CLARION — Senior 189-pounder Nick Sipes of Curwensville joined an exclusive schoolboy wrestling fraternity Saturday night when he avenged a 2-1 dual meet loss to Ridgway junior Jerico Weitzel with a 3-2 win to become the Golden Tide\’s first four-time District 9 Class AA champion.
He is the 22nd member of the 9-AA Four-Title Club, and Brookville\’s Eli Morres joined minutes later, the first heavyweight with that achievement on his resume.
A takedown by Sipes in the third period was the difference between two of the state\’s premier 189-pounders, who developed a rivalry on the gridiron last fall as star running backs and linebackers. They had traded escapes prior to that, and Weitzel managed another escape in the final seconds.
When their much-anticipated rematch ended, many of the fans streamed to the exits and missed the naming of Sipes and Ridgway 135-pounder Colby Pisani as co-recipients of the Joseph J. Kata Award that goes to the Outstanding Wrestler.
Sipes, who blanked Port Allegany\’s Dylan Major 6-0 in the semifinals, cemented his standing as one of District 9\’s all-time two-sport greats with his third consecutive championship at 189. The district\’s football record-holder in rushing yards, touchdowns and scoring reigned at 171 in his freshman season.
Two Golden Tide wrestlers lost in the finals. Freshman 103-pounder and top seed Derek Brothers was nipped 3-2 by Ridgway\’s second-seeded Garet Pisani and junior 145-pounder Brett McCracken was pinned in 1:48 by Redbank Valley\’s Jimmy McCauley. In the semis, Brothers beat Smethport\’s Dan Blair 6-0 and McCracken edged Brookville\’s Shane Ross 4-2. Blair and Ross both bounced back to place third.
Sophomore 112-pounder Tyler Peters will be the fourth Curwensville wrestler going to Sharon Friday for the Class AA Northwest Region Tournament after rebounding from his first-round loss to eventual runner-up Levi Bell of Redbank Valley with five wins in a row.
He was one of the only two unseeded wrestlers to place in the tourney, capping his run through the consolation bracket Saturday with a 5-1 win over eighth seed Ryan Terwilliger of Brockway, a 3-2 squeaker over second seed Kevin Shunk of Smethport and a 5-1 decision over fifth seed Zach Baughman of Keystone.
All four Curwensville qualifiers will face District 10 opponents in the region quarterfinals. The pairings pit Brothers against Commodore Perry sophomore Jordan Powell (35-6), Peters against Reynolds sophomore Cody Kelly (36-10), McCracken against Greenville junior Justin Ferguson (41-11) and Sipes against Eisenhower senior Nathan Rohlin (31-9). Kelly lost in the finals, while Powell and Ferguson placed third and Rohlin finished fourth.
Curwensville sophomore 130-pounder Jeff Thomas fell one win short of qualifying for the regional. He lost 9-3 to second seed Dillon Park of Brockway in the consolation finals after losing 14-6 to champ Brock Leitzel of Ridgway in the semis and then topping third seed Brendon Shaffer of Redbank Valley 4-2 in the consy semis.
Colby Pisani, McCauley, Kane 119-pounder Cameron Moran and Ridgway 140-pounder Nikko Leitzel, a returning state champion, won their third 9-AA championships, while Brock Leitzel, Port Allegany 125-pounder Nick Nichols, Oswayo Valley 160-pounder Zeke Drake and Clarion 171-pounder Brad Rapp claimed their second crowns. Drake is the Green Wave\’s first two-timer. All are seniors except Nichols, a junior.
First-timers, in addition to Garet Pisani, were Ridgway 112-pounder Derek Konen, Redbank Valley 152-pounder Jonathon Brothers and Clarion 215-pounder Anthony Driscoll.
Moran, Nikko Leitzel, Brothers, Drake and Morres are undefeated.
Curwensville finished a surprising fourth in the team chase with 93 points. Ridgway ran away with the championship with 199 points, followed by Redbank Valley with 116 and Johnsonburg with 101.5.
