CURWENSVILLE – Only three Curwensville Area High School wrestlers had their hands raised in victory Thursday night, but the undefeated Golden Tide capitalized on four forfeits to defeat undermanned West Branch 42-30 before a good crowd in Patton Hall.
\”I was pleased because we had a couple of falls I didn\’t expect, but there were some areas where we just didn\’t look up to par,\” said Curwensville coach Duane Wriglesworth II, his right arm in a sling after shoulder surgery a day earlier. \”We\’ve got a couple kids banged up right now. I\’ve said all along, if we get a couple injuries, we\’re going to be hurting, because there\’s not a lot of depth there.
\”We want to be healthy for the end of the year, of course. So, if we can keep a couple kids out of the lineup, we\’re going to right now.\”
Accounting for the Golden Tide\’s fourth win were pinners Jarrett Sloppy at 171 pounds, Nathan Russell at 215 and Duane Wriglesworth III, with the meet clincher at 140, and forfeit winners Matt Schultz at 189, Derek Brothers at 112, Tyler Peters at 119 and Justin Johnston at 135.
West Branch copped six of the nine matches but paid the price for not having a full complement of wrestlers. The Warriors, who have a deceiving 0-6 record, got falls from Brad Michaels at 285, Cody Hudish at 103 and Shane Pewanick at 125, a technical fall from Jeremy Kanouff at 160, a major decision from Aaron Albright at 152 and a decision from Adam Albright at 130.
\”I\’m familiar with a lot of those kids in their lineup, and they\’re all tough, quality wrestlers,\” Wriglesworth said.
Sloppy got the Golden Tide started on the right track, taking down Doug Mays in eight seconds and keeping him on his back most of the period. He led 4-0 when the fall came at the 1:46 mark via a half nelson and press.
After Schultz received his forfeit, Russell spiked Curwensville\’s lead to 18-0 by pinning Warrior 189-pounder Glenn Linberg in 1:45 with half nelson and press after building a 5-1 lead.
The bookends of West Branch\’s lineup made it interesting by repeating their pins in Saturday\’s Cambria Heights Invitational.
Heavyweight Michaels snapped down Walter Koontz, turned him with a half and switched to a double arm bar for a 1:01 fall.
Then, Warrior bantam Cody Hudish fought off his back in the first period to tie Greg Koptchak 5-5, surrendered a penalty point for a full nelson early in the third period and them clamped the Golden Tide freshman in a double-leg grapevine for a 3:18 fall.
Forfeits for Brothers and Peters expanded Curwensville\’s advantage to 30-12, but West Branch came back again.
At 125, Brett Sutika made a bid to avenge his 3-1 loss to Pewanick in the finals of the Cambria Heights tourney with a reversal midway through the second period, but the Wariror reversed with 33 seconds left and then engineered a fall with a half nelson and arm bar at 3:50.
In the first bout to go the distance, Adam Albright double-legged Wes McGarry for an early takedown and added a near fall with a Peterson roll a minute later to take a 5-0 lead en route to an 8-2 victory at 130. McGarry slipped a headlock for a takedown in the second period, but Albright finished strong with an escape and single-leg takedown in the final period, setting the meet score at 30-21.
Johnston\’s forfeit and Wriglesworth\’s fall sealed the outcome for the Golden Tide.
At 140, Wriglesworth and Tim Fillebrown matched takedowns and escapes in the first period. The Warrior opted for the bottom to start the second period, and Wriglesworth quickly made him pay by putting him on his back for a fall in 25 seconds.
\”That was a big win for us,\” the Curwensville coach said. \”I was really glad to see Duane finish up on some moves. He\’s had trouble not finishing on different things he starts.\”
Neither coach sent out a 145-pounder, West Branch\’s Gary Miller moving Aaron Albright and Kanouff up a weight. Both responded with impressive victories.
Albright, coming off a runner-up finish at 145 in the Cambria Heights tourney, shot in on Brett McCracken for five takedowns in his 13-3 major decision at 152. Four were double-legs, including one in which he took the Cambria Heights tourney champ right to his back for a five-point move in the third period.
Kanouff took down Justin Smith twice and turned him four times for a 15-0 technical fall in just 3:34. He hooked up crossface cradles for a trio of three-point near falls.
The Golden Tide will tangle with two District 9 Class AA rivals next week, Clarion (5-3) at home on Tuesday and Ridgway (8-2) on the road Thursday.
CURWENSVILLE 42, WEST BRANCH 30
171 – Jarrett Sloppy, C, pinned Doug Mays, 1:46. (6-0)
189 – Matt Schultz, C, won by forfeit. (12-0)
215 – Nathan Russell, C, pinned Glenn Linberg, 1:45. (18-0)
285 – Brad Michaels, WB, pinned Walter Koontz, 1:01. (18-6)
103 – Cody Hudish, WB, pinned Greg Koptchak, 3:18. (18-12)
112 – Derek Brothers, C, won by forfeit. (24-12)
119 – Tyler Peters, C, won by forfeit. (30-12)
125 – Shane Pewanick, WB, pinned Brett Sutika, 3:50. (30-18)
130 – Adam Albright, WB, dec. Wes McGarry, 8-2. (30-21)
135 – Justin Johnston, C, won by forfeit. (36-21).
140 – Duane Wriglesworth III, C, pinned Tim Fillebrown, 2:25. (42-21)
145 – No bout.
152 – Aaron Albright WB, major dec. Brett McCracken, 13-3. (42-25)
160 – Jeremy Kanouff, WB, won by technical fall over Justin Smith, 15-0 in 3:24. (42-30)
Official – Jim McKee.
