A 25-18 victory over Pitt Saturday and a 24-9 win over West Virginia yesterday moved the third-ranked wrestling team (18-2-1) into a first-place tie with Lock Haven in the EWL.

The two wins also extended the Lions' EWL unbeaten streak to 51 matches, which goes back to the 1980-81 season.

"All in all, I'm pretty pleased. We wrestled hard this weekend," Coach Rich Lorenzo said.

Joe Yancosky put the Mountaineers ahead with an 11-5 decision over Yu Matsui in the 118-pound bout. Yancosky controlled Matsui on his feet, scoring five takedowns in the match.

The Lions won the next five matches to take a commanding 18-3 lead. Ken Chertow started the run with a 4-1 decision over Dave Miller. Chertow scored a takedown, an escape and a riding time point en route to the win.

Defending national champion Jim Martin pinned Dave Koreski at 6:24 in the 134-pound bout. Martin dominated the match and led 16-2 before picking up the fall.

Rob Meloy gave the Lions a 12-3 advantage, scoring four takedowns in a 10-5 victory over Jamy Ritter at 142.

"Jimmy (Martin) and Kenny (Chertow) gave us very consistent performances, and Martin gave us a big lift with the fall," Lorenzo said. "Then Rob Meloy got on his offense and scored some takedowns which was good to see."

Mike Bevilacqua scored a first period takedown and held off Dave Onorato the rest of the way for a 3-1 win at 150.

In the 158-pound match, Dirk Cole managed just two escapes as Sean Finkbeiner scored a 9-2 decision. Jay Schwartz ended the streak as he decisioned Jason Suter, 3-2, at 167. Suter evened the match with an escape in the third period but a stalling call late in the period gave Schwartz the match.

Dominic Black cut the lead to 18-9 with an 8-4 decision over Matt White in the 177-pound bout. Black scored all of his points on takedowns.

At 190, Andy Voit clinched the dual meet, decisioning Jeff Spinetti, 5-1. Leading 2-1 after two periods, Voit scored an escape and was awarded two points when Spinetti was hit twice for stalling to lock up the victory.

"Andy Voit gave us a very good performance and kept the pressure on Jeff Spinetti," Lorenzo said.

At heavyweight, Greg Haladay downed Frank Jezioro, 3-1, scoring an escape in the second period and a takedown in the third.

The 15th-ranked Panthers stayed with the Lions through most of the match Saturday, but Voit and Haladay scored major decisions in the last two bouts to lock up the win.

"We were a little sloppy at times, but after Matsui lost Chertow went out and beat one of their best wrestlers to get us back in it," said Lorenzo of Saturday's match. " And Andy Voit and Greg Haladay went out and gave steady performances to put the icing on the cake."

Bob Simpson gave Pitt a quick six-point lead at 118, pinning Matsui at the 2:44 mark of the first period, but Chertow cut the lead in half with a 10-4 decision over Matt Rizzo.

Martin, who moved up to 134 to give Jeff Dernlan the weekend off, pinned Joe Bursick with 19 seconds left in the match to give the Lions their first lead, 9-6.

Pat Santoro, last year's NCAA champion at 142 pounds, downed Meloy, 18-5, in the next bout to put Pitt back on top, 10-9. Bevilacqua and Scott Hovan battled to a 6-6 draw in the 150-pound match as the Panthers retained their one-point advantage.

Jeff Turner extended Pitt's lead to 15-11, decisioning Finkbeiner, 2-1, at 158, but Suter pinned Nick Damico at the 3:38 mark to put Penn State ahead, 17-15.

Pitt regained the lead in the 177-pound match as Lance Markel decisioned White, 9-8. Markel scored a five-point move late in the match to overcome White's 7-4 advantage.

Voit put Penn State ahead to stay with a 16-7 major decision over Perry Miller in the 190-pound bout and Haladay majored John Owens, 13-5, at heavyweight to seal the victory.

Penn State will battle Lock Haven for first place in the EWL when the Lions host the Golden Eagles at 7:30 Saturday in Rec Hall.

"We're going to come back and try to have a good week of practice, and we're looking forward to this weekend with Lock Haven."