CLARION — A pair of upsets by junior 135-pounder Justin Johnston highlighted Curwensville\’s strong first-day performance at the District 9 Class AA Wrestling Championships in Clarion University\’s Waldo S. Tippin Gym.
He will be joined in Saturday morning\’s semifinals by four Golden Tide teammates, top seed Derek Brothers (26-5) at 103, second seeds Brett McCracken (19-9) at 145 and Nate Sipes (23-2) at 189 and fourth seed Jeff Thomas (19-10) at 130.
Johnson was one of two unseeded wrestlers to advance through Friday two rounds, improving his record to 9-13 with two falls, 4:39 against fifth seed Brandon Rimer (14-16) of Johnsonburg and 5:13 against fourth seed Adam Greenman (22-16) of Port Allegany. His reward is a match with two-time champ Colby Pisani (37-2) of Ridgway, the top seed.
With byes in the first round, the other four Golden Tide semifinalists had to win only one bout, and they did in impressive fashion with falls. Brothers needed only 22 seconds to pin eight seed Matt McFadden of Cranberry, Thomas pinned fifth Gary Leschner of Port Allegany in 3:09, McCracken decked seventh seed Jake Bogacki of Ridgway in 3:56 and Sipes flattened seventh seed Rich Keagle of Coudersport in 3:10.
Semifinal opponents were fourth seed Dan Blair (29-2) of Smethport for Brothers, top seed Brock Leitzel (36-1) of Ridgway for Thomas, third seed Shane Ross (29-8) of Brookville for Thomas and third seed Dylan Major (27-10) of Port Allegany for Sipes, who is seeking his fourth district championship.
Curwensville has three hopefuls for the consolation quarterfinals, Tyler Peters (17-14) at 112, Nathan Russell (14-12) at 215 and Nick Caldwell (8-10) at 285.
The season ended for Brett Sutika (17-13) at 119, Justin Smith (6-18) at 140, Matt Holland (7-16) at 152, Jarrett Sloppy (13-14) at 160 and Jesse Hoover (4-10) at 171. Sutika was 1-2 with a first-round win over Clarion\’s Caleb Null, while the others were 0-2.
As expected, District 9 Class AA dual meet champion Ridgway and Redbank Valley lead the way with eight and seven semifinalists, respectively. Curwensville, Johnsonburg and Smethport have five apiece, while Brockway and Oswayo Valley have for four, Brookville, Keystone, Kane, Port Allegany and Clarion have three, Cameron County has two and Coudersport has one.
All of the No. 1 seeds and 13 No. 2 seeds survived, with Smethport 135-pounder Kevin Smith the lone casualty. Brockway sophomore Jaron Licatavich of upset the Hubber senior 9-6.
Also advancing were nine No. 3 seeds, nine No. 4 seeds, four No. five seeds and five No. 6 seeds.
Semifinals and the consolation quarterfinals were set for 10:30 Saturday morning, with the consolation semifinals set for 12:30 p.m., the consolation finals for 5:30 and the championships for 6:30.
Key: Bw – Brockway; Bv – Brookville; CC – Cameron County; Cl – Clarion; Co – Coudersport; Cr – Cranberry; Cu – Curwensville; J – Johnsonburg; K – Kane; Key – Keystone; OV – Oswayo Valley; PA – Port Allegany; RV – Redbank Valley; R – Ridgway; RG – Rocky Grove; Sh – Sheffield; Sm – Smethport.
Championship Quarterfinals
103 — (1) Derek Brothers, Cu, pinned (8) Matt McFadden, Cr, :22; (4) Dan Blair, Sm, beat (5) Quinton O\’Rourke, J; (6) Trevor McCauley, RV, beat (3) Ian Grecco, Bw; (2) Garet Pisani, R, won by technical fall over (7) Tim Burke, RG, 19-4, 4.38.
112 — (1) Derek Konen, R, pinned (8) Ryan Terwilliger, Bw, 2:19; (5) Zach Baughman, Key, major dec. (4) Dom Manginelli, CC, 11-2; (3) Levi Bell, RV, dec. (6) Preston Mahoney, J, 4-3; (2) Kevin Shunk, Sm, pinned (7) Travis Mosher, Sh, 1:38.
119 — (1) Cameron Moran, K, pinned (8) Brett Sutika, Cu, 1:34; (4) Eric Grecco, Bw, dec. (5) Ed Buhler, R, 4-0; (3) Brandon Sansom, Bv, dec. (6) Nic McCauley, RV, 4-1; (2) Tim Hubbard, Sm, major dec. (7) Shane Martin, PA, 9-0.
125 — (1) Nick Nichols, PA, won by technical fall over (8) Ray Vulgamore, Sm, 15-0; (5) Logan Kellog, OV, dec. (4) Sam Evans, RV, 2-1; (6) Levi Ruff, Bw, dec. (3) Sam Skraba, R, 6-2; (2) Chase Gardner, J, won by technical fall over (7) Brock Belkowski, CC, 16-0, 2:49.
