CURWENSVILLE – The Curwensville high school wrestling team has been performing at a high level the past couple of weeks. Just ask the Black Knights of Moshannon Valley after the Golden Tide sailed to a 48-27 win Thursday night at Patton Hall in Curwensville.
It was the 11th win of the year for the Tide matmen who now stand at 11-6. The Black Knights drop to 3-17 on the 2008-09 season.
Mo Valley did spot the Tide 18 points over the first four weight classes due to forfeits. The Tide got the freebee’s at 215, 285 and 112 while the Knights got a pin at 103 by Nathan Smeal over Greg Koptchak in just :51 seconds to make it 18-6 in favor of the Golden Tide.
Curwensville then stormed to six straight actual wins from 119 through 145 to bolt to a huge 48-6 margin which locked up the win.
Derek Brothers, at 119, pinned Nathan Jacoby of Mo Valley in 1:05 of the first period, which was immediately followed by an injury default in 1:30 for Tyler Peters of the Tide at 125 over Joel Walstrom. Peters was ahead 5-0 before the injury retired Walstrom for the evening.
At 130 pounds Jeff Smallwood of the Tide used four takedowns and a three point near fall to best Ryan Viard 11-5.
Brett Sutika continued the Tide march by knocking off Kurtis Jacoby of the Knights at 135, 7-2, to give the Curwensville grapplers a comfortable 36-6 edge.
The Tide secured the team victory by winning the next two weight classes as Wes McGarry, at 140, pinned Michael Ohler in just :56 seconds. At 145 Jeff Thomas finished the scoring for Curwensville with a fall in 2:38 over Josh Bryan. Thomas had built a 10-0 first period margin with a takedown and three near falls.
Give Moshannon Valley credit though as they showed no quit by winning the final four bouts of the night to make the final score a respectable one.
The Black Knights picked up three straight pins starting at 152 when Caleb Dugan got his 19th win of the year when he pinned Kyle Kyler at the 3:12 mark.
Shane Davis, wrestling at 160 for MoValley, then pressed Justin Smith of Curwensville to the mat for a quick pin in 1:29. The match was actually knotted up at four apiece when the fall was registered by Davis.
Caleb Selvage kept the pin streak going for the visiting Black Knights as he took Zack Dimmick to his back for the fall at 2:33 of the middle period. It was win number 16 for Selvage.
In what was the best bout of the evening, the final one, saw Charles Smith of Mo Valley edge out Jonathan Michaels by a 5-4 margin. Smith was ahead 3-1 going into the final period when he gave up a penalty point for stalling to start the third. Michaels then reversed Smith later on in the third stanza to forge ahead 4-3. Not to be outdone, Smith quickly reversed Michaels to pull in front 5-4 and pick up the win.
The Junior High match went to the Golden Tide by a 52-36 margin. Curwensville won just three bouts while Mo Valley won five in a match that saw many forfeits.
SUMMARY
215 Nathan Russell, C won by forfeit 6 0
285 Walter Koontz, C won by forfeit 12 0
103 Nathan Smeal, MV pinned Greg Koptchak, C :51 12 6
112 Jake Keller, C won by forfeit 18 6
119 Derek Brothers, C pinned Nathan Jacoby, MV 1:05 24 6
125 Tyler Peters, C won by injury default over Joel Walstrom, MV 1:30 30 6
130 Jeff Smallwood, C dec Ryan Viard, MV 11-5 33 6
135 Brett Sutika, C dec Kurtis Jacoby, MV 7-2 36 6
140 Wes McGarry, C pinned Michael Ohler, MV :56 42 6
145 Jeff Thomas, C pinned Josh Bryan, MV 2:38 48 6
152 Caleb Dugan, MV pinned Kyle Kyler, C 3:12 48 12
160 Shane Davis, MV pinned Justin Smith, C 1:29 48 18
171 Caleb Selvage, MV pinned Zack Dimmick, C 2:33 48 24
189 Charles Smith, MV dec Jonathan Michaels, C 5-4 48 27