GROVE CITY – The 29th Fred Bell Memorial Wrestling Tournament was bittersweet for Curwensville senior Jake Keller, who walked out of Grove City High School‘s “Eagle Nest” Saturday night as the third-place finisher in the rugged 132-pound class.
The Curwensville standout, who rated only the No. 5 seed with a once-beaten record, became the sixth member of the Golden Tide Century Club Saturday with an impressive 16-1 technical fall in 3:57 over No. 4 seed Nick Floch of Jamestown in the quarterfinals.
Keller’s morning high was followed by an afternoon low when Keller was beaten 4-1 by No. 1 seed and eventual champion Matt Bryer of Cochranton.
Quick escapes in the second and third periods were the only scoring until Bryer finished off a low single at the edge of the mat, managing to drag his feet in bounds for the winning takedown with seven seconds remaining. A caution penalty against Keller gave the 2011 PIAA placewinner his fourth point.
Keller rebounded with a 13-0 major decision over No. 3 seed Garrett Hildebrand of Redbank Valley in the consolation semifinals and then hit No. 6 seed Shawn Spearman of McDowell with what coach Duane Wriglesworth described as a Greco Roman-style “salto” throw for a fall at 2:26 in the third-place match.
Those two wins elevated Keller past Jody Clark (101 in 1992) and Jason Clark (100 in 1991) into fourth place on Curwensville’s all-time win list behind only Derek Brothers (131 in 2010), Nick Sipes (122 in 2007) and Nate Sipes (110 in 2005).
On Friday, Keller pinned Lakeview’s Adam Minor in 35 seconds and Oil City’s John Beach in 2:34.
His record was 18-1 at the time of the seedings for the 29-team tourney, so he was placed fifth behind Bryer (20-1), Shane Gentry (24-4) from South Side, Hildebrand (22-1) and Floch (21-1). Spearman had three losses.
Bryer majored Gentry 12-4 in the championship bout, while Hildebrand won by a similar score in the consy finals for fifth place.
Keller’s 5-1 effort for a 24-2 record accounted for the bulk of Curwensville’s 45 points in a 20th place finish.
Austin Pollick wound up 2-2 at 170 after losing to eventual champ Austin Andrews of Cochranton in the preliminary round. He tech falled Warren’s Daniel Henry 15-0 at the buzzer and shut out Titusville’s Xavier DeRose 3-0 before losing to Franklin’s Cody Dunmire in the fourth round of consolations.
Jake Kavelak at 195, Ricky Magnuson at 220 and Spencer Smeal at heavyweight posted one win apiece.
Penn State-bound 182-pounder Wes Phipps (23-0) of Grove City was named the Outstanding Wrestler.
McDowell piled up 256 points to win the team title with three champs and 10 other place winners. Stroudsburg was a distant second with 204 points.
Curwensville was one of four District 9 teams in the tourney, Redbank Valley claiming third place with 152.5 points, Keystone finishing right behind the Golden Tide with 38.5 and Clarion winding up 23rd with 28.
Team standings and key: — 1. McDowell (McD) 256; 2. Stroudsburg (St) 204; 3. Redbank Valley (RV) 152.5; 4. General McLane (GM) 151; 5. Cochranton (Co) 120.5; 6. Titusville (T) 115.5; 7. Cambridge Springs (CS) 110; 8. Sharpsville (Sh) 99; 9. Eisenhower (E) 96; 10. Grove City (GC) 89.5; 11. Hickory (H) 85.5; 12. Lakeview (Lak) 80.5; 13. South Side (SS) 79.5; 14. Jamestown (J) 71; 15. Conneaut Lake (CL) 58.5; 16. Mercer (M) 58; 17. Holley Central, N.Y. (HC) 57; 18. Warren (W) 54.5; 19. Franklin (F) 50.5; 20. Curwensville (Cur) 45; 21. Keystone (K) 38.5; 22. Brashear (B) 35; 23. Clarion (Cl) 28; 24. Laurel (Lau) 25; 25. Northwestern (NW) 24; 26. Oil City (OC) 21; 27. West Middlesex (WM) 13; 28. Commodore Perry (CP) 4; 29. Pittsburgh North Catholic (NC) 3.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106 – Joe Wheeling, GM, dec. Shane Jones, St, 3-2 (3OT).
113 – Guesseppe Rea, St, dec. Willie Gruver, RV, 6-3.
120 – Goodwin Nyama, B, tech fall Nathan Reckner, SS, 23-8 (5:18).
126 – Nate Stidham, H, dec. Aaron Roberts, J, 4-3.
132 – Matt Bryer, Co, major dec. Shane Gentry, SS, 12-4.
138 – Quinton Murphy, HC, won by default over Steve Spearman, McD, :01.
145 – Cody Noland, McD, dec. Ehrin Lee, T, 3-1.
152 – D.J. Myers, GM, dec. Tanner Hannold, K, 2-1.
160 – Cody Brunst, T, dec. Cole Shirey, RV, 4-3 (3OT).
170 – Austin Andrews, Co, dec. Ryan Berry, St, 4-2.
182 – Wes Phipps, GC, dec. Khlique Harris, McD, 4-1.
195 – Shawn Reynolds, CS, pinned Jake Johnson, E.
220 – Cameron Cyphert, Co, pinned Mike Silvis, HC, 5:15.
285 – Scott Augustine, McD, dec. Sam Breese, Lak, 4-3.
CONSOLATION FINALS (THIRD PLACE)
106 – Benji Yates, McD, dec. Kaleb Chase, T, 9-4.
