Golden Tide’s Keller Earns Second District 9 AA Gold Medal

CLARION – Junior Jake Keller capped a remarkable run through the 130-pound weight class with one of the two falls in the finals to claim his second District 9 Class AA Tournament championship in Clarion University’s Waldo S. Tippin Saturday night.

Leading 9-2 after his second takedown of the match, Keller pinned Redbank Valley sophomore Ty Haines with 20 seconds remaining to become the 16th Golden Tide wrestler with more than one district gold medal.

The Golden Tide standout had three deep shots on takedown attempts before getting two-and-two at the end of the first period, according to coach Duane Wriglesworth.

“He hit a slide-by to a Merkle,” Wriglesworth said. “It was beautiful.”

Haines chose down to start the second period, and Keller was able to turn him once for a 6-0 lead. Later, he got too high with his leg ride and gave up a reversal at the buzzer, the only points the No. 1 seed surrendered in four matches.

In the third period, Keller escaped and later worked an under-arm spin and laced a leg to gain control and set up the fall that Wriglesworth described as the “coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

All he had was a body scissors across the Bulldog’s chest.

“He had a power half going over and let go of the half and squeezed his legs,” Wriglesworth explained. “Actually, he almost was in a push-up position where he could peek down underneath to see where Haines’ shoulders were. Then he would rotate the scissors and look up and arch his back to put more pressure on his shoulders.

“He was just squeezing for all he could, and Haines quite squirming because I don’t think he could breathe.”

The loss was the sixth for Haines, who had handed second seed Chet Tanner of Port Allegany only his third loss in 36 bouts, 6-5, in the semis.

All of Haines’ previous losses were to Class AAA wrestlers.

Keller was no less impressive in the morning semifinals, registering 10 back points to go with a takedown and reversal for a 14-0 major decision against Brookville freshman Brodie Zacherl. Keller had settled for a tough 4-0 win over the fourth seed in their Jan. 27 dual meet bout.

“I just think he had an off night the last time,” Wriglesworth said. “The flu was going around, and we weren’t up to par. He definitely looked much quicker.

“He complained about being a little tired this week, and I suggested he go light at the last practice to get his legs under him and work on building up his energy. (Friday), he said he felt great.”

Keller, who reigned at 119 last year, certainly wrestled that way both days.

Most years, his dominating tourney feat that included two falls Friday would have been worthy of the Outstanding Wrestler Award.

“I’m sure he got some votes,” Wriglesworth said. “It was a great performance.

“I thought 130 was one of the strongest weight classes, and Jake pinned the kid who beat the No. 2 seed.”

However, Brookville’s twice-beaten senior Jacob Shields was named OW for successfully defending his 189-pound crown by pinning four opponents in an aggregate 4:56. His 35 wins are the most of any champion.

Keller is tied for second with a 32-1 record that is topped in winning percentage only by Brockway senior heavyweight Joel Yahner’s 30-0 heading into the Northwest Region Tournament at Sharon next weekend.

He almost had company as two Curwensville hopefuls came up one win short of getting out of districts, both finishing 3-2.

Freshman 112-pounder Tyler Mays and junior 171-pounder Chad Desmett were beaten by the eventual bronze medalists after winning consolation quarterfinal matches in the morning.

Mays, the eighth seed, ousted Ridgway senior Ricky J. Javier 5-2 with a takedown and a tilt for two the difference but then was pinned at 2:33 by Redbank Valley’s Willie Gruver, who had beaten him 15-6 on Jan. 13.

“We knew it was an uphill battle with him,” Wriglesworth said. “Tyler wrestled much better this time, but Gruver’s tough.”

Desmett, a very pleasant surprise after wrestling all season at 189 and 215 with only two on-the-mat wins, beat Smethport’s Garrett Hoy 6-2 with a takedown, reversal and near fall before losing 17-3 to Port Allegany’s Dalton Warnick, who had pinned No. 1 seed Sean Welch of Kane Friday in the shocker of the weekend.

“Chad really had an outstanding tourney,” Wriglesworth said. “He was one match away from going on, but Chad had a hard time with Warnick. He was very quick on his feet.”

Three Golden Tide matmen were sidelined in the consy quarters.

