MILLERSVILLE – The Curwensville Area High School wrestling team, led by four quarterfinalists, made a strong showing in the opening rounds of the 27-team Penn Manor Tournament Friday night.
“We’re pretty excited with how we’ve wrestled so far,” coach Duane Wriglesworth III said. “We‘re very happy about knocking off some of the seeds we did.”
The four Golden Tide wrestlers who won both of their matches were Jake Keller at 112 pounds, Derek Brothers at 119, Jeff Smallwood at 130 and Jeff Thomas at 145.
Still alive in the wrestlebacks, all with 2-1 records going into Saturday morning’s action, were Greg Koptchak at 103, Tyler Peters at 125, Brett Sutika at 135, Wes McGarry at 140, Kyle Kyler at 152 and Nathan Russell at 215.
Zach Dimmick at 171 had one win before bowing out, while Justin Smith at 160, Jonathan Michaels at 189 and Walter Koontz at 275 lost both of their bouts.
“We’re very enthusiastic about seeing some kids in the finals,“ Wriglesworth said. “To get into the finals here is quite an accomplishment.”
Brothers was runner-up at 112, Peters placed fourth at 119 and Thomas was fifth at 145 last year when the Golden Tide finished fifth with five placewinners for its best performance in three trips to the early-season tourney.
