Six Golden Tide Matmen Survive First D-9 AA Session

CLARION – Two pins by returning champion Jake Keller and upsets by three unseeded wrestlers highlighted a solid outing by the Curwensville Area High School team in the first session of the 2011 District 9 Class AA Tournament Friday.

While Keller, the No. 1 seed at 130 pounds, breezed into Saturday morning’s semifinals at Clarion University’s Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium, five of his teammates rebounded from losses with decisive consolation round wins to remain in the medal hunt.

Returning for the consolation quarterfinals will be eighth seed Tyler Mays at 112, seventh seed Trey McKenzie at 125 and unseeded Alex Holt at 135, Hunter McCracken at 145 and Chad Desmett at 171.

Senior Kyle Kyler was prevented from upholding his fifth seed at 189 when he re-injured his right knee early in his quarterfinal bout and had to default out of the tourney.

The Golden Tide’s nine wrestlers won 12 of 23 matches and had winning records in three of the four rounds, including 5-3 in the first round and the consolation second round. They were 1-5 in the championship quarterfinals, but all five losses were to higher seeds.

“We’re really happy with our performance,” Curwensville coach Duane Wriglesworth. “Every kid that wrestled out there fought right to the end.

“We had some time off, and we really worked hard in the room, worked on some fundamentals.

“We went down and practiced with Clearfield, and that was a big boost for us. We got to look at some different competition, different practice partners, and that helped.”

Keller, who won the gold medal at 119 as a sophomore, was one of six No. 1 seeds to post a pair of falls.

He quickly cradled Sheffield sophomore Collin Maines and switched to a half-nelson and press for a 51-second pin and then piled up a 13-0 lead against Clarion freshman Tyler Allen before putting him on his back a fourth time with a headlock at 4:17.

The Golden Tide junior will have to beat fourth seed Brodie Zacherl (28-9) of Brookville in the semis and either second seed Chet Tanner (33-2) of Port Allegany or third seed Ty Haines (28-5) of Redbank Valley to repeat as champion.

Keller (29-1) blanked Zacherl 4-0 in a tough bout on Jan. 27 and tech falled Tanner 16-0 at the Clearfield Duals on Jan. 22.

Mays, McCracken and Desmett needed pairs of wins to advance, while McKenzie and Holt split their two matches.

All five defeated seeded opponents.

Wriglesworth was pleased to see his two freshmen lightweights justify their seeds.

“There were periods during the year where I thought they got a little gun-shy at times,” he said. “They seemed to be very relaxed and very fluid in a lot of combinations they were hitting.”

Mays gave the Golden Tide a spark in two rounds, turning Brockway’s Justin Prave three times in the first period en route to a 15-0 tech fall in just 2:42 in the prelims and blanking Cranberry’s Seth Harry 7-0 in the consy second round. He didn’t get the takedown against the seventh seed until the final seconds of the first period but was in control the rest of the way after reversing two seconds into the second period.

In between, Mays was a 15-0 tech fall victim of once-beaten junior No. 1 seed Nate Schwab of Smethport in the quarterfinals.

McKenzie also was dumped into the consolation bracket by a Northern Tier standout, No. 2 seed Kyle Bova (29-2) of Coudersport notching a 15-0 tech fall in 5:07.

Like Mays, he bounced back with a good effort, tilting and later cradling eighth seed John Welch of Kane for five back points on his way to a 9-4 decision. A reversal and two-point near fall in the last two seconds of the middle period gave him a 7-2 lead.

Holt appeared on his way to joining Keller in the quarterfinals when he blocked a throw attempt by Jacob Abrams of Smethport and stuck him for a five-point start and reversed early in the second period to lead 7-2, but the seventh seed reversed and crackled the Golden Tide junior for a fall at 3:41.

After a first round bye in the consolations, Holt responded by taking down eighth seed Doug Grubbs of Sheffield four times for a 9-2 victory.

McCracken, a sophomore who had a 10-15 record, and Desmett, a junior who was 5-14, provided two of the eight surprises in the first round.

McCracken was ahead 7-4 when he headlocked eighth seed Nate Moore of Kane for a fall at 4:44, while Desmett took down seventh seed Corey Cyphert of Redbank Valley and flattened him in 1:40.

Both lost in the quarters, McCracken to No. 1 seed Dylan Zimmerman (30-3) of Brookville by a 16-0 tech fall in 3:15 and Desmett to No. 2 seed Brandon Ferringer (22-8) of Cranberry by fall at 1:25.

