JOHNSONBURG – In a duel of District 9 Class AA wrestling rivals that was tied four times and went down to the final bout, undefeated Johnsonburg won seven of the 10 contested bouts to turn back Curwensville 36-30 Monday night.
The Golden Tide (0-2) got pins from Derek Brothers at 125 pounds, Wes McGarry at 145 and Alex Holland at 160, while Jordan Russell at 103 and Brian Zemba at 215 received forfeits.
Early in the preseason, Johnsonburg coach Tom Launer wasn\’t optimistic about much dual meet success because of five weights without wrestlers, but late additions have provided the balance that has the Rams off to a 5-0 start.
\”We knew it was gonna be close,\” Curwensville coach Duane Wriglesworth said. \”We had some good performances, but the key to the whole match was 103.\”
Because of the pre-meet draw, Curwensville bantam Jordan Russell had to step on the mat first, so Launer bumped up Johnathan Ferragine, who weighed in at 83 pounds, to 112, and the offsetting forfeits left the teams deadlocked 24-24.
\”If they wrestled, we probably would have won, but that was a 12-point swing,\” Wriglesworth said. \”That was the luck of the draw.\”
After two-time region qualifier Jesse Wolfe (5-0) gave the Rams their fourth lead with a first-period fall at 119, Brothers flattened Cody Schreiber in 41 seconds to make it 30-30.
That put the onus on the 130-pounders, and the Rams had the advantage with Max Zimmerman, one of three undefeated Eisenhower Kickoff Tournament champions in their lineup.
The junior, who placed fourth at districts last year, ended the meet by making Golden Tide soph Alex Holt his seventh fall victim midway through the second period for his 10th win.
\”Johnsonburg has a really good team,\” Wriglesworth said. \”They\’ve got five seasoned seniors that really make their team solid.\”
Three of them, Eisenhower tourney champs Quinton O\’Rourke (9-0) and Zac Wolfe (10-0) and runner-up Preston Mahoney (8-1), staked the Rams to an early 11-6 lead.
O\’Rourke, a three-time fourth-place finisher at districts, bested Hunter McCracken 7-1 in the 135-pound bout that was closer than the score indicates. He held a slim 2-1 edge until turning the Golden Tide freshman for three points at the end of the middle period.
At 140, Zac Wolfe took down Brett Sutika late in the second period and added an escape and takedown in the third period for a 5-1 victory.
\”That was a good bout to watch,\” Wriglesworth said. \”Sutika and McCracken faced two of their better athletes.\”
McGarry got Curwensville on the scoreboard by decking Michael Kennedy in 1:10 before Mahoney, another two-time region qualifier, recorded a technical fall at 152 for his 80th career victory.
Holland surrendered the opening takedown to Jon DeCecchis but came off the bottom in the second period to turn the Ram and catch him in a front headlock for his first varsity fall at the 3:51 mark.
That gave the Golden Tide the first of its two leads, but Eisenhower tourney runner-up Michael Paladino (9-1) put the Rams ahead for the third time with a major decision at 171 and Trey DeCecchis shut out Jonathan Michaels 3-0 via a second-period escape and takedown at 189.
Zemba\’s forfeit knotted the score again going to the lightweight action.
\”We have a young team and we\’ve seen improvement since we wrestled Brockway,\” Wriglesworth said. \”We saw a lot more combination moves, and we were pleased with our conditioning.\”
The Golden Tide will make its first home appearance Friday against Punxsutawney and then head north Saturday for the Coudersport duals, getting a rematch with the Rams in addition to matches against Sheffield, Cameron County, Penns Valley and the host Falcons.
JOHNSONBURG 36, CURWENSVILLE 30
135 – Quinton O\’Rourke, J, dec. Hunter McCracken, 7-1. (0-3)
140 – Zac Wolfe, J, dec. Brett Sutika, 5-1. (0-6)
145 – Wes McGarry, C, pinned Michael Kennedy, 1:10. (6-6)
152 – Preston Mahoney, J, tech fall over Matt Ross, 18-2, 5:58. (6-11)
160 – Alex Holland, C, pinned Jon DeCecchis, 3:51. (12-11)
171 – Michael Paladino, J, major Chad Desmett, 13-3. (12-15)
189 – Trey DeCecchis, J, dec. Jonathan Michaels, 3-0. (12-18)
215 – Brian Zemba, C, won by forfeit. (18-18)
285 – no match.
103 – Jordan Russell, C, won by forfeit. (24-18)
112 – Johnathan Ferragine, J, won by forfeit. (24-24)
119 – Jesse Wolfe, J, pinned Nathan Wriglesworth, 1:25. (24-30)
125 – Derek Brothers, C, pinned Cody Schreiber, :41. (30-30)
130 – Max Zimmerman, J, pinned Alex Holt, 3:01. (30-36)
