NEW BETHLEHEM – PIAA Class AA placewinner Derek Brothers won the 112-pound championship Saturday night and eight teammates placed seventh or higher for an impressive showing that enabled the Curwensville Area High School wrestling team to finish a solid third in the 38th annual Redbank Valley Christmas Tournament, the longest running holiday event in the state.
The Golden Tide was edged 158-153.5 for second place behind Redbank Valley in the 19-team field.
Jeff Thomas lost in the finals at 145 pounds, while Justin Johnston at 135 and Jarrett Sloppy at 171 were major surprises with wins in the bronze medal matches, Nathan Russell bettered his seed by claiming fourth at 215, Greg Koptchak at 103 and Brett McCracken won fifth-place bouts, Tyler Peters wound up sixth at 119 and Brett Sutika was seventh at 125.
\”Our goal was to place eight and finish in the top three, so we are very happy with the way things turned out,\” coach Duane Wriglesworth II said about the Golden Tide\’s improvement over last year\’s sixth-place finish among 25 teams with five placewinners, including unseeded Peters third at 112, third seed Brothers fourth at 103, second seed Sutika sixth at 119 and Thomas seventh at 130.
Brothers, seeded No. 1, would not be denied this time, avenging last year\’s 9-6 semifinal loss to Grove City junior No. 2 seed Johnny Pas, who took a 17-1 record into the fast-paced match. The once-beaten Golden Tide sophomore prevailed by the same score for his 10th win.
\”Pas is tough cookie, and I was very impressed how Brothers handled him,\” Wriglesworth said. \”It was a good match, but Brothers was in control. Brothers gave Pas a reversal and escape toward the end just to play it safe, so he wouldn\’t get rolled to his back.\”
In the semifinals, Brothers posted a 5-1 win over Redbank Valley\’s Trevor McCauley, who came back to place third.
The second-seeded Thomas reached the title bout with a fall, his third in a row, against Caleb Dugan of Moshannon Valley, but the Golden Tide junior was beaten 7-2 by top seed Cody Northcott (14-1) of Cochranton.
\”Northcott was state ranked last year and definitely was a quality opponent,\” Wriglesworth said. \”Jeff had wrestled him last year and lost 1-0. He was having some back problems and used up almost all of his injury time during the finals.\”
Sixth-seeded Johnston and unseeded Sloppy were the biggest surprises for the Golden Tide.
Johnston rebounded from a 9-1 semifinal loss to eventual champion Kasey Haines of Redbank Valley to beat Peabody\’s Wil Williams 4-1 and Sharon\’s Marquise Norris 6-2 in the consy finals. The Golden Tide senior, now 8-3, had edged the third seeded Norris 6-4 in Friday\’s quarterfinals.
\”Johnson just keeps improving, and he really was very determined,\” Wriglesworth said. \”He really wrestled smart against Norris, who is kind of a counter wrestler and was just waiting for Justin to make a mistake. But Justin was very selective in his set-ups and shots.\”
Sloppy, another senior, earned his bronze medal the hard way, coming back though the wrestlebacks with two falls sandwiched around a pair of decisions. He pinned Cranberry\’s Nick Goda in 3:26 for third place.
\”It was nice to see Sloppy win that many matches,\” Wriglesworth said. \”I think that\’s first time for him to do that in a varsity tournament.\”
Russell, a junior who was seeded sixth, lost 11-5 to Marion Center in the consolation finals after advancing with a trio of victories, including a fall and a major decision earlier in the day.
\”He had a good a good effort in the consolation bracket, and I was glad to see him gain some confidence over the weekend,\” Wriglesworth said.
The fifth by Koptchak, an unseeded freshman, was a very pleasant surprise, too, capping a 4-2 effort by pinning Oil City\’s Kody Duncan in the medal bout.
\”We really didn\’t expect that,\” Wriglesworth said.
McCracken, who decked Marion Center\’s Casey LaVan in the consy finals, was in a loaded weight class, with the eight placewinners departing with a combined record of 89-27.
Coudersport sophomore Dirk Cowburn, who place fourth at 140 in the AA state tourney in March, teched McCracken 16-1 in the semis and then downed Grove City\’s Craig Johnson 7-4 in the finals for a 22-0 record.
\”It was unfortunate for Brett to be in probably the toughest bracket of the tourney,\” Wriglesworth said. \”Cowburn is nationally ranked and Johnson and (Jacques) Moss of Sharon are two wrestlers of the best in District 10.
Sutika was 1-2 and Peters 0-3 in the wrestlebacks Saturday.
All but two of Curwensville\’s 13 wrestlers won at least one bout in the tourney.
\”The kids and coaching staff are very happy,\” Wriglesworth said. \”It\’s a sport very few athletes want to sacrifice for, and they worked hard for it. We walked away pleased.\”
The only teams with more than one champion were Redbank Valley with four and Grove City with two.
Curwensville, 2-0 in dual meets, will host Punxsutawney Friday and then travel to Patton Saturday to defend its Cambria Heights Invitational Tournament championship.