They then matched wins against Oswayo Valley matmen in the consy second round as McCracken majored Alex Miller 14-5 with pairs of takedowns, turnovers and escapes and Desmett decked Chance Austin with five seconds left in the first period.

Kyler, who was questionable for the tourney because of the knee injury that occurred in a tourney at Grove City in late January, led Cameron County’s Josh Reynolds 8-6 when he took the Raider down for the third time with 1:44 left, rolled him over with a half and bar and pressed him to the mat at 5:10.

In the quarters, fourth seed Forest Tuttle of Coudersport gained an advantage as the two were locked up in throw positions and tripped Kyler to his back. The Golden Tide wrestler immediately pounded the mat, knowing his career had ended just 30 seconds into the bout.

“There were some times when it bothered him too much to practice, and he just did what he could on his own, basically,” Wriglesworth said. “We had talked it over and I said, ‘If you don’t wrestle, you’ll always have that question in your mind, what if?’ He had that decision to make.”

Kyler wound up with a 14-11 record.

Golden Tide sophs Nathan Wriglesworth at 140 and Austin Pollick at 152 bowed out in the second round of consolations.

Wriglesworth (9-16) did pick up a win, majoring Cameron County’s David Setzer 10-0 between losses to a pair of seeded opponents. He lost 6-1 to sixth seed Damien Kreckel of Smethport after trailing 2-0 very late in the second period and 14-5 to fourth seed Brandon Bailey of Redbank Valley in a bout that was 4-1 late in the second period.

Pollick (5-20) was pinned in 3:57 by No. 2 seed Nathan Hartless of Brockway and, in the consy second round, was knotted 5-5 with Derek Woodward of Kane when he got caught for the second time and was pinned at 4:36.

“He should have won,” Wriglesworth said. “He dominated the match. Just that one little mistake. He’s young and he’s learning. He’s had a rough year, but he’s not hanging his head. He knows he wrestled good today.”

Curwensville sits in eighth place with 34.5 points.

Brookville leads with 78.5 and 10 semifinalists, with Ridgway (61, 7) and Port Allegany (56, 9) still contending. Ridgway also has six wrestlers alive in the consolations.

The big shocker of the quarterfinals came at 171 where No. 8 seed Dalton Warnick (9-7) of Port Allegany pinned No. 1 seed Sean Welch of Kane at 2:32. Welch (27-7) did win his consy match.

All of the second seeds and all but one of the third seeds survived the six-hour session.

Venango Christian does not have a team, but freshman Trenton Zdarko became the first wrestler from the school to compete in the 9-AA tourney after having only three bouts during the season. He upset No. 6 seed Zach Bruce of Cranberry 4-3 before losing his next two matches.

Championship semifinals will begin at 10 o’clock Saturday morning, with two rounds of consolation action to follow.

The evening session will get under way at 5:30 with the consolation finals, then the Parade of Champions and title bouts.

The top four in each weight class, one more than in past seasons, will advance to the Northwest Region Tournament at Sharon next weekend.

TEAM STANDINGS AND KEY

1. Brookville (Bv), 78.5 points; 2. Ridgway (R), 61; 3. Port Allegany (PA), 56; 4. Redbank Valley (RV), 54; 5. Kane (Ka), 46; 6. Smethport (Sm), 45.5; 7. Brockway (Bw), 35; 8. Curwensville (Cur), 34.5; 9. Clarion (Cl), 33; 10. Keystone (Key), 25; 11. Cranberry (Cr), 24; 12. Coudersport (Co), 20.5; 13. Oswayo Valley (OV), 20; 14. Cameron County (CC), 18; 15. Johnsonburg (J), 18; 16. Sheffield (Sh), 17; 17. Venango Christian (VC), 2.

CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS

(Seeds in parentheses)

103 – (1) Trent Neely, Sm, pinned (8) Cody Snook, Cou, 1:25; (4) Ricky Prosen, Sh, dec. Mitch Blose, R, 13-12; (3) Lucas Manning, PA, major dec. (6) Brady Minesweaser, Bv, 12-0; (2) Cody Blankenship, K, dec. (7) Cody Stahl, R, 8-2.

112 – (1) Nate Schwab, Sm, tech fall (8) Tyler Mays, Cur, 15-0 (2:58); (5) Riley Gunter, Cl, dec. (4) Dalton Caden, PA, 5-1; (3) Willie Gruver, RV, major dec. (6) Jon Gelsick, K, 14-1; (2) Trey Constable, Bv, pinned Brandon Johnston, Sh, :51.