OVERTIME — Sipes is the fourth Curwensville wrestler to earn the Outstanding Wrestler Award. The others were Dave Irwin (1980), Bryan Wetzel (1988) and Jason Clark (1991)… Though heavyweights rarely rate consideration for OW honors, Morres should have had some votes after posting three falls in 6:31 and then, in the finals, a 7-0 shutout against Cameron County\’s Chad Schatz, who had three pins in 2:50, including a six-second fall the first round… Since District 9 split into two classes in 1974, Ridgway\’s 83-point margin over second place Redbank Valley is the largest in Class AA, topping the Elkers\’ 81-point bulge over the Bulldogs (193-112) in 1989. It the ninth time the Elkers and Bulldogs have finished one-two… The Lenny Ferraro Award for the coach of the year went to Gary Gerber for the sixth time. His Elker teams have won 339 dual meets. They were 25-2 this season, finishing third in the PIAA Class AA Duals… Going into regionals, Nikko Leitzel is the new leader on the District 9 all-time wins list with 149, five more than Andy Rendos of Brockway had after winning his second PIAA Class AA title last March. Morres, who was a state runner-up last year, now is second at 145 and counting, while Moran (134) has moved into a tie for eighth.
Team Standings and Key
1. Ridgway (R), 199; 2. Redbank Valley (RV), 116; 3. Johnsonburg (J), 101.5; 4. Curwensville (Cu), 93; 5. (tie) Kane (K) and Smethport (Sm), 91; 7. Brookville (Bv), 87; 8. Port Allegany (PA), 78.5; 9. Clarion (Cl), 75; 10. Oswayo Valley (OV), 62.5; 11. Brockway (Bw), 55.5; 12. Cameron County (CC), 49; 13. Keystone (Key), 39; 14. Coudersport (Co), 20.5; 16. Sheffield (Sh), 19; 17. Rocky Grove (RG), 13.5.
Championships
103 – (2) Garet Pisani (38-2), R, dec. (1) Derek Brothers (27-6), Cu, 3-2.
112 – (1) Derek Konen (35-7), R, major dec. (3) Levi Bell (13-6), RV, 12-2.
119 – (1) Cameron Moran (32-0), K, major dec. (2) Tim Hubbard (29-5), Sm, 14-3.
125 – (1) Nick Nichols (38-2), PA, dec. (2) Shane Gardner (19-5), J, 3-0.
130 – (1) Brock Leitzel (38-1), R, dec. (6) Justin Switzer (26-9), SM, 8-3.
135 – (1) Colby Pisani (38-2), R, won by technical fall over Jaron Licatovich (20-10), 17-2, 3:18.
140 – (1) Nikko Leitzel (39-0), R, dec. (2) Dirk Cowburn (28-1), Co, 3-1.
145 – (1) Jimmy McCauley (23-3), RV, pinned (2) Brett McCracken (19-10), Cu, 1:48.
152 – (1) Jonathon Brothers (37-0), RV, dec. (3) Judd Zilcosky (24-7), J, 4-1.
160 – (1) Zeke Drake (34-0), OV, pinned (3) Logan Shirey (31-11), RV, 4:53.
171 – (1) Brad Rapp (36-3), Cl, dec. (2) Matt Mix (29-7), K, 5-2.
189 – (2) Nick Sipes (25-2), Cu, dec. (1) Jerico Weitzel (36-3), R, 3-2.
215 – (2) Anthony Driscoll (34-6), Cl, dec. (1) Markus McHenry (28-5), Key, 8-3.
285 – (1) Eli Morres (39-0), Bv, dec. (2) Chad Schatz (32-3), CC, 7-0.
Consolation Finals
103 – (4) Dan Blair (31-3), Sm, dec. (5) Quinton O\’Rourke (17-9), J, 7-0.
112 – Tyler Peters (20-14), Cu, dec. (5) Zach Baughman, Key (27-6), 5-1.
119 – (3) Brandon Sansom (34-5), Bv, dec. (4) Eric Grecco (20-5), Bw, 4-3.
125 – (6) Levi Ruff (18-9), RV, dec. (3) Sam Skraba (19-14), R, 2-0.
