SHARON – District 9 wrestling champions Jake Keller and Derek Brothers of Curwensville cleared one more hurdle on the Road to Hershey with two-point wins in the Northwest Region Class AA Tournament quarterfinals on the Sharon High School mats Friday evening.
Both Golden Tide lightweights had tough matches against the fourth-place finishers from District 10.
Keller used a first-period takedown and a second-period near fall to defeat Grove City’s Ian Abplanalp 4-2 at 119 pounds, while Brothers also worked a pair of takedowns in the first period, took a 6-5 lead into the third period and managed to hold off Cochranton’s Matt Bryer 8-6 at 125.
Curwensville coach Duane Wriglesworth II categorized the opening-round wins as “very big.”
He added, “I’m always worried about the first match. It gets rid of the initial tournament jitters and allows the wrestlers to calm down.
“To go in here with two wrestlers and come out with two wins is a super day.”
Keller (15-2) surrendered a reversal to Abplanalp (29-11) early in the third period but prevented the Grove City sophomore from revving up his offense.
“Jake turned in and was in on his legs three or four times,” Wriglesworth. “He definitely was in control.”
In the semifinals, Keller will meet a familiar foe, Jamestown sophomore Aaron Roberts (33-8).
They tangled in the Fred Bell Tournament wrestlebacks at Grove City in late January, and the Golden Tide soph won 8-4 two bouts before shutting out Abplanalp 6-0.
Roberts, the District 10 runner-up, advanced with a 22-7 technical fall against Brookville’s Brett Smith, who Keller beat 4-0 in the district semis.
Undefeated D-10 champion and two-time PIAA placewinner Mason Beckman (43-0) of Reynolds and D-9 runner-up Jesse Wolfe (28-2) will square off in the other semi. Beckman is seeking his third region gold medal.
Brothers (31-3) led 4-2 after the first period, but Bryer kept it close with an escape and takedown in the middle period to trail by one point.
“He chose down, and Derek was able to secure two back points which saved the match for him,” Wriglesworth said. “(Bryer) ended up getting out and almost took Derek down as time ran out. He got in very deep with a duck-under to a single-leg, but Derek was able to fight him off with seconds left.”
Brothers’ next test will come from D-10 runner-up Dylan Simmer (18-2), an 11-3 winner over Ridgway’s Kyle Caggiano 11-3. Brothers defeated the Elker soph 7-1 in the D-9 semis.
Reynolds soph Dylan D’Urso (36-6), who won the region 103 title and placed fourth in the states last year, and Redbank Valley senior Tyler McCauley (34-6) are in the upper bracket. Brothers nipped McCauley 1-0 for his third D-9 crown a week ago.
“Both opponents we have coming up are gonna be tough,” Wriglesworth said in looking forward only to Saturday morning’s semis. “Simmer’s very strong, and Roberts has very long reach and a good single shot.”
Ten other D-9 champs are still in the gold medal hunt, but Keystone 140-pounder Tanner Hannold and Port Allegany 145-pounder Alex Gular were upended.
All of the D-10 kingpins advanced along with 13 runners-up.
Only seven of the D-9 silver medalists were able to survive the opening session.
Action gets under way at 9:15 with the championship semifinals and first round of consolations, followed by the consolation semis at noon.
The consolation finals are set for 4:15 p.m. and the championship matches at 6, with the top three finishers at each weight moving on to the PIAA Class AA Tournament.
Team Key – Brockway (Bw); Brookville (Bv); Cambridge Springs (CS); Cameron County (CC); Clarion (Cl); Cochranton (Coch); Commodore Perry (CP); Coudersport (Cou); Cranberry (Cran); Curwensville (Cur); Fort LeBoeuf (FL); Greenville (Gr); Grove City (GC); Harborcreek (Ha); Hickory (Hi); Iroquois (I); Jamestown (Jam); Johnsonburg (Jo); Keystone (Key); Lakeview (L); Maplewood (Ma); Mercer (Me); North East (NE); Northwestern (Nw); Port Allegany (PA); Redbank Valley (RV); Reynolds (Rey); Ridgway (Rid); Saegertown (Sae); Seneca (Sen); Sharon (Sha); Sharpsville (S); Sheffield (Shef); Smethport (Sm); Union City (UC); West Middlesex (WS); Youngsville (Y).
Championship Quarterfinals
103 – (10-1) Tyler Pier, Ha, major dec. (10-5) Nick Hart, CS, 12-0; (10-3) Brandon Puckley, FL, pinned (9-2) Nate Schwab, Sm, 5:06; (10-2) Jonas Reaugh, Jam, dec. (9-3) Trey Constable, Bv, 9-8; (9-1) Corey Bush, Ridg, dec. (10-4) Landon Clayton, L, 4-2.
112 – (10-1) Nate Dias, CP, dec. (10-5) Jarray Norris, Sha, 17-14; (10-3) Matt Spragle, Me, dec. (9-2) Cody Bova, Cou 4-4 (OT-Rideout); (10-2) Shane Rankin, UC, major dec. (9-3) Nick Schrecengost, RV, 13-5; (9-1) Karl Lightner, Sm, dec. (10-4) Tyler Roberts, Jam, 8-6.