119 – (1) Brock Zacherl, Bv, pinned (8) Adam Barr, Sh, 1:13; (4) Darren Brown, K, major dec. (5) Nick Schrecengost, RV, 9-0; (3) Karl Lightner, Sm, pinned (6) Zach Cokely, CC, 1:08; (2) Corey Bush, R, pinned (7) Bryan Lacher, PA, :46.

125 – (1) Jesse Wolfe, J, tech fall Drew Burdick, Sm, 16-0 (3:16); (4) Garret Hildebrand, RV, dec. (5) Dustin Dombrowski, Bv, 9-6; (3) Mike Bauer, Cl, tech fall (6) Trevor Delhunty, R, 15-0 (3:50); (2) Kyle Bova, Cou, tech fall (7) Trey McKenzie, Cur, 15-0 (5:07).

130 – (1) Jake Keller, Cur, pinned (8) Tyler Allen, Cl, 4:17; (4) Brodie Zacherl, Bv, dec. (5) John Stiglitz, Key, 4-2; (3) Ty Haines, RV, won by injury default over (6) Will Hulings, K, 2:00; (2) Chet Tanner, PA, major dec. (7) Dakota Dahler, R, 9-1.

135 – (1) Max Zimmerman, J, pinned (8) Doug Grubbs, Sh, 1:18; (4) Brett Smith, Bv, major dec. (5) Sam Colebert, OV, 9-1; (3) Rickey Elliott, Cl, pinned (6) Evan Shirey, RV, 1:42; (2) Slade Horner, R, major dec. (7) Jacob Abrams, Sm, 11-0.

140 – (1) Evan Delong, K, pinned (8) Nick Ayers, Cou, 1:41; (5) Brad Goodreau, PA, pinned (4) Brandon Bailey, RV, 3:29; (3) Kyle Caggiano, R, pinned (6) Damien Kreckel, Sm, 5:56; (2) Zach Vroman, Bv, major dec. Joey Beck, Cl, 13-1.

145 – (1) Dylan Zimmerman, Bv, major dec. Hunter McCracken, Cur, 16-0 (3:15); (4) Trevor Hartless, Bw, dec. (5) Steve Mitchell, R, 11-7; (3) Tanner Hannold, Key, major dec. Trenton Zdarko, VC, 4-3; (2) Brandon Ryan, Sh, dec. (7) Kyle Freer, Sm, 3-0.

152 – (1) Alex Gular, PA, pinned Derek Woodward, K, 1:12; (4) Jake Himes, R, dec. (5) Nick Stuckey, CC, 8-1; (3) Cole Shirey, RV, major dec. (6) Brett Ferringer, Cr, 10-2; (2) Nathan Hartless, Bw, major dec. (7) Mitch Minich, Bv, 9-0.

160 – (1) Danny Walters, Cl, pinned (8) Caleb Spring, Cou, 3:19; (4) Ryan Kio, PA, tech fall (5) Mike Swartwood, K, 13-0 (3:32); (3) D.J. Skraba, R, pinned (6) Matt Hergenroeder, Key, 1:41; (2) Ron Clark, Bv, pinned (8) Justus Burk, Cr, 1:46.

171 – (8) Dalton Warnick, PA, pinned (1) Sean Welch, K, 2:32; (4) Tyler Dombrowski, Bv, dec. (5) Jordan Miller, Key, 7-3; (3) Seth Stahl, R, major dec. (6) Creighton Hayes, Cou, 16-7; (2) Brandon Ferringer, Cr, pinned Chad Desmett, Cur, 1:25.

189 – (1) Jacob Shields, Bv, pinned (8) Cortland Smith, R, 1:02; (4) Forest Tuttle, Cou, won by injury default over (5) Kyle Kyler, Cur, :30; (3) Nick Budd, PA, major dec. (6) Isaac Seniour, Cr, 11-3; (2) Luke Wilson, OV, pinned Brandon Chambers, Key, 4:32.

215 – (1) Zachary Brinkley, Bw, pinned (8) Nathan Amidon, Cou, 1:22; (4) Trent Neal, PA, dec. (5) Tyler Buchholtz, Sm, 9-4; (6) Braden Bowser, RV, pinned (3) Chad Quail, R, 3:23; (2) Logan Stout, Bv, pinned (7) Travis Corbett, Cr, 2:29.

285 – (1) Joel Yahner, Bw, pinned (8) Mike Crane, Bv, :21; (5) Cameron Slike, Cl, dec. (4) Andrew Fragale, CC, 4-1; (3) Zachary Manning, PA, dec. (6) Lee Russell, Cl, 1-0; (2) Jesse Sheasley, R, dec. (7) Josh Kibbie, K, 8-4.

