Grove City – The Curwensville Golden Tide grapplers participated in the rugged Grove City Fred Bell Memorial tournament over the past weekend. The Tide was able to place 18th in the 27-team tourney.
Leading the way were two medalists – 125 pound runner-up Derek Brothers and 119 pound bronze medalist Jake Keller.
Head coach Duane Wriglesworth was pleased with his top wrestler’s performances, “Derek ran into an outstanding gentleman from Holly, NY by the name of Quinton Murphy. He was 46-1 on the year. He pinned and tech falled his way through the tournament and beat Derek 9-3 in the finals.
“Jake Keller had an impressive comeback by losing his first match 8-6 to Nathan Stidman from Hickory, then wrestling all the way back through the consolation bracket only to meet him again in the consolation finals and beat him handily 11-5”
Also gaining some praise from Wriglesworth was Kyle Kyler at 152, “… who had a good weekend by going 3-2 in the tournament and was one hand raise away from placing.”
The Tide lineup and their tournament record according to NWCA results:
103 – Jordan Russell, 1-1
112 – Greg Koptchak, 0-2
119 – Jake Keller, 6-1, 3rd Place
125 – Derek Brothers, 4-1, 2nd Place
130 – Hunter McCracken, 2-2
135 – Alex Holt, 0-2
140 – Jason Baker, 0-2
145 – Wes McGary, 2-2
152 – Kyle Kyler, 3-2
160 – Alex Holland, 0-2
171 – Chad Desmett, 0-2
The Tide (5-12) will be back in action on Thursday night when they host the West Branch Warriors.