SHARON – Curwensville junior 119-pounder Derek Brothers and senior 145-pounder Jeff Thomas rolled into the PIAA Northwest Region Class AA Tournament finals by defeating District 10 runners-up Saturday morning in Sharon High School.
The impressive semifinal wins also assured the Golden Tide\’s pair of District 9 champions of trips to the PIAA Class AA Tournament next weekend in the Giant Center at Hershey.
Brothers (33-2) took down Christian Drain early and went on to shut out the North East senior 4-0, setting up a rematch of last year\’s region title bout with D-10 champ Adam Matthews (35-5) of Reynolds.
Matthews, a sophomore, worked three takedowns against D-9 runner-up Tyler McCauley of Redbank Valley for a 7-3 victory.
Brothers, who beat Matthews 4-2 for the 2008 crown, will be shooting to become Curwensville\’s first three-time region gold medalist. He won the 103 crown as a freshman.
Thomas (30-3) handled Reynolds junior Luke Taylor 13-2, jumping in front 4-0 with a takedown and near fall in the first period, riding the middle two minutes and then piling up nine points in the third period for the major decision.
Thomas will take on Fabio Boccuzzi (38-7) of Hickoryt. The D-10 champ eked out a 2-1 decision over D-10 third-placer Jeremy King of Fort LeBoeuf with an escape in the third overtime period.
The finals will start at 6 o\’clock and can be heard on several webcasts. Check the District 9 Wrestling Website for stations.
