HERSHEY – The third time was the charm for Curwensville Area High School wrestler Derek Brothers Thursday morning.
Shut out in first-round bouts in both of his previous visits to the Giant Center, the Golden Tide junior 119-pounder began his bid for a second PIAA Class AA Tournament medal with a third-period fall.
Teammate Jeff Thomas, a senior 145-pounder making his first state tourney appearance, didn\’t fare as well, bowing out with a pair of one-point losses.
Both qualifiers were District 9 champions and North West Region runners-up.
Brothers (33-3), who placed eighth at 103 as a freshman, pinned the District 11 champ and South East Region third-placer at the 5:01 mark.
He will meet Cory Thomas (35-7) of Bedford in Friday morning\’s quarterfinals. Thomas placed fourth in the South West Region after winning the District 5 title.
The victor will get either District 6 and SW Region champ A.J. Schopp (37-0) of Tyrone or District 3 third-placer and SE Region runner-up Zane Yocco (33-4) in Friday evening\’s semifinals.
Yocco beat Brothers 1-0 on a penalty point in the seventh-place consolation bout two years ago and placed seventh at 112 last year.
The other half of the loaded 119 bracket pits District 10 and NW Region champ Adam Matthews (37-5) of Reynolds against three-time PIAA placewinner David Fogle (32-6) of Forest Hills and returning state champ Anthony Zanetta (32-1) of Keystone Oaks against two-time PIAA placewinner Joe Spisak (37-2) of Boiling Springs.
Zanetta, the District 7 champ and SW Region runner-up to Schopp, beat Spisak in the state finals at 112 a year ago.
Spisak is the District 3 and SE Region champ.
And Fogle, who was denied his fourth District 6 crown by Schopp, placed third in the SW Region.
Thomas saw his outstanding season come to a 30-6 end in heart-breaking fashion.
He was edged 6-5 by 2007 PIAA 125-pound silver medalist Tyler Hain of Warrior Run and 1-0 by District 11 champ and SE fourth-placer Craemer Hedash of Northern Lehigh.
Hain (33-4), who placed third at both the District 4 and NE Region tourneys, built up a 6-2 lead through two periods before Thomas rallied to make it close.
A second-period escape and tough third-period ride enable Hedash (30-7) to beat the Golden Tide captain.
Brothers\’ win triggered a great first round for District 9, which had the best record of any of the districts at 7-3.
Joining Brothers in the quarterfinals will be Smethport\’s Tim Hubbard at 125 and Coudersport\’s defending champion Dirk Cowburn at 152, Ridgway\’s Garet Pisani at 130 and Joe Chittester at 285, Keystone\’s Mike Switzer at 160 and Redbank Valley\’s Logan Shirey at 171.
Like Thomas, Brockway 140-pounder Jaron Licatovich and Kane 215-pounder Ross Nicholson were 0-2.
D-9 runner-up Licatovich finished fourth in the regional but got the opportunity to wrestle because D-9 champ and NW Region runner-up Jon Marc Burdick was unable to compete. He was operated on for a herniated disc on Monday.
With 18 District 10 qualifiers winning, the NW Region made a strong showing in the first round, going 25-17. The NE Region was 23-19, the SW Region 36-34 and the SE Region 28-42. The latter two regions send five qualifiers, two more than the other two.
Eight D-10 wrestlers still are alive in the consolations.
However, one of D-10\’s top hopefuls is out.
Sharpsville senior 215-pounder Justin Buchanan entered as one of eight unbeatens but lost 5-4 to SW Region fifth-placer Brian Beattie of Burrell and then was eliminated by Montoursville\’s Nick Dawson 8-5. Buchanan thought he was ahead against Beattie and didn\’t pursue a takedown in the final minute.
In addition to Cowburn and Zanetta, the other former champs are Shady Side Academy\’s two-timer Dane Johnson (112 in 2007 and 125 in 2008) at 140, Frank Martellotti (103 in 2007) at 130 and Roman SanDoval at 189, Montoursville\’s Luke Frey (103 in 2008) at 112, Sharon\’s Jordan Moss at 135 and Westmont Hilltop\’s Zac Bennett (2007) at 189.
The Friday morning session begins at 8 o\’clock and also includes the consolation second round at 9:45.
The championship semifinals and consy quarterfinals will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the consy semifinals to follow at 9.
On Saturday, the matches for third, fifth and seventh places are set for 12:30 p.m. with the first of the championship bouts scheduled for 2:30.
