SHARON, Pa. — Freshman 103-pounder Derek Brothers and senior 189-pounder Nick Sipes of Curwensville won their quarterfinal matches in the PIAA Northwest Region Class AA Wrestling Tournament Friday evening at Sharon High School.
District 9 runner-up Brothers (28-6) nipped Commodore Perry sophomore Jordan Powell 2-1, while four-time District 9 champion Sipes (26-2) pinned Eisenhower senior Nathan Rohlin in 1:43. Powell (35-7) placed third and Rohlin (31-10) fourth in District 10.
Opponents in this morning\’s semifinals are D-10 champ Kilian Hiner (30-6) of Fort LeBoeuf for Brothers and D-10 runner-up Mike Miller (27-14) of Reynolds for Sipes. Hiner, a junior, major decisioned D-10 fifth placer Luke Marshall of Greenville 13-2. Miller, also a junior, edged D-9 third placer Ross Nicholson of Kane 3-1.
The other 103 semi pitted D-9 third placer Dan Blair (32-3) of Smethport against D-9 champ Garet Pisani (39-2) of Ridgway. Blair upended D-10 runner-up Ryan Johnson (31-9) of Iroquois 4-1 while Pisani shut out D-10 fourth placer Tony Langdon (29-10) of North East 3-0.
The other 189 semi paired D-9 champ Jerico Weitzel (37-3) of Ridgway against D-10 champ Joe Joseph (31-2) of Sharpsville. Weitzel decisioned D-10 third placer Tim McAndrew (33-11) of Harbor Creek 7-3 and Joseph defeated D-10 fifth placer Frank Vicary of North East.
Two Curwensville matmen lost their quarterfinal bouts and dropped into this morning\’s consolation quarterfinals.
Sophomore 112-pounder Tyler Peters (20-15), who placed third in D-9 after being unseeded, was major decisioned 14-2 by D-10 runner-up Cody Kelly (37-10) of Reynolds, and junior 145-pounder Brett McCracken (19-11), the D-9 runner-up, was pinned in 3:33 by D-10 third placer Justin Ferguson (42-11) of Greenville.
Consy pairings had Peters meeting D-10 fourth placer Niko Boccuzzi (27-13) of Hickory and McCracken going against D-10 fifth placer Kevin Post (14-13) of North East.
One champion from each district was upset. D-9 171-pounder Brad Rapp (36-4) of Clarion was a 3-2 sudden victory victim of D-10 fourth placer Justin Angermeier (30-9) of Mercer, and D-10 140-pounder Stan Kuhn (42-4) of Harbor Creek was edged 3-1 by D-10 fifth placer Paul Waite (32-5) of Eisenhower.
The consolation semifinals are set for noon, the consolation finals for 4:15 p.m. and the championship matches for 6.
The top three finishers at each weight advance to the PIAA Class AA Championships next weekend in the Giant Center at Hershey.