greensburg, Pa.) 13-3 major decision over Kristopher Rahn at 197 lbs., and Josh Duplin's (Johnstown, Pa.) 5-3 overtime win over Charles Lear at 285 lbs.

The Mountain Cats host No. 18 Ashland (OH) University on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center, before traveling to the 2013 Super Region Duals at Newberry (SC) College on January 25-26.

#12 PITT-JOHNSTOWN AT GANNON
PITT-JOHNSTOWN  27       GANNON  7
125 - Matthew Turek (GU)  Major Decision  Evan Link  (UPJ)  12-3  4-0 GU
133 - Jose Matos (GU)  Decision  #8 Dave Fogle (UPJ)  5-3  7-0 GU
141 - Dave Cawley (UPJ)  Decision  Adam Weinell (GU)  4-0  7-3 GU
149 - Jack Bachman (UPJ)  Decision  Michael Krysiak (GU)  6-4  7-6 GU
157 - Joel Paolo (UPJ)  Decision  Casey Pace (GU)  2-1  9-7 UPJ
165 - Keith Ryan (UPJ)  Decision  Adam Greenman (GU)  6-3  12-7 UPJ
174 - Gary Lantz (UPJ)  Decision  Jermaine Easter (GU)  3-2  15-7 UPJ
184 - #8 Travis McKillop (UPJ)  Technical Fall  Zack Zelcs (GU)  15-0
20-7 UPJ
197 - Nikos Garafola  (UPJ)  Major Decision  Kristopher Rahn (GU)  13-3
24-7 UPJ
HWT. -  Josh Duplin (UPJ)  Decision  Charles Lear (GU)  5-3 OT  27-7 UPJ