Curwensville Pinned by Brookville 41-33 on Parent\’s Night

CURWENSVILLE — Brookville, a squad toughened by a schedule featuring some of the top Class AA teams in the state and six out-of-state opponents, spoiled Parents Night for Curwensville by overcoming four forfeits to notch a 41-33 victory in a schoolboy wrestling makeup match in Patton Hall Tuesday night.

 

The only Golden Tide winners on the mat were Jarrett Sloppy at 160 pounds, Brandon Padgett at 189 and Nathan Russell at 215, all by low-scoring, close decisions.

 

Forfeits went to Derek Brothers at 103, Brett Sutika at 112, Jeff Thomas at 130 and Duane Wriglesworth III at 135.

 

Curwensville finished 6-6 in dual meets.

 

A takedown by Russell with 46 seconds left in the first period decided the opening bout at 215. The Golden Tide sophomore and Bill Reitz traded escapes in the last two periods and spent most of the time on their feet. Russell gave up a stalling point with 15 seconds left to win 3-2.

 

Sloppy also prevailed because of a takedown. He battled out of Noah Johnson\’s standing headlock at the edge of the mat to earn the key two-pointer five seconds before the second period buzzer at 160. Earlier in the period, Sloppy sandwiched escapes around Johnson\’s takedown. Johnson escaped five seconds after the third period whistle, but Sloppy fought off the Blue Raider\’s power moves to triumph 4-3.

 

With the match already decided, Padgett got the call instead of two-time state placewinner Nick Sipes in the final bout and took down Kalvin Gilhousen early in the first period and late in the second period to grab a 4-2 decision

 

\”As a matter of fact, it was his (Sipes) idea,\” Golden Tide coach Duane Wriglesworth II said. \”Brandon has wrestled all through junior high and high school but has always had to take a back seat to several good kids. He had some family here to watch him, and I that was a first for him. So, I really was happy to see him go out there and get a win in his last match.\”

 

Padgett and Sipes were two of the five seniors receiving special recognition after introductions of other team members prior to the meet. Kristy Newpher (125), Matt Holland (152) and Joe Hawkins (285) are the other seniors.

 

The Blue Raiders registered six falls and a technical fall to go with a forfeit for Shane Ross (28-8) at 145 because Brett McCracken was sidelined by an injury.

 

\”It would have been nice to see McCracken wrestle Ross again,\” Wriglesworth said. \”He had beaten him twice earlier in the year. He should be back for districts. Justin Smith (140-145) is out, too, with some health problems, but he should be back by the end of the week, too.\”

 

Cradle was the pin move of preference for Blue Raiders Nick Bishop (125), Justin Moore (31-6 at 140), Tyler Ferry (152) and undefeated state runner-up Eli Morres (285), who is 35-0 this season, 77-1 the last two years and 141-14 for his career. Joe Shields (24-12 at 171) also had a fall, while Brandon Sansom (30-4 at 119) parlayed three takedowns and four sets of back points into a 17-1 technical win over Tyler Peters.

 

Wriglesworth pointed out Brookville, which also met all of the Class AAA teams in District 9 this season, wrestles much better than its 14-11 record would indicate, even overcoming the loss of 10 wrestlers for various reasons since the start of practice in November.

 

\”You take a look at the Ultimate Duals where they bring in some of the top-notch teams from all over the state,\” Wriglesworth said. \”Then, the tournaments they go to are just grueling. Then went to Florida and met teams from all over the country. They\’ve got a lot of decent kids in their lineup. So, nothing really surprised me tonight.

 

\”I was happy for Russell and Sloppy, and it would have been nice to see Holland get a win, but it was just about what I figured.\”