CURWENSVILLE—-An almost full house was on hand Friday night at Curwensville High School’s Patton Hall to watch the Golden Tide wrestling squad beat visiting Punxsutawney 41-30. The victory gives coach Duane Wriglesworth and his Tide a 3 – 0 mark on the year. The setback drops the Chucks to 8 – 10.
All started well for Curwensville as they won the first three bouts to jump out to a 13-0 margin. At 125 Brett Sutika pinned Scott Salsgiver of the Chucks in 4:45. Wes McGary, at 130, and Justin Johnston at 135 both picked up decisions. McGary earned an 11-0 major and Johnston a hard fought 5-3 win.
Punxsutawney got a bit of life at 140 as Patrick Mahan pinned the Tide’s Duane Wriglesworth III in 3:03 cutting the Curwensville margin to 13-6. Then came Curwensville’s Brett McCracken and Jeff Thomas. Thomas got a 4:51 fall at 145, while McCracken took only thirty-one seconds to end the night for Punxsy’s Kris Cleary at 152 upping the Curwensville lead to 25-6.
At 160 Punxsutawney’s Derek Kerr edged Justin Smith of the Tide 8-7 and at 171 Steven Cressley wasted no time in pinning the Tide’s Matt Schultz in 15 seconds. All this brought the Chucks back in to it, down now only 25-15 with six bouts to go.
Senior Jarrett Sloppy took the wind out of the Chucks at 189 when he pinned Robert Wingert in 4:40 to give the Tide a nice cushion at 31-15. Nathan Russell followed with a 9-1 major decision over fellow junior Tyler Burkett at 215. Curwensville now smelled victory as their lead jumped to 35-15.
The quickest event was at 285 when the Chuck’s Chad Rumgay took only thirteen seconds to pin Walter Koontz. Then at 103 Curwensville sealed the win as Greg Koptchak received a forfeit making it 41-21 in favor of the Golden Tide.
The feature bout was at 112 were 10-1 sophomore Derek Brothers of Curwensville went up against unbeaten Punxsy freshman Kody Young. Young picked up four first period points with a takedown and a reversal. Brothers got an escape and takedown in the opening frame and trailed by one, 4-3, going into the second period. Neither wrestler scored in the second period as Young rode the entire two minutes. Young then got an escape and last second takedown in the third period to knock off Brothers 7-3.
Ty Albright finished the night for Punxsutawney by pinning Curwensville’s Tyler Peters in 1:02 making the final score 41-30 in favor of the Golden Tide. It was the second straight year the Tide have beaten the Chucks .
Punxsy won the Junior High match 48-31.
Curwensville is back in action Saturday as they participate in the Cambria Heights Tournament.
RESULTS:
125 – Brett Sutika, Cur pinned Scott Salsgiver, Pun 4:45
130 – Wes McGary, Cur may dec. Luke Fillhart, Pun 11-0
135 – Justin Johnston, Cur dec Derek Burkett, Pun 5-3
140 – Patrick Mahan, Pun pinned Duane Wriglesworth III, Cur 3:03
145 – Jeff Thomas, Cur pinned Easton Renwick, Pun 4:51
152 – Brett McCracken, Cur pinned Kris Cleary, Pun :31
160 – Derek Kerr, Pun dec Justin Smith, Cur 8-7
171 – Steven Cressley, Pun pinned Matt Schultz, Cur :15
189 – Jarrett Sloppy, Cur pinned Robert Wingert, Pun 4:40
215 – Nathan Russell, Cur maj dec Tyler Burkett, Pun 9-1
285 – Chad Rumgay, Pun pinned Walter Koontz, Cur :13
103 – Greg Koptchak, Cur rec forfeit
112 – Kody Young, Pun dec Derek Brothers, Cur 7-3
119 – Ty Albright, Pun pinned Tyler Peters, Cur 1:02
CURWENSVILLE 41 PUNXSUTAWNEY 30