Seventh-seeded freshman Trey McKenzie (125) was edged 2-0 by Ridgway’s sixth seed Trevor Delhunty, who made a second period reversal stand up.

“They were so close, but Delhunty is tough on top,” Wriglesworth said. “We just couldn’t get off the bottom.”

Junior Alex Holt (135) was pinned in 2:19 by Oswayo Valley’s fifth seed Sam Colebert.

And sophomore Hunter McCracken (145) got the takedown against Ridgway’s Steve Mitchell, but the fifth seed reversed twice and then added a late tilt for two.

“That was another tough loss,” Wriglesworth said. “Hunter tried several roll attempts, but Mitchell would scramble out of them.

“When I look at what we were up against, we were in every match that we lost, even the one where we were pinned.”

Wriglesworth was very pleased with the overall effort by the Golden Tide, which got at least one win from eight of its nine wrestlers and finished ninth in the 16-team tourney with 55.5 points.

“Every single one of our kids wrestled to his potential,” he said. “We had kids knocking off seeds and everyone seemed to go at least as far as we had had hoped.”

Keller, Shields and Yahner, up from 215, were three of five champions to repeat.

The others were Ridgway’s Corey Bush at 119 and Port Allegany’s Alex Gular at 152. Bush won at 103 and Gular at 145 in 2010.

Aside from the falls by Keller and Shields, a 16-0 technical fall by Bush and a 7-1 decision by Gular, the title bouts were low scoring with 10 champs prevailing by three points or less.

Six titlists made the team chase a runaway for Brookville, which amassed 197.5 points for its first title since 2004.

Joining Shields atop the winner’s stand were half of the 10 underclassmen who were draped with gold medals, Trey Constable at 112, Zach Vroman at 140, Dylan Zimmerman at 145, Tyler Dombrowski at 171 and Logan Stout at 215. Vroman is a freshman, while the other four are juniors.

Only Zimmernan was a top seed.

Constable, Vroman and Stout were number twos who bumped off favorites in the finals. Dombrowski was the lone No. 4 seed to rule.

Perennial power Ridgway did not have a No. 1 seed for the first time in years but wound up with three champs – second seeds Bush and junior Slade Horner at 135 and senior third seed D.J. Skraba at 160 – to edge out Port Allegany by a half-point for second place.

Also earning gold medals as favorites were Smethport sophomore Trent Neely at 103 and Johnsonburg senior Jesse Wolfe at 125.

Wolfe erased three years of frustration with his 3-0 victory over Clarion’s Mike Bauer, who was the 103 champ in 2009. Wolfe lost in the finals at 103 in 2008 and 3-0 to Keller at 119 last year and was bronze medalist at 112 in 2009.

Two of last year’s champs, Smethport’s Karl Lightner at 119 and Keystone’s Tanner Hannold at 145, were defeated in the semifinals but rebounded to place third. Both were up a weight and seeded third.

Lightner was involved in the bout that will be talked about for many, many years. He and Bush took turns fighting off their backs in a 16-13 thriller decided when the Elker hit a Peterson Roll late in the third period.

Bush won easily in the finals over Kane freshman fourth seed Darren Brown, who received a forfeit in the semis when once-beaten No. 1 seed Brock Zacherl, a Brookville freshman, did not weigh in Saturday morning.

Brookville 135-pounder Brett Smith was another former champ who had to battle back for third after losing in the semis. He won at 112 in 2009.

The third time’s a charm idiom didn’t hold true for Clarion senior Danny Walters, whose third trip to the 160 title bout in four years ended with another loss. A penalty point for interlocking cost him in a 2-1 squeaker with Skraba, who beat Brookville second seed Ron Clark by the same score in the semis.

The NW Region tourney will have a new look with District 9’s fourth-place finishers and District 10 sixth-place finishers qualifying for the first time and District 8 sending two representatives at each weight for a 12-man bracket.

Brookville leads the District 9 contingent with eight qualifiers, while Port Allegany has seven, Ridgway six and Brockway and Redbank Valley five apiece.