CONSOLATION SECOND ROUND

103 – Stahl, R, bye; (5) Devon Park, Bw, major dec. Mineweaser, Bv, 13-5; Blose, RV, bye; Snook, Cou, pinned Trenton James, OV, 4:25.

112 – Johnston, Sh, pinned Justin Prave, Bw, :50; Gelsick, K, pinned Kevin Carson, OV, :58; Ricky J. Javier, R, dec. Caden, PA, 3-2; Mays, Cur, dec. (7) Seth Harry, Cr, 7-0.

119 – Lacher, PA, bye; Cokely, CC, tech fall Bryan Damon, OV, 15-0 (2:13); Schrecengost, RV, bye; Barr, Sh, bye.

125 – McKenzie, Cur, dec. (8) John Welch, K, 7-4; Delhunty, R, dec. Troy Hidinger, Bw, 4-3; D. Dombrowski, Bv, dec. Tyler Brisson, Sh, 9-6; Burdick, Sm, dec. Travis Haupt, OV, 7-2.

130 – Dahler, R, pinned Collin Maines, Sh, 1:40; Hulings, K, pinned Alex Zimmerman, J, 4:15; Stiglitz, Key, pinned Deric Brown, OV, 1:26; Allen, Cl, pinned Justin Burgess, Sm, 4:23.

135 – Abrams, Sm, pinned Brandon Kowatch, K, 2:12; Shirey, RV, dec. D.J. Forrest, Bw, 2-1; Colebert, OV, won by forfeit over Cody Bova, Cou; Alex Holt, Cur, dec. Grubbs, Sh, 9-2.

140 – Beck, Cl, bye; Kreckel, Sm, dec. Adam Rivera, Sh, 4-3 (OT); Bailey major dec. Nathan Wriglesworth, Cur, 15-4; Dan Mehl, OV, pinned Ayers, Cou, 1:16.

145 – Freer, S,. dec. Aaron Hook, RV, 5-0; Taylor Saline, CC, major dec. Zdarko, VC, 14-4; Mitchell, R, major dec. (6) Zach Bruce, Cr, 10-1; McCracken, Cur, major dec. Alex Miller, OV, 14-5.

152 –Minich, Cl, pinned (8) Mike Kennedy, J, 4:21; B. Ferringer, Cr, pinned Jordan Johnson, Sm, :56; Stuckey, CC, pinned Vincent Pasquarello, Sh, 4:42; Woodward, K, pinned Austin Pollick, Cur, 4:36.

160 – Burke, Cr, bye; Hergenroeder, Key, major dec. Devin Mason, CC, 10-1; Swartwood, K, dec. Jake Wichert, OV, 7-5; Spring, Cou, dec. Mitchell Schloder, J, 7-3.

171 – Desmett, Cur, pinned Chance Austin, OV, 1:55; Garrett Hoy, Sm, dec. Hayes, Cou, 4-1; J. Miller, Key, pinned Eric Bevacqua, J, :18; S. Welch, K, dec. (7) Corey Cyphert, RV, 12-7.

189 – Tyler Miketish, Sm, dec. Chambers, Key, 9-2; Seniour, Cr, pinned Josh Reynolds, CC, 4:43; Chauncey Traister, Sh, won by forfeit over Kyler, Cur; (7) Andrew Bigley, Cl, dec. C. Smith, R, 3-1.

215 – Corbett, Cr, pinned James Baker, OV, 1:43; Quail, R, bye; Buchholtz, Sm, bye; Amidon, Cou, pinned Austin Smith, Cl, 2:17.

285 – Kibbie, K, pinned Clay Kennemuth, RV< 1:58; Russell, Cl, bye; Fragale, CC, pinned Jesse Lincoln, Cou, :58; Caleb Cooper, Sm, dec. Crane, Bv, 2-1.

CONSOLATION FIRST ROUND

125 – J. Welch, K, dec. Caleb Hauss, CC, 7-6; Hidinger, Bw, pinned Joe Crate, Cr, 4:36; Brisson, Sh, dec. Marcus Borowsky, PA, 7-5.

130 – A. Zimmerman, J, pinned Ben Ragosta, Cou, 4:03; Burgess, Sm, major dec. Billy Edwards, Bw, 11-1.

135 – Forrest, Bw, pinned Dominic Galluzzi, CC, 2:40.

140 – Rivera, Sh, dec. Kyle Houser, Cr, 10-6; Wriglesworth, Cur, major dec. David Setzer, CC 10-0.

