CURWENSVILLE – Momentum the Curwensville Area High School wrestlers generated with a seventh-place finish at the 27-team Penn Manor Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday certainly didn\’t carry over into the Golden Tide\’s home opener Tuesday night.
Brockway rolled into Patton Hall and overcame three forfeits by winning eight of 11 bouts, including three falls and three major decisions, to stun the Golden Tide 36-30.
Curwensville\’s only winners on the mat were Zach Dimmick with a technical fall at 171 pounds in the final match of the dual between the two District 9 Class AA teams, Tyler Peters with a major decision at 125 and Derek Brothers with a decision at 119.
Greg Koptchak (103), Jake Keller (112) and Jeff Smallwood (130) received forfeits.
Curwensville coach Duane Wriglesworth II expected a difficult time with the Rovers after reviewing their season-opening 40-25 loss to perennial 9-AA power Ridgway.
\”I told the kids we were going to be in for a tough match and they were going to have to wrestle to win this,\” he said after the Golden Tide slipped to 0-2. \”And they didn\’t.
\”We seemed like we were very flat, and I don\’t know why. Maybe we worked them too hard (Monday) night. We\’re definitely gonna have to get over this.\”
The most glaring statistic was Brockway\’s 19-5 bulge in takedowns.
Eight came in the first two bouts as the Rovers jumped out to an 8-0 lead.
Steven Terwilliger, one of the few seniors on the squad, took down Jonathan Michaels three times, spinning behind the Golden Tide junior with 23 seconds left for the bonus team point in a 10-2 win at 189.
Rover soph Joel Yahner racked up five takedowns against Nathan Russell but needed a reversal with 13 seconds remaining to get the surprising major decision, 13-4, at 215. Russell had placed sixth in the Penn Manor tourney.
After a scoreless first period at heavyweight, Brockway\’s Colt Puhala ran a bar and pressed Walter Koontz\’s shoulders to the mat at the 2:53 mark to make it 14-0.
Then, the trio of forfeits around wins by Brothers and Peters gave Curwensville a 25-14 advantage.
A reversal at the edge of the mat 19 seconds into the middle period gave Brothers a 2-1 decision over Ian Grecco, who escaped early in the third period. Brothers had beaten the Rover junior 15-3 and 7-2 in dual meets the last two years and also defeated him 6-1 in the 2008 district tourney semifinals at 112.
With the hosts finally in front, 15-14, Peters registered three of the Golden Tide takedowns to trim D.J. Forrest 10-1. He executed a textbook arm drag midway through the action-packed first period, switched from a single to a double and then cradled the Rover freshman for a near fall in the second period and hit a far ankle pick with 50 seconds left to earn the major decision.
However, Brockway swept the five bouts from 135 through 160 to lock up its second victory.
Freshman Devon Shenkle controlled Jeremy Bloom for more than four and a half minutes en route to a 9-1 major decision at 135, notching takedowns in the first two periods and reversing and adding a near fall in the third period.
Back-to-back 7-5 decisions by sophomore twins Trevor and Nathan Hartless chopped the Golden Tide edge to 25-24.
Trevor surrendered the initial takedown to Wes McGarry but answered with two of his own plus a tilt for two points before Nathan quieted the Golden Tide fans with a similar two-takedown, tilt-for-two effort against Penn Manor tourney runner-up Jeff Thomas.
At 152, soph Brandon Boleen led 4-0 in the third period when he caught Duane Wriglesworth III on his back for a fall at 4:59.
Then, two-time 9-AA runner-up Jaron Licatovich clinched it for the Rovers by taking down Justin Smith three times in the first minute of the 160 match and then hooking up a cradle for a pin at 1:38.
Dimmick kept turning freshman Zach Brinkley with a series of bar arms, but the Golden Tide sophomore couldn\’t get the pin and had to settle for a 17-1 technical fall. His sixth turnover came with one second left in the 171 bout.
\”I give credit to Brockway,\” Wriglesworth said. \”They definitely beat us in some areas that we should have wrestled better. We didn\’t match up well with them, and we knew that. They have some really solid kids in there, especially in the middleweights. They\’re very strong, very athletic. And that makes a huge difference.
\”But I wasn\’t pleased with our performance. It almost looked like we were asleep. So, we have some work to do.\”
The Golden Tide concludes its pre-holiday schedule Friday and Saturday in the Redbank Valley Holiday Tournament at New Bethlehem.
Brockway 36, Curwensville 30
189 – Steven Terwilliger, B, major dec. Jonathan Michaels, 10-2. (0-4)
215 – Joel Yahner, B, major dec. Nathan Russell, 13-4. (0-8)
275 – Colt Puhala, B, pinned Walter Koontz, 2:53. (0-14)
103 – Greg Koptchak, C, won by forfeit. (6-14)
112 – Jake Keller, C, won by forfeit. (12-14)
119 – Derek Brothers, C, dec. Ian Grecco, 2-1. (15-14)
125 – Tyler Peters, C, major dec. D.J. Forrest, 10-1. (19-14)
130 – Jeff Smallwood, C, won by forfeit. (25-14)
135 – Devon Shenkle, B, major dec. Jeremy Bloom, 9-1. (25-18)
140 – Trevor Hartless, B, dec. Wes McGarry, 7-5. (25-21)
145 – Nathan Hartless, B, dec. Jeff Thomas, 7-5. (25-24)
152 – Brandon Boleen, B, pinned Duane Wriglesworth III, 4:59. (25-30)
160 – Jaron Licatovich, B, pinned Justin Smith, 1:38. (25-36)
171 – Zach Dimmick, C, won by technical fall over Zach Brinkley, 17-1 at 5:59. (30-36)
Referee – Bob Peters.