130 — (1) Brock Leitzel, R, pinned (8) Bryce Frey, CC, 1:13; (4) Jeff Thomas, Cu, pinned (5) Gary Leschner, PA, 3:09; (6) Justin Sweitzer, Sm, pinned (3) Brendon Shaffer, RV, 5:51; (2) Dillon Park, Bw, dec. (7) Ian Breakey, J, 5-3.
135 — (1) Colby Pisani, R, pinned (8) Nick Lander, Cr, 1:11; Justin Johnston, Cu, pinned (4) Adam Greenman, PA, 5:13; (3) Kenny Kiskadden, Cl, dec. (6) D.J. Horton, K, 4-2; Jaron Licatavich, Bw, dec. (2) Kevin Smith, Sm, 9-8.
140 — (1) Nikko Leitzel, R, pinned Dakota Milford, PA, 1:34; (4) A.J. Magagnotti, RV, pinned (5) Dan Shunk, Sm, 1:43; (6) Josh Woodford, J, dec. (3) Justin Moore, Bv, 14-10; (2) Dirk Cowburn, Co, won by technical fall over (7) Dan Milstead, K, 16-0, 1:52.
145 — (1) Jimmy McCauley, RV, pinned (8) Cody Freer, Sm, 3:44; (4) Mike Switzer, Key, dec. (5) Randy Schatz, CC, 3-1; (3) Shane Ross, Bv, major dec. (6) Larry Heeter, Sh, 13-2; (2) Brett McCracken, Cu, pinned (7) Jake Bogacki, R, 3:56.
152 — (1) Jonathon Brothers, RV, pinned (8) Ricky Fry, PA, 1:17; (5) Brandon Slater, OV, dec. (4) Taylor Songer, CC, 6-4; (3) Judd Zilcosky, J, dec. (6) Roy Krise, R, 1-0; (2) Ben Hahn, Sm, pinned (7) Tyler Ferry, Bv, 3:41.
160 — (1) Zeke Drake, OV, won by technical fall over (8) Jarrett Sloppy, Cu, 16-0, 3:52; (4) Mike Baker, CC, major dec. (5) Kyle Nobles, Sm, 13-3; (3) Logan Shirey, RV, dec. (6) Kyle Jones, Key, 8-3; (2) Dylan Nelson, J, dec. (7) Chad Saltsman, PA, 1-0.
171 — (1) Brad Rapp, Cl, pinned (8) Darrek Johnson, R, 1:50; (5) Mark Anthony, PA, dec. (4) Joe Pickens, K, 13-7; (6) Mike Cherry, J, dec. (3) Joe Shields, Bv, 13-8; (2) Matt Mix, K, dec. (7) Josh Deeter G, 7-2.
189 — (1) Jerico Weitzel, R, won by technical fall over Andy Benjamin, OV, 17-2, 6:00; (4) Ross Nicholson, K, major dec. (5) Derek Krietzer, Sm, 11-2; (3) Dylan Major, PA, dec. (6) Chad Whippo, J, 9-2; (2) Nick Sipes, Cu, pinned (7) Rich Keagle, Co, 3:10.
215 — (1) Markus McHenry, Key, pinned Burke, CC; (4) Carter Dinger dec. (5) Cory Smith, K, 3-2 (4 ot); (3) Troy Betts, R, dec. (6) Kyle Bard, Cr, 2-1 (4 ot), (2) Anthony Driscoll, Cl, major dec. (7) Nathan Russell, Cu, 11-1.
285 — (1) Eli Morres, Bv, pinned (8) Mark Divins, Cl, 2:30; (4) Nick Allen, OV, dec. Josh Saltsman (PA), 8-1; (3) Ben Thompson, R, dec. (6) Jake Schreiber, J, 7-1; (2) Chad Schatz, CC, pinned (7) Steve Mix, K, :35.
Following are results for Curwensville wrestlers in other rounds:
Championship First Round
103 — Brothers, bye.
112 — Bell, RV, pinned Tyler Peters, Cu, 5:42.
119 — Sutika, dec, Caleb Null, Cl, 3-2.
130 — Thomas, bye.
135 — Johnston pinned (5) Brandon Rimer, J, 4:31.
140 — Moore, Bv, pinned Justin Smith, Cu, :29.
145 — McCracken, bye.
152 — Fry, PA, major dec. Matt Holland, Cu, 13-2.
160 — Sloppy, bye.
171 — Anthony, PA, dec. Jesse Hoover, Cu, 4-3.
189 — Sipes, bye
215 — Russell, bye
285 — Morres, BV, pinned Nick Caldwell, Cu, 1:21.
Consolation First Round
112 — Peters, C, major dec. Cameron Snodgrass, PA, 12-2.
Consolation Second Round
112 — Peters, Cu, dec. Dom Manginelli, CC, 7-5.
119 — Tyler Bidwell, CC, dec. Sutika, Cu, 5-2.
140 — Shunk, SM, pinned Smith, Cu, 4:55.
152 — Ferry, Bv, pinned Holland, Cu, 1:58.
160 — Mark Cangemi, Cr, pinned Sloppy, Cu, 2:30.
171 — Shields, Bv, dec. Hoover, 15-8.
215 — Russell, bye.
285 — Caldwell, Cu, dec. S. Mix, K, 1-0.