119 – (10-1) Mason Beckman, Rey, tech fall (10-5) Taylor Fox, FL, 25-9; (9-2) Jesse Wolfe, J, dec. (10-3) Sean Byham, Sae, 4-2; (10-2) Aaron Roberts, Jam, tech fall (9-3) Brett Smith, Bv, 22-7; (9-1) Jake Keller, Cur, dec. (10-4) Ian Abplanalp, GC, 4-2.
125 – (10-1) Dylan D’Urso, Rey, pinned (10-5) Mitch Kaltenbaugh, FL, :43; (9-2) Tyler McCauley, RV, dec. (10-3) Matt Graff, Ma, 3-2; (10-2) Dylan Simmer, I, major dec. (9-3) Kyle Caggiano, Ridg, 11-3; (9-1) Derek Brothers, Cur, dec. (10-4) Matt Bryer, Coch, 8-6.
130 – (10-1) Austin Matthews, Rey, major dec. (10-5) Luke Marshall, Gr, 14-0; (9-2) Ian Grecco, Bw, dec. (10-3) Levi Morton, NE, 5-0; (10-2) David Osterberg, Nw, pinned (9-3) Max Zimmerman, Jo, 3:24; (9-1) Trevor McCauley, RV, dec. (10-4) Kody Pace, FL, 7-4.
135 – (10-1) Riley Smith, FL, pinned (10-5) Kirby Buchanan, GC, 3:11; (9-2) Quinton O’Rourke, Jo, dec. (10-3) Cam Cianci, Rey, 7-1; (10-2) Tim Clark, Saw, dec. (9-3) Dylan Reinsel, Cl, 10-7; (9-1) Garet Pisani, Ridg, pinned (10-4) Kevin Nowakowski, Ha, 1:22.
140 – (10-1) Cody Copeland, Gr, pinned (10-5) Herbie Hennegan, Me, 2:25; (10-3) Garrett Smith, Sen, dec. (9-2) Trevor Hartless, Bw, 3-2; (9-3) Brandon Bailey, RV, dec. (10-2) Dave Church, FL, 6-4; (10-4) Ian Chiesa, Nw, dec. (9-1) Tanner Hannold, Key, 6-4.
145 – (10-1) Jordan Moss, Sha, tech fall (10-5) Shawn Stancliff, FL, 19-4; (10-3) Mikel Boughner, Coch, dec. (9-2) Zach Baughman, Key, 7-0; (10-2) Luke Taylor, Rey, major dec. (9-3) Alex Gunter, Cl, 16-5; (10-4) Randy Perkins, Gr, dec. (9-1) Alex Gular, PA, 3-2.
152 – (10-1) Jeremy King, FL, dec. (10-5) Kyle Mariacher, Me, 8-3; (9-2) Nathan Hartless, Bw, dec. (10-3) David Holiga, Gr, 4-1; (10-2) Brandon Collins, CP, dec. (9-3) D.J. Skraba, Ridg, 3-1; (9-1) Adam Greenman, PA, dec. (10-4) Brad Lucas, Y, 6-0.
160 – (10-1) Wes Phipps, GC, major dec. (10-5) Alex Svetz, NE, 10-2; (9-2) Danny Walters, Cl, dec. (10-3) Nate Smith, Sen, 3-1; (10-2) Tyler Gargano, Hi, dec. (9-3) Sam Skraba, Ridg, 8-4; (9-1) Dirk Cowburn, Cou, major dec. (10-4) JT Mannozzi, Me, 12-4.
171 – (10) Lewendo Teague, Sha, major dec. (10-5) Jordan Elchynski, NE, 19-5; (10-3) Greg Bapotists, Rey, dec. (9-2) Hunter Bardo, CC, 3-0; (10-2) Phillip Bucher, S, pinned (9-3) Jacob Cieleski, Bv, 3:15; (9-1) Zack Zelcs, Ridg, dec. (10-4) Matthew Schiemer, CP, 7-0.
189 – (10-1) Stephan Ceremuga, CP, tech fall (10-5) Josh Tomiczek, Sae, 20-5; (10-3) RJ Malson, Gr, dec. (9-2) Justin Loll, Cran, 12-5; (10-2) Jared Merritt, Nw, major dec. (9-3) Zachery Brinkley, Bw, 8-0; (9-1) Jacob Shields, Bv, pinned (10-4) Tyler Lewis, L, 3:53.
215 – (10-1) Jared Burger, UC, dec. (10-5) Matt Mongera, Sen, 3-2; (10-3) Brandon Bradney, FL, dec. (9-2) James Hahn, Shef, 9-7; (10-2) Brian Hooks, CP, pinned (9-3) Braden Bowser, RV, 2:43; (9-1) Joel Yahner, Bw, dec. (10-3) RJ Swartz, Me, 7-1.
285 – (10-1) Greg Reinke, UC, major dec. (10-5) Peter Jackson, F, 16-6; (9-2) Zach Manning, PA, dec. (10-3) Ryan Benson, WM, 6-4; (10-2) Dillon Sarcinella, Gr, dec. (10-3) Lee Russell, Cran, 3-2; (9-1) Joe Chittester, Ridg, dec. (10-4) Justin East, CS, 5-2.
