HERSHEY, Pa. — Curwensville Area High School senior 189-pounder Nick Sipes still has gold in his sights while freshman 103-pounder Derek Brothers had to readjust his goal after the first day of the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships in the Giant Center Thursday.
Both of the Golden Tide\’s Northwest Region champions wrestled well. Sipes (29-2) shut out Zack Hicks (29-16) of Mount Union 3-0 in the first round to advance to the Friday morning quarterfinals. Brothers (31-7) bounced back from a tough defeat to win an elimination bout and keep alive his hopes of reaching the medal round.
A four-time District 9 king and two-time Northwest Region titlist, Sipes will have a rugged road to negotiate just to reach the gold medal match. He gets Northeast runner-up James Haynes (34-2) of Mount Carmel in the quarterfinals and, if victorious, probably will find No. 1 ranked Zac Bennett (37-1) of Westmont Hilltop waiting in the semis. Haynes downed Southeast third place Garrett Sukanick (34-8) of Northwestern Lehigh 9-3. Bennett pinned Southeast fourth placer Tyler Stambaugh of Bermudian Springs in 1:10.
Brothers, Curwensville\’s first freshman to win a region crown, had the misfortune of being paired against North Star\’s Joe Lascari, who was ranked No. 1 in the state after winning the District 5 title but finished fourth in the Southwest Region. Lascari (37-4) edged Brothers 4-2 to move into the quarterfinals against Shady Side Academy\’s Frank Martellotti (39-1), who was ranked No. 2 before losing in the Southwest finals to A.J. Schopp (38-3) of Tyrone.
If he is to earn a medal now, Brothers will have to battle back through the consolation bracket, and he started in the right direction by eliminating Jacob Gerlach (37-11) of Hanover with a 5-1 decision. Gerlach, who placed third in the Southeast Region, lost 15-8 to Martellotti in his opening match.
Brothers will move into the second round of consolations at 9:45 a.m. Friday. His opponent will be the loser of the championship quarterfinal match between Dan Blair (35-4) of Smethport and Trevor Kushner (33-6) of Westmont-Hilltop. Blair, who was third in District 9 and third in the Northwest Region, posted an 8-0 shutout against Montoursville\’s Caleb Lomax (36-8) and Kushner, who finished fifth in the Southwest Region, notched a 4-2 upset against Southeast champion Zane Yocco (46-5) of Brandywine Heights.
The Class AA championship semifinals and consolation quarterfinals will start at 6:30 p.m., followed by the consolation semifinals. On Saturday, the consolation finals to determine placewinners three through eight are set for 12:30 p.m. with the championship matches to begin at 2:30 p.m.
Each wrestler\’s grade, region and place and record are in parentheses in the following results:
CLASS AA PRELIMINARY ROUND
103 – A.J. Schopp (9, SW-1, 38-3), Tyrone dec. Bryan Smith (10, SE-4, 35-9), Bethlehem Catholic, 6-0; Derek Leiby (10, NE-3, 32-7), Troy, dec. Garet Pisani (9, NW-2, 40-4), Ridgway, 5-1; Dan Blair (12, NW-3, 35-4), Smethport, major dec. Caleb Lomax (9, NE-2, 36-8), Montoursville, 8-0; Trevor Kushner (9, SW-5, 33-6), Westmont-Hilltop, dec. Zane Yocco (9, SE-1, 46-5), Brandywine Heights, 4-2 (ot); Joe Lascari (9, SW-4, 37-40, North Star, dec. Derek Brothers (9, NW-1, 30-7), Curwensville, 4-2; Frank Martellotti (9, SW-2, 39-1), Shady Side Academy, dec. Jacob Gerlach (9, SE-3, 37-10), Hanover, 15-8; Joe Spisak (9, SE-2, 39-2), Boiling Springs, major dec. Patrick Myers (9, SW-3, 23-7), Penn Cambria, 13-2; Brock Waughen (10, NE-1, 34-6), Milton, dec. Derek Goodwin (9, SE-5, 38-16), Hamburg, 9-2.
189 – Kevin Bolinsky (12, SE-1, 37-1), North Schuylkill, dec. Nic Harr (12, SW-4, 31-10), Mount Pleasant, 7-2; Jason Kyler (12, SW-3, 37-5), Huntingdon, dec. Jerico Weitzel (11, NW-2, 38-5), Ridgway, 2-1; Ethan Virgili (11, SW-2, 32-8), Jefferson-Morgan, major dec. Joe Joseph (12, NW-3, 33-4), Sharpsville, 12-3; Aaron Karns (11, NE-1, 33-5), Berwick, pinned Mike Kinney (11, SE-1, 37-9), Octorara, 4:30; Zac Bennett (10, SW-1, 37-1), Westmont-Hilltop, pinned Tyler Stambaugh (11, SE-4, 36-14), Bermudian Springs, 1:10; Brandon Palik (10, SE-2, 32-4), Saucon Valley, pinned Quay Ward (12, NE-3, 24-7), Canton, 1:23; James Haynes (11, NE-2, 34-2), Mount Carmel, dec. Garrett Sukanick (12, SE-3, 34-8), Northwestern Lehigh, 9-3; Nick Sipes (12, NW-1, 29-2), Curwensville, dec Zack Hicks (10, SW-5, 29-16), 3-0.
CLASS AA CONSOLATION FIRST ROUND
103 – G. Pisani (41-4), dec. Smith (35-9), 4-1; Z. Yocco (47-4) pinned Lomax (36-9), :36; Brothers (31-7) dec. Gerlach (37-11), 5-1; Myers (24-7) major dec. Goodwin (38-17), 9-1.
189 – Weitzel (39-4), pinned Harr (32-11), 3:23; Kinney (38-9) major dec. Joseph (33-5), 12-4; Stambaugh (37-14) dec. Ward (24-8), 6-2; Sukanick (35-8) dec. Hicks (29-17), 1-0.