TEAM STANDINGS AND KEY

1. Brookville (Bv), 197.5 points; 2. Ridgway (R), 145; 3. Port Allegany (PA), 144.5; 4. Redbank Valley (RV), 109; 5. Smethport (Sm), 98.5; 6. Kane (K), 98; 7. Brockway (Bw), 80; 8. Clarion (Cl), 68; 9. Curwensville (Cur), 55.5; 10. Cranberry (Cr), 48; 11. Johnsonburg (J), 47; 12. Keystone (Key), 42; 13. Cameron County (CC), 41.5; 14. Oswayo Valley (OV), 38.5; 15. Coudersport (Cou), 30.5; 16. Sheffield (Sh), 30; 17. Venango Christian (VC), 2.

CHAMPIONSHIPS

(Seed, wrestler, grade, record)

103 – (1) Trent Neely, 10, (24-3), Sm, dec. (2) Cody Blankenship, 9, (39-6), K, 1-0.

112 – (2) Trey Constable, 11, (25-6), Bv, dec. (1) Nate Schwab, 11, (25-2), Sm, 5-4.

119 – (2) Corey Bush, 11, (31-2), R, tech fall (4) Darren Brown, 9, (27-8), K, 16-1 (5:14).

125 – (1) Jesse Wolfe, 12, (28-2), J, dec. (3) Mike Bauer, 12, (27-6), Cl, 3-0.

130 – (1) Jake Keller, 11, (32-1), Cur, pinned (3) Ty Haines, 10, (29-6), RV, 5:40.

135 – (2) Slade Horner, 11, (28-6), R, dec. (1) Max Zimmerman, 12, (23-4), J, 5-4 (TB).

140 – (2) Zach Vroman, 9, (32-6), Bv, dec. (1) Evan Delong, 9, (31-3), K, 4-2 (OT).

145 – (1) Dylan Zimmerman, 11, (2-3), Bv, dec. (2) Brandon Ryan, 10, (25-4), Sh, 5-2.

152 – (1) Alex Gular, 10, (30-8), PA, dec. (3) Cole Shirey, 10, (28-9), RV, 7-1.

160 – (3) D.J. Skraba, 12, (29-7), R, dec. (1) Danny Walters, 12, (29-3), Cl, 2-1.

171 – (4) Tyler Dombrowski, 11, (22-13), Bv, dec. (2) Brandon Ferringer, 12, (23-10), Cr, 2-1.

189 – (1) Jacob Shields, 12, (35-2), Bv, pinned (3) Nick Budd, 10, (31-9), PA, 1:36.

215 – (2) Logan Stout, 11, (27-11), Bv, dec. (1) Zachary Brinkley, 11, (26-5), Bw, 3-2.

285 – (1) Joel Yahner, 12, (30-0), Bv, dec. (3) Zachary Manning, 12, (30-5), PA, 2-0.

CONSOLATION FINALS

103 – (3) Lucas Manning, 10, (26-11), PA, dec. (5) Devon Park, 9, (17-16), Bw, 3-0.

112 – (3) Willie Gruver, 9, (28-9), RV, dec. (6) Jon Gelsick, 9 (18-7), K, 6-0.

119 – (3) Karl Lightner, 10, (25-4), Sm, tech fall (6) Zach Cokely, 9, (12-14), CC, 17-2 (3:05).

125 – (2) Kyle Bova, 9, (31-3), Cou, dec. (4) Garret Hildebrand, 11, (23-12), RV, 6-3.

130 – (2) Chet Tanner, 12, (35-3), PA, dec. (4) Brodie Zacherl, 9 (29-11), Bv, 3-1 (OT).

135 – (4) Brett Smith, 11, (35-6), Bv, dec. (5) Sam Colebert, 9, (26-12), OV, 4-1.

140 – (3) Kyle Caggiano, 11, (31-6), R, dec. (5) Brad Goodreau, 12, (26-15), PA, 2-1.

145 – (3) Tanner Hannold, 11, (15-5), Key, dec. (7) Kyle Freer, 12, (21-11), Sm, 1-0.

152 – (2) Nathan Hartless, 12, (24-8), Bw, dec. (4) Jake Himes, 11, (25-9), R, 2-1 (TB).

160 – (4) Ryan Kio, 12, (33-9), PA, dec. (2) Ron Clark, 12, (23-7), Bv, 4-1 (TB).

