LANCASTER – Six Curwensville Area High School wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals of the 23-team Penn Manor Tournament with wins Friday night, while four of their teammates are still alive in the consolation brackets.
Second seed Derek Brothers (112 pounds), Justin Johnston (135), Jeff Thomas (140), fourth seed Brett McCracken (152), Justin Smith (160) and Jarrett Sloppy (171) are the Golden Tide\’s quarterfinalists for the Saturday morning\’s session.
Surprising Greg Koptchak (103), Tyler Peters (119), Brett Sutika (125) and Nathan Russell (215) returned for the wrestlebacks.
\”Overall, I\’m pleased with our performance,\” Golden Tide coach Duane Wriglesworth II said. \”It\’s about what I expected. We\’re about where we were last year, maybe a little better.
\”This is a high-caliber tournament. We\’re going against teams that have 30, 40, 50 and even 60 kids, and that makes a difference. There are several Triple-A schools. It\’s kind of a 50-50 split. And there are a couple teams from other states.\”
McCracken, who shut out Penn Manor\’s Cody Henry 5-0, is the only Curwensville matman who didn\’t earn bonus points.
Three recorded falls, Thomas over Lancaster Catholic\’s Brian Rank, Smith over Reading Central Catholic\’s Bryant Snyder in 1:02 and Sloppy over Kennett\’s Josh Trykowski in 3:21.
Brothers needed only 2:45 for a 15-0 technical fall against Lancaster Catholic\’s Zach Schober, while Johnston major decisioned West Chester-Henderson\’s Stash Grab 14-4.
Koptchak, a freshman, had to win two bouts to survive. After major decisioning Northern\’s Chris Valesquez 9-0, he was pinned in 37 seconds by Berwick\’s Chris Bujno, but bounced back to pin Brookville\’s Nick Gurskey in 1:44.
\”I’m pretty happy with Koptchak and Sloppy,\” Wriglesworth said. \”Koptchak was a surprise with two falls, and Sloppy beat a lower seeded wrestler. They wrestled especially well.\”
Sutika opened with a 15-0 technical fall over Lampeter-Strasburg\’s Dan Snyder but then was shut out 5-0 by Garden Spot\’s Adam Supplee.
Peters lost a tough 8-7 decision to Brookville\’s Aaron Ames, while Russell dropped a 5-1 verdict to Garnet Valley\’s John Petrini.
Three Curwensville were eliminated.
At 140, Cody Palmer pinned Reading Central Catholic\’s Mark Pfieffenberger in the first round and then was pinned in 3:01 by Penn Manor\’s Andy Eshelman and edged 8-6 by Northern\’s Adam Whary.
At 130, Wes McGarry was pinned by Mechanicsburg\’s Adam Morris and beaten 8-2 by East Pennsboro\’s Austin Klucker.
At 285, Walter Koontz was pinned by Lancaster Catholic\’s Tony Anater and Central York\’s David Darr.