113 – Paul Deitz, McD, dec. Keller Watkins, GM, 6-4.
120 – D.J. Felham, W, pinned Josh Reaugh, J, 2:01.
126 – Jake Troutman, CL, pinned Dylan Baker, E, 2:07.
132 – Jake Keller, Cur, pinned Shawn Spearman, McD, 2:26.
138 – Tim Wheeling, GM, major dec. Co, 12-3.
145 – Seth Rendulic, CL, dec. Alex Shaffer, M, 5-3.
152 – Joe Campanella, McD, pinned Conner Payne, SS, 2:13.
160 – Jimmy Paulson, McD, dec. Aaron Transue, St, 8-3.
170 – Anthony Forne, McD, dec. Cody Dunmire, F, 4-0.
182 – Robbie Karstendiek, St, dec. Joseph Hines, H, 3-2.
195 – Keyautay Aulder, St, pinned Steven Maskery, NW, 3:37.
220 – Bradley Ferguson, Lak, pinned Luke Dehart, McD, 2:26.
285 – Justin East, CS, pinned Kaleb Robertson, Sh, 1:28.
CONSOLATION FINALS (FIFTH PLACE)
106 – Justin Walker, H, dec. Evan Clayton, Lak, 6-2.
113 – Joe Sofranko Sh, pinned Jason Peterson, W, 1:51.
120 – Jesse Rivera, GC, dec. Jeb Fedorchuk, E, 6-2.
126 – Ken Stoll, GM, won by default over Noah Burkhart, EM.
132 – Garrett Hildebrand, RV, major dec. Mike Cassano, St, 12-4.
138 – Ty Haines, RV, major dec. Jayson Berger, St, 12-2.
145 – Trey Maher, GC, pinned Caleb Peterson, Co, 4:12.
152 – Jacob Breintenstein, Lau, dec. Kevin Merle, St, 7-0.
160 – Dylan Reynolds, CS, won by forfeit over Ben Bucher, Sh.
170 – Brandon Bailey, RV, dec. Chris Laird, CL, 7-3.
182 – Aaron Hook, RV, dec. Trevor Spicer, E, 7-3.
195 – Hayden Rohrbacher, H, pinned Mark Strothers, RV, 2:37.
220 – Jordan Hefferman, E, won by default over Cody Hughes, Sh.
285 – Cody Cooper, St, won by default over Kenny Peters, E.
* * * * *
Other results for Curwensville wrestlers:
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
132 – Keller, Cur, major dec. Hildebrand, RV, 13-0.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
132 – Bryer, Co, dec. Keller, Cur, 4-1.
CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS
132 – Keller, C, tech fall Nick Floch, J, 16-1 (3:57).
152 – Hannold, K, pinned Royer, Cur, 1:00.
CONSOLATION FOURTH ROUND
170 – Dunmire, F, pinned Austin Pollick, Cur, 1:29.
195 – Aulder, St, pinned Jake Kavelak, Cur, :14.
220 – Matt Lydic, CS, pinned Ricky Magnuson, Cur, :59.
285 – Ben Carillo, RV, pinned Spencer Smeal, Cur, 4:51.
CONSOLATION THIRD ROUND
106 – Kolbin Altobelli, RV, dec. Sam Bressler, Cur, 5-3.
152 – Aaron Mowrey, T, pinned Dakota Royer, Cur, 2:43.
160 – Michael Goddard, Lau, pinned Nate Wriglesworth, Cur, 3:15.
170 – Pollick, Cur, dec. Xavier DeRose, T, 3-0.
195 – Kavelak, Cur, pinned Alex Streich, W, 2:30.
220 – Magnuson, Cur, pinned Rick Nail, Lau, :51.
285 – Smeal, Cur, pinned Dustin Kirkwood, Lau, 4:51.
CONSOLATION SECOND ROUND
120 – Gavin Kroesen, WM, pinned Tyler Mays, Cur, 1:40.
126 – Baker, E, dec. Brandon Sass, Cur, 4-0.
138 – Dustin Schleifer, Lak, major dec. Trey McKenzie, Cur, 10-2.
145 – Nick Schrecengost, RV, pinned Alex Holt, Cur, 1:36.
170 – Pollick, Cur, tech fall Daniel Henry, W, 15-0 (6:00).
182 – Brandon Sherman, CL, dec. Chad Desmett, Cur, 14-7.
PRELIMINARY ROUND
106 – Yates, McD, pinned Bressler, Cur, 2:00.
132 – Keller, Cur, pinned John Beach, OC, 2:34.
152 – Royer, Cur, pinned Kyle Boone, OC, :47.
160 – Brunst, T, pinned Wriglesworth, Cur, 1:40.
170 – Andrews, Co, pinned Pollick, Cur, 3:21.
195 – Rohrbacher, H, pinned Kavelak, Cur, 5:15.
220 – Dehart, McD, pinned Magnuson, Cur, 5:40.
285 – Ethan Winkle, SS, dec. Smeal, Cur, 7-0.
PIGTAIL ROUND
120 – Zach Donovan, T, pinned Mays, Cur, 5:30.
126 – Nate Stidham, H, pinned Sass, Cur, 3:19.
132 – Keller, Cur, pinned Adam Minor, Lak, :35.
138 – Sebastian Rinehart, NW, dec. McKenzie, Cur, 2-0.
145 – Maher, GC, pinned Holt, Cur, :54.
182 – Dan Geer, F, major dec. Desmett, Cur, 13-2.