Curwensville — The Golden Tide wrestlers could not get any momentum Thursday night inside Patton Hall. Their opposition, the 11-1 Ridgway Elkers, showed why they have only one loss on the season as they won 13 of the 14 bouts to defeat Curwensville, 62-3.
In the first bout of the night, Derek Brothers managed a close victory over Kyle Caggiano to get the early 3-0 lead. From that point on, Ridgway put on a clinic on the mat.
Jeff Slattery tied the score after a 7-1 decision over Hunter McCracken, but the following bout was what got the ball rolling for the Elkers. Steven Mitchell was able to get a big takedown on Alex Holt early in their 135-pound match, and quickly got Holt’s shoulders down to get the pin in just 49 seconds.
Two of the next five bouts would be won via pins, with Nate Dornisch and Sam Skraba getting the victories in 5:32 and 5:45 respectively.
The moment that had the entire crowd worried came in the 189-pound match between Zack Zeles and Jonathan Michaels. With a few seconds remaining in the first period, Michaels was down on the mat after both grapplers went out of the circle. Almost immediately after the whistle, Michaels went for the escape and suddenly let out a painful scream.
Rolling to the side of the circle, Michaels pointed to his ankle. The pain was too much for him to continue, so Zeles won via injury default. Michaels was helped to the sidelines by teammates and quickly got ice on his leg, with what appeared to be a sprained ankle.
Ridgway got a major decision in the 215-pound match and then received two forfeit victories in the heavy weight and 103-pound classes. Tad Pierce won a physical match-up over Jordan Russell, and Slade Horner pinned Nathan Wriglesworth in 2:38 to end the evening.
The Golden Tide will take the short trip to Clearfield High School Saturday to compete in the 2nd Annual Clearfield Bison Duals, which begins at 8:30 AM.
Curwensville (3-7) is back in dual meet action next Tuesday, January 26, as they travel to the Brookville Raiders. Matches are set to begin at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Ridgway 62, Curwensville 3
125-Derek Brothers, C, decision over Kyle Caggiano, 4-3 (0-3)
130-Jeff Slattery, R, decision over Hunter McCracken, 7-1 (3-3)
135-Steven Mitchell, R, pinned Alex Holt, 0:49, (9-3)
140-Garet Pisani, R, decision over Brett Sutika, 2-0 (12-3)
145-Nate Dornish, R, pinned Matt Ross, 5:32 (18-3)
152-D.J. Skraba, R, decision over Kyle Kyler, 7-2 (21-3)
160-Sam Skraba, R, pinned Alex Holland, 5:45 (27-3)
171-Seth Stahl, R, major decision over Chad Desmett, 12-1 (31-3)
189-Zack Zeles, R, won via injury over Jonathan Michaels, 2:00 (37-3)
215-Chad Quail, R, major decision over Brian Zemba, 11-2 (41-3)
285-Joe Chittester, R, won via forfeit, (47-3)
103-Corey Bush, R, won via forfeit, (53-3)
112-Tad Pierce, R, decision over Jordan Russell, 8-2 (56-3)
119-Slade Horner, R, pinned Nathan Wriglesworth, 2:38 (62-3)