130 – (2) Dillon Park (22-7), Bw, dec. (4) Jeff Thomas (20-12), Cu, 9-3.
135 – (3) Kenny Kiskadden (32-10), Cl, dec. (6) D.J. Horton (23-8), K, 6-2
140 – (3) Justin Moore (36-7), Bv, dec. (6) Josh Woodford (27-7), J, 9-2.
145 – (3) Shane Ross (31-9), Bv, dec. pinned (6) Larry Heeter (20-13), Sh, 4:02.
152 – (5) Brandon Slater (29-5), OV, dec. (2) Ben Hahn (29-6), Sm, 10-7.
160 – (2) Dylan Nelson (26-7), J, dec. (4) Mike Baker (29-7), CC, 3-0.
171 – (6) Mike Cherry (20-7), J, dec. (5) Matt Anthony (27-15), PA, 2-1.
189 – (4) Ross Nicholson (20-2), K, dec. (3) Dylan Major (28-12), PA, 2-0 (1 ot).
215 – (6) Kyle Bard (19-7), Cr, dec. (5) Cory Smith (24-10), K, 4-2.
285 – (6) Jake Schreiber (24-4), J, dec. (3) Ben Thompson (21-9), R, 5-1.
Championship Semifinals
103 – Brothers, Cu, dec. Blair, Sm, 6-4; G. Pisani, R, pinned (6) T. McCauley (12-9), RV, :54.
112 – Konen, R, dec. Baughman, Key, 7-2; Bell, RV, dec. (2) Kevin Shunk (28-6), Sm, 2-1.
119 – Moran, K, dec. Sansom, Bv, 6-0; Hubbard, Sm, dec. (6) N. McCauley (23-12), RV,4-2.
125 – Nichols, PA, major dec. (5) Logan Kellogg (11-5), OV, 11-2; Gardner, J, pinned Ruff, RV, 3:37.
130 – B. Leitzel, R, major dec. Thomas, Cu, 14-6; Switzer, Sm, dec. Park, Bw, 8-7.
135 – C. Pisani, R, won by technical fall over Justin Johnston (9-13), Cu, 23-8, 5:31; Licatovich, Bw, dec. Kiskadden, Cl, 4-2.
140 – N. Leitzel, R, pinned (4) A.J. Magagnotti (21-14), RV, :43; Cowburn, Co, major dec. Woodford, J, 14-5. .
145 – J. McCauley, RV, pinned (4) Mike Switzer (23-9), Key, 4:39; McCracken, Cu, dec. Ross, Bv, 4-2 (1 ot).
152 – Brothers, RV, pinned Slater, OV, 5:59; Zilcosky, J, dec. Hahn, Sm, 9-4 (3 ot).
160 – Drake, OV, major dec. Baker, CC, 12-1; Shirey, RV, dec. Nelson, J, 6-1.
171 – Rapp, Cl, major dec. Anthony, PA, 10-2; M. Mix, K, dec. Cherry, J, 6-0.
189 – Weitzel, R, pinned Nicholson, K, 5:10; Sipes, Cu, dec. Major, PA, 6-0.
215 – McHenry, Key, dec. (4) Carter Dinger (25-12), RV, 7-2; Driscoll, Cl, pinned (3) Troy Betts (29-9), R, 2:44.
285 – Morres, Bv, pinned (4) Nick Allen (24-9), OV, 2:40; C. Schatz, CC, pinned Thompson, R, 2:09.
Consolation Semifinals
112 – Peters, Cu, dec. K. Shunk, Sm, 3-2.
130 – Thomas, Cu, dec. (3) Brendon Shaffer (27-10), RV, 4-2.
135 – Horton, K, pinned Johnston, Cu, 1:53.
Consolation Quarterfinals
112 – Peters, Cu, dec. (8) Ryan Terwilliger (6-9), Bw, 5-1.
215 – Bard, Cr, (7) Nathan Russell (14-13), Cu, 2-0.
285 – Schreiber, J, dec. Nick Caldwell (8-11), Cu, 1-0.