The Pitt wrestling team is enjoying one of its best seasons and has a chance tonight to do something it has never done before -- win the Eastern Wrestling League championship.

The 17th-ranked Panthers (16-1-1, 5-0 EWL) will host Edinboro (9-5, 4-0) at 7 p.m. in the Fitzgerald Field House, and the winner will capture the regular season championship. Pitt already has set a school record for dual match wins in a season and, if it can beat the Fighting Scots, will set a record for EWL wins as well.

It won't be easy, as both lineups are well-balanced and every match is expected to be competitive. The championship likely will hinge on the results of the final match -- the heavyweights.

Interestingly enough, if that is the case, the Panthers' first league championship could be clinched by the wrestler who likely has the least experience of any of those who will participate in the match.

That's because Pitt's heavyweight -- technically called the 285-pound weight class -- is Penn-Trafford graduate Ryan Tomei, who didn't start wrestling competitively until he was in 11th grade.

Oh, he did try his hand at wrestling in middle school, but he described that attempt as a disaster because he was out of shape and not very strong and was beaten nearly every time he actually got to wrestle.

"It was not a good experience at all," Tomei said. "So I went back to playing other sports, like football and baseball, because that's what I was good at. I had always been into sports and been an athlete, but after that, I left wrestling behind me for good, at least I thought."

Tomei matured physically, however, and got stronger, slimmer and, as a result, quicker, but he still was focused on trying to become a lineman or a baseball player in college because those were his primary sports.

But near the end of his sophomore year, Penn-Trafford offered intramural wrestling and he decided to give it a try.

One day, some of the Warriors wrestlers were working out at the mats and Tomei decided to take his shot with the starting heavyweight and promptly pinned him.

"The news of that got back to Vince [Testa, Penn-Trafford's wrestling coach at the time] and he came to me and told me I had to give wrestling another try," Tomei said. "At first I said no, but then I thought about it and realized there weren't many 5-[foot-]10 linemen in Division I college football, so I said, 'What the heck?' And so, in my junior year, I started and finished second in the WPIAL and seventh in the state, so I guess it was a success."

Tomei, who is 15-2 with 12 pins and is currently ranked No. 6 among heavyweights nationally, finished second in the WPIAL as a senior -- he lost in the championship match to Pitt defensive tackle Myles Caragein, who wrestled for Keystone Oaks -- and fifth in the state.

His short-yet-successful career caught the eye of Pitt wrestling coach Rande Stottlemyer, who offered him a partial scholarship because he figured the best for Tomei was yet to come.

"The good thing about a lack of experience like he has is this: He doesn't have any bad habits and he was in many ways like a blank canvas to work with," Stottlemyer said. "The thing that sets him apart is his athleticism. For a kid his size, to move the way he does, to be as quick as he is, that's simply amazing. He does things guys much smaller than he is can't do, and you can tell he's been around sports his whole life."

Tomei, who is a redshirt junior, has made quite a rise in a short time. Not only is he nationally ranked, but he also was selected to Team USA and traveled to Poland to compete in the Ziolkowski International, a senior level event.

He almost assuredly will compete in the NCAA championships this spring, but for now his only focus is on helping the Panthers win their first Eastern Wrestling League title -- something they were denied last year in the final match by the same Edinboro team, as the Scots routed the Panthers, 31-8.

"I really feel in my heart we are going to win this thing," Tomei said. "They have a great team, but we've been so motivated for this one for so long and we've worked so hard to get back here. If you look at the lineups, it really could come down to the heavyweights, and they have a great one, too, but I'm ready for that challenge.

"This could be something special for Pitt, something I think we all want to make happen since it has never been done here before."

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