TEAM STANDINGS AND KEY
1. Redbank Valley (RV), 232 points; 2. Grove City (GC), 158; 3. Curwensville (Cur), 153.5; 4. Indiana (I), 121; 5. North East (NE), 119; 6. Keystone (K), 102.5; 7. Sharon (S), 102; 8. Cochranton (C), 101; 9. Elderton (E), 86; 10. Clarion (Cl), 81; 11. Moshannon Valley (MV), 74.5; 12. Marion Center (MC), 67; 13. Oil City (OC), 58; 14. Berlin-Brothers Valley (BBV), 52.5; 15. Peabody (P), 49; 16. Cranberry (Cr), 46; 17. Coudersport (Cou), 44; 18. West Middlesex (WM), 43; 19. Lakeview (L), 26.
CHAMPIONSHIPS
103 – Tyler McCauley (9-2), RV, major dec. Tony Langdon (17-2), NE, 13-3.
112 – Derek Brothers (10-1), Cur, dec. Johnny Pas (17-2), GC, 9-6.
119 – Christian Drain (16-1), NE, dec. Brad Peterson (12-3), C, 7-4.
125 – Brady Pyffe (19-3), GC, dec. Zach Baughman (13-3), K, 3-2.
130 – Brandon Maharaj (10-1), I, dec. Kyle Eisaman (17-1), NE, 10-9.
135 – Kasey Haines (10-2), RV, major dec. Alex Gunter (5-1), Cl, 11-1.
140 – Jordan Moss (5-0), S, pinned Taylor Johnson (8-2), I, 3:20.
145 – Cody Northcott (14-1), C, dec. Jeff Thomas (8-4), Cur, 7-2.
152 – Dirk Cowburn (22-0), Cou, dec. Craig Johnson (15-4), GC, 7-4.
160 – Johnathan Brothers (10-0), RV, dec. Caleb Kolbe, (16-2), GC, 9-2.
171 – Logan Shirey (10-2), RV, dec. Lendele Cox (7-1), P, 6-2.
189 – Tyler Baker (5-0), BBV, dec. Markus McHenry (14-2), K, 8-3.
215 – Caleb David (15-4), GC, dec. Dayne Ross (9-2), I, 6-2.
Hwt – Zack Reefer (9-0), E, dec. Shane Bowser (9-4), RV, 8-2.
Following are other results for Curwensville wrestlers:
THIRD-PLACE CONSOLATIONS
135 – Justin Johnston (8-3), Cur, dec. Marquise Norris (5-2), S, 6-2.
171 – Jarrett Sloppy (8-5), Cur, pinned Nick Goda (4-2), Cr, 3:26.
215 – Greg Pennington (10-2), MC, dec. Nathan Russell (8-4), Cur, 11-5.
FIFTH-PLACE CONSOLATIONS
103 – Greg Koptchak (8-4), Cur, pinned Cody Duncan (4-6), OC, 4:39.
119 – Ed Turner (5-7), MC, dec. Tyler Peters (7-5), Cur, 9-5.
152 – Brett McCracken (9-3), Cur, pinned Casey LaVan (8-4), MC, 4:13.
SEVENTH-PLACE CONSOLATIONS
125 – Brett Sutika (7-4), Cur, dec. Ricky Elliot (5-4), Cl, 14-7.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
112 – Brothers, Cur, dec. Trevor McCauley (12-2), RV, 5-1.
119 – Peterson, Co, won by technical fall over Peters, Cur, 17-1.
135 – Haines, RV, major dec. Johnston, Cur, 9-1.
145 – Thomas, Cur, pinned Caleb Dugan (4-2), MV.
152 – Cowburn, Cou, won by technical fall over McCracken, Cur, 17-2.
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
103 – Tyler Crites (4-3), BBV, pinned Koptchak, Cur, 3:52.
119 – Kevin Duncan (7-4), OC, dec. Peters, Cur, 6-2.
135 – Johnston, Cur, dec. Wil Williams (10-3), P, 4-1.
152 – Mike Switzer (15-5), K, dec. McCracken, Cur, 3-1.
171 – Sloppy, Cur, dec. Shane Murarik (6-6), MV, 4-1.
215 – Russell, Cur, dec. Jon Pickens (12-5), K, 6-3.
CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS
103 – Koptchak, Cur, pinned Nathan Smeal (8-3), MV, :53.
125 – Nic McCauley (5-5), RV, dec. Sutika, Cur, 2-0.
171 – Sloppy, Cur, pinned Steve Roser, OC, 1:30.
215 – Russell, Cur, pinned Tyler McGrath (5-14), NE, 2:52.
CONSOLATION THIRD ROUND
125 – Sutika, Cur, pinned Tim Sandrock, OC, 4:03.
CONSOLATION SECOND ROUND
103 – Koptchak, Cur, won by technical fall over Davey Shaffer, E, 16-0.
130- Morgan Hugel (8-9), Cr, dec. Wes McGarry, Cur, 2-1.
140 – Dylan Mild (5-3), WM, dec. Duane Wriglesworth III, Cur, 6-2.
160 – Cody Hoover (3-4), I, dec. Justin Smith, Cur, 6-5.
215 – Russell, Cur, major dec. Brandon Frantz, Co, 12-4.
