CURWENSVILLE – With nine returning letter winners the Curwensville Area High School wrestling squad looks for improvement over last year’s 6-14 record which was head coach Duane Wriglesworth’s seventh year leading the Tide onto the mat.
Graduation saw the departure of Jake Keller who took fifth place at the PIAA Class AA tournament in March. Keller finished his stellar high school career with a record of 117-17.
Also gone form last year’s team are Alex Holt and Chad Desmett.
Coach Wriglesworth, now in his eighth season, likes what he sees in this year’s squad, “This year’s team shows a good mix of athleticism and experience. There are no superstars like we were fortunate to have last year in Jake Keller, but we have a hard working group and a line-up sprinkled with several potential noteworthy grapplers. Many of the wrestlers spent time in our weight room during the off-season and have made strength gains. In addition, camp participation has translated into technique confidence.”
Back from last year’s edition, with their 2011-12 record in parenthesis and this year’s projected weight class, are the nine letter winners in seniors Austin Pollick (16-12) at 182, Brad Stubbs (12-7) a District 9 fourth place finisher again at 285, Nate Wriglesworth at 170 pounds and Brandon Sass wrestling at 138.
Four juniors return that earned varsity letters in Ricky Magnuson (13-8) at 220, Tyler Mays (17-10) at 120, along with Trey McKenzie at 145, and Dakota Royer checking in at 152.
The lone sophomore returning as a letter winner is Sam Bressler (14-13) who will start the year at 113.
Another sophomore who didn’t letter last season but will be counted on to deliver is Jake Lancaster who was 4-3 and will wrestle at 132.
Wriglesworth, who is 49-62 as the Golden Tide coach, is ready to get the season underway, “I am looking forward to get the season started. We will see where we stand this Saturday when we travel to the Mountaineer tournament in Philipsburg, then we visit reloaded West Branch next Tuesday and host Brockway on Thursday.”
ROSTER:
SENIORS: Brad Coudriet 195, *Austin Pollick 182, *Brandon Sass 138, *Brad Stubbs 285, *Nate Wriglesworth 170
JUNIORS: *Ricky Magnuson 220, *Tyler Mays 120, *Trey McKenzie 145, *Dakota Royer 152, Zach Tibbens 160
SOPHOMORES: A J Bloom 285, *Sam Bressler 113, Seth Connors 220, Shawn Ebersole 152, Jake Flango 285, Jake Lancaster 132, Aryan Shearer 126, Jake Stiles 145
FRESHMEN: Jason Koptchak 106
*DENOTES LETTER WINNER
SCHEDULE:
DECEMBER – 8 at Mountaineer Tournament, 11 at West Branch, 13 BROCKWAY
JANUARY – 3 at Punxsutawney, 5 at Coudy Duals, 10 at Redbank Valley, 17 at Ridgway,
19 at Clearfield Duals, 24 BROOKVILLE, 25 & 26 FRED BELL TOURNAMENT,
29 PHILIPSBURG, 31 MOSHANNON VALLEY
FEBRUARY – 7 CLARION, 12 CAMERON COUNTY
HOME MEETS IN CAPS