171 – (8) Dalton Warnick, 12, (12-8), PA, pinned (5) Jordan Miller, 12, (19-18), Key, 4:16.

189 – (2) Luke Wilson, 11, (32-3), OV, major dec. (6) Isaac Senior, 12, (18-12), Cr, 12-1.

215 – (3) Chad Quail, 11, (18-17), R, pinned (6) Braden Bowser, 11, (17-18), RV, 4:53.

285 – (4) Andrew Fragale, 12, (22-5), CC, injury default over Cameron Slike, 12, (24-9), Cl, :01.

CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS

103 – Park, Bw, dec. (4) Ricky Prosen, 9, (21-7), Sh, 5-3; L. Manning, PA, major dec. Mitch Blose, 9, (23-14), RV, 8-0.

112 – Gelsick, K, pinned (5) Riley Gunter, 9, (19-13), Cl, 2:20; Gruver, RV, pinned (8) Tyler Mays, 9, (15-13), Cur, 2:33.

119 – Cokely, CC, forfeit over Brock Zacherl, Bv; Lightner, Sm, major dec. (5) Nick Schrecengost, 11, (16-11), RV, 10-0.

125 – Hildebrand dec. (6) Trevor Delhunty, 11, (12-17), R, 4-0; K. Bova, Cou, pinned (5) Dustin Dombrowski, 12, (21-15), Bv, 2:23.

130 – Brodie Zacherl, Bv, dec. (6) Will Hulings, 11, (14-16), K, 5-2; Tanner, PA, tech fall (8) Tyler Allen,9, (15-15), Cl, 16-1 (4:48).

135 – B. Smith, Bv, dec. (7) Jacob Abrams, 10, (22-12), Sm, 6-0; Colebert, OV, dec. (3) Rickey Elliott, 12, (18-13), Cl, 8-3.

140 – Goodreau, PV, pinned (7) Joey Beck, 11, (7-10), Cl, :40; Caggiano, R, pinned (4) Brandon Bailey, 10, (18-10), RV, 1:36.

145 – Freer, Sm, dec. (4) Trevor Hartless, 12, (20-8), Bw, 3-1; Hannold, Key, dec. (5) Steve Mitchell, 11, (18-11), R, 6-3.

152 – Himes, R, dec. (6) Brett Ferringer, 12, (18-13), Cr, 6-0; N. Hartless, Bw, dec. (5) Nick Stuckey, 11, (17-13), CC, 8-2.

160 – Kio, PA, major dec. (6) Matt Hergenroeder, 12, (19-11), Key, 12-4; Clark, Bv, dec. (5) Mike Swartwood, 11 (26-11), K, 3-0.

171 – Warnick, PA, major dec. Chad Desmett, 11, (8-16), Cur, 17-3; Miller, Key, dec. (3) Seth Stahl, 11, (18-16), R, 5-0.

189 – Seniour, Cr, won by forfeit; Wilson, OV, tech fall (7) Andrew Bigley, 10, (12-13), Cl, 19-2 (2:30).

215 – Quail, R, pinned (4) Trent Neal, 10, (11-19), PA, 3:41; Bowser, RV, injury default over (5) Tyler Buchholtz, 11, (10-15), Sm, 3:00.

285 – Slike, Cl, dec. (6) Lee Russell, 11, (23-10), Cr, 2-1 (TB); Fragale, CC, dec. (2) Jesse Sheasley, 12, (19-8), R, 5-3 (OT).

CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS

103 – Park, Bw, dec. (7) Cody Stahl, 9, (9-18), R, 11-4; Blose, RV, dec. (8) Cody Snook, 9, (7-10), Cou, 11-4.

112 – Gelsick, K, pinned Kevin Carson, 9, (7-22), OV, 4:22; Mays, Cur, dec. Ricky J. Javier, 12, (7-23), R, 5-2.

119 – Cokely, CC, dec. (7) Bryan Lacher, 12, (9-19), PA, 8-7; Schrecengost, RV, pinned (8) Adam Barr, 10, (11-12), Sh, :46.

125 – Delhunty, R, dec. (7) Trey McKenzie, 9, (12-13), Cur, 2-0; D. Dombrowski, Bv, dec. Tyler Brisson, 11, (12-12), Sh, 7-2.