145 – Hook, RV, dec. (8) Nate Moore, K, 2-0; Bruce, Cr, pinned Zach Catherman, Cou, 2:31.

152 – Johnson, Sm, pinned Josiah Ott, Cou, 2:49.

160 – Mason, CC, pinned Chris McManus, Sh, :54; Wichert, OV, pinned Luke Hinderliter, RV, 3:38.

171 – Cyphert, RV, won by injury default over Alex Russell, Bw.

285 – Kennemuth, RV, pinned Nate Rodgers, OV, 2:08.

CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND

103 – Blose, RV, dec. Park, BW, 12-10 (OT); Blankenship, K, pinned James, OV, 1:36.

112 – Mays, Cur, tech fall Prave, Bw, 15-0 (2:42); Gunter, Cl, pinned Carson, OV, 3:52; Gruver, RV, pinned Javier, R, 1:38; Johnston, Sh, dec. Harry, Cr, 10-5.

119 – Schrecengost, RV, pinned Damon, OV, :34.

125 – Wolfe, J, tech fall Hauss, CC, 18-0 (4:55); Burdick, Sm, dec. J. Welch, K, 6-2; D. Dombrowski, Bv, dec. Hidinger, Bw, 9-3; Hildebrand, RV, pinned Crate, Cr, :30; Bauer, Cl, tech fall Borowsky, PA, 16-0 (4:00); Delhunty R, dec. Brisson, Sh, 6-3; K. Bova, Sm, pinned Haupt, OV, 2:25.

130 – Keller, Cur, pinned Maines, Sh, :51; Stiglitz, Key, pinned Ragosta, Cou, 5:06; Brodie Zacherl, Bv, pinned A. Zimmerman, J, 1:35; Hulings, K, pinned D. Brown, OV, 4:47; Dahler, R, pinned Edwards, Bw, :52; Tanner, PA, pinned Burgess, Sm, 1;33.

135 – M. Zimmerman, J, pinned Kowatch, K, 3:05; Colebert, OV, pinned Forrest, Bw, 5:28; B. Smith, Bv, pinned Galluzzi, CC, 1:07; Shirey, RV, dec. C. Bova, Cou, 3-0; Abrams, Sm, pinned Holt, Cur, 3:41.

140 – Goodreau, PA, pinned Rivera, Sh, 2:28; Bailey, RV, pinned Houser, Cr, 1:53; Caggiano, R, pinned Setzer, CC, 1:14; Kreckel, Sm, dec. Wriglesworth, Cur, 6-1; Vroman, Bv, pinned Mehl, OV, 2:42.

145 – D. Zimmerman, Bv, pinned Hook, RV, 5:39; McCracken, Cur, pinned Moore, K, 4:44; Mitchell, R, pinned Saline, CC, 4:59; Hannold, Key, pinned Catherman, Cou, :59; Zdarko, VC, dec. Bruce, Cr, 4-3; Freer, Sm, pinned A. Miller, OV, 2:39.

152 – Woodward, K, pinned Kennedy, J, 2:54; Stuckey, CC, pinned Johnson, Sm, 1:29; Himes, R, pinned Ott, Cou, :34; Shirey, RV, pinned Pasquarello, Sh, :54; N. Hartless, Bw, pinned Pollick, Cur, 3:57.

160 – Swartwood, K, dec. Mason, CC, 8-7; Kio, PA, tech fall McManus, Sh, 16-0 (2:11); Skraba, R, pinned Hinderliter, RV, 1:45; Clark, Bv, major dec. Schloder, 11-0.

171 – Warnick, PA, pinned Austin, OV, :28; T. Dombrowski, BV, pinned Hoy, Sm, 4:51; Desmett, Cur, pinned Cyphert, 1:40; B. Ferringer, Cr, pinned A. Russell, Bw, :13.

189 – Shields, Bv, pinned Miketish, Sm, :28; Kyler, Cur, pinned Reynolds, CC, 5:10; Seniour, Cr, pinned Traister, Sh, 3-1; Chambers, Key, dec. Bigley, Cl, 3-1.

215 – Brinkley, Bw, pinned Baker, OV, :49; Stout, Bv, pinned A. Smith, Cl, :51.

285 – Yahner, Bw, pinned Rodgers, OV, :47; Crane, Bv, pinned Kennemuth, RV, :38; Z. Manning, PA, pinned Lincoln, Cou, 1:15; Kibbie, K, pinned

Six Golden Tide Matmen Survive First D-9 AA Session

Fred Kavelak

Obituary Notice: Margaret Marie Hummel

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