130 – Hulings, K, dec. (7) Dakota Dahler, 11, (16-19), R, 5-4; Allen, Cl, dec. (5) John Stiglitz, 12, (24-14), Key, 2-0.

135 – Abrams, Sm, dec. Brandon Kowatch, 12, (7-13), K, 5-2; Colebert, OV, pinned Alex Holt, 11, (13-13), Cur, 2:19.

140 – Beck, Cl, dec. (6) Damien Kreckel, 12, (15-15), Sm, 1-0; Bailey, RV, pinned Dan Mehl, 10, (9-9), OV, 2:35.

145 – Freer, Sm, major dec. Taylor Saline, 10, (9-14), CC, 13-0; Mitchell, R, dec. Hunter McCracken, 10, (12-17), Cur, 6-2.

152 – Brett Ferringer, Cr, dec. (7) Mitch Minich, 11, (5-9), Bv, 8-3; Stuckey, CC, pinned Derek Woodward, 10, (10-13), K, 1:22.

160 – Hergenroeder, K, pinned (7) Justus Burk, 9, (12-11), Cr, 2:36; Swartwood, K, pinned (8) Caleb Spring, 12, (13-11), Cou, 4:22.

171 – Desmett, Cur, dec. Garrett Hoy, 11 (11-6), Sm, 6-2; Miller, Key, dec. (1) Sean Welch, 12, (27-8), K, 7-4.

189 – Seniour, Cr, pinned Tyler Miketish, 11 (10-15), Sm, 2:12; Bigley, Cl, pinned Chauncy Traister, 11, (3-11), Sh, 3:51.

215 – Quail, R, pinned (7) Travis Corbett, 11, (18-15), 2:56; Buchholtz, Sm, pinned (8) Nathan Amidon, 12 (11-15), Cou, 3:23.

285 – Russell, Cr, dec. (7) Josh Kibbie, 11, (27-10), K, 3-2; Fragale, CC, major dec. Caleb Cooper, 12, (9-12), Sm, 11-0.

CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS

103 – Neely, Sm, major dec. Prosen, Sh, 13-0; Blankenship, K, dec. L. Manning, PA, 2-0.

112 – Schwab, Sm, tech fall Gunter, Cl, 16-0 (2:00); Constable, Bv, dec. Gruver, RV, 5-2.

119 – Brown, K, forfeit over Brock Zacherl, Bv; Bush, R, dec. K. Lightner, Sm, 16-13.

125 – Wolfe, J, major dec. Hildebrand, RV, 9-0; Bauer, Cl, dec. K. Bova, Sm, 1-0 (UTB).

130 – Keller, Cur, major dec. Brodie Zacherl, Bv, 14-0; Haines, RV, dec. Tanner, PA, 6-5.

135 – M. Zimmerman, J, dec. B. Smith, Bv, 5-2; Horner, R, tech fall Elliott, Cl, 18-3 (4:41).

140 – Delong, K, dec. Goodreau, PA, 4-2; Vroman, Bv, dec. Caggiano, R, 5-0.

145 – D. Zimmerman, Bv, dec. T. Hartless, Bw, 8-2; Ryan, Sh, major dec. Hannold, Key, 11-2.

152 – Gular, PA, major dec. Himes, R, 8-1; Shirey, RV, dec. N. Hartless, Bw, 8-6.

160 – Walters, Cl, dec. Kio, PA, 2-1; Skraba, R, dec. Clark, Bv, 2-1 (UTB, SV).

171 – T. Dombrowski, Bv, dec. Warnick, PA, 2-1; Brandon Ferringer, Cr, dec. S. Stahl, R, 9-2.

189 – Shields, Bv, pinned Tuttle, Cou, 1:50; Budd, PA, dec. Wilson, OV, 3-1.

215 – Brinkley, Bw, pinned Neal, PA, 1:33; Stout, Bv, dec. Bowser, RV, 3-2.

285 – Yahner, Bw, injury default over Slike, Cl, :01; Z. Manning, PA, pinned Sheasley, R, 4:17.

Golden Tide’s Keller Earns Second District 9 AA Gold Medal

Fred Kavelak

Bisons Advance Nine to Regionals but Fail to Defend District 9 AAA Team Title

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