CLARION — Sophomore Jake Lancaster kept alive the Curwensville Area High School’s wrestling team’s streak of at least one District 9 Class AA champion since 2003 by earning the 126-pound title with contrasting victories in Clarion University’s Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium Saturday.
After pinning No. 2 seed Jack Glasl of Brockway at 2:38 in the morning’s semifinals, the Golden Tide’s No. 3 seed was pushed to the limit by No. 4 seed Mitch Blose of Redbank Valley before prevailing 4-3 in the finals that, combined with the Districts 4-9 Class AAA championships, attracted a near-capacity crowd.
Lancaster owned dual meet and Fred Bell Tournament falls over Blose during the regular season, but found the Bulldog junior to be a much tougher adversary with the district crown on the line.
Blose showed right away he was bent on revenge, securing the initial takedown a throw-by on Lancaster’s double-leg attempt with just 12 seconds gone.
“We were initially concerned, but Jake did a nice job of reversing with a knee-spin switch,” Curwensville coach Duane Wriglesworth said.
Following the reversal with 1:32 left in the period, Lancaster discovered Blose had done his homework and wasn’t going to be easily turned.
In the second period, Blose opted for the neutral position to not only avoid Lancaster’s pinning combos and but also to shoot for another takedown. Lancaster countered one of his shots and eventually earned the important two-pointer and a 4-2 lead with 15 seconds left.
“That was huge,” Wriglesworth said. “Jake hit his barrel-roll takedown when Blose tried to a behind spin, something we worked on in practice.”
The takedown proved to be the difference when Blose was unable to record any back points after Lancaster chose the down position in the third period, though he came very, very close with a cradle in the final minute.
Blose’s aggressiveness in striving for a turnover resulted in a penalty point for a stall call against Lancaster that set the final score with 24 seconds on the clock.
“Blose found a way to keep Jake down with his relentless cross-face cradle attempts from the base position,” Wriglesworth said. “Jake may not have been ready for this attack, because we didn’t see that from him in previous matches.
“When you wrestle for your district championship, sometimes things don’t always go as planned. The expectations were pretty high for Jake. It’s tough to beat somebody three times in a year. They learn your style, your strengths and your weaknesses. Blose was well-coached on what we did.
“Jake wrestled with determination this weekend. He sets high goals for himself and works hard. It’s no surprised he accomplished what he did.”
Lancaster, who had two falls in his four wins, will take a 23-10 record to Sharon Friday for the Northwest Region Tournament, and he will be joined by two Golden Tide teammates.
Soph 106-pounder Sam Bressler (21-10) bounced back from 15-3 semifinal loss to top-seeded Taylor Ortz of Brookville to better his No. 4 seed and grab third place by pinning Sheffield’s Tanner Barr at 2:39 and nipping Brockway’s Ryan Carlson 2-1, executing a double-leg and lift for the winning takedown with just three seconds left.
“Sam showed poise against Carlson,” Wriglesworth said. “We knew this would be close, and Sam didn’t panic when Carlson escaped with about a minute left. Sam’s takedown shot was perfect.
“He has improvement all year and showed a lot of confidence in the district setting. I know he was disappointed in the way things worked out last year when he came up here. He just seemed more determined this year.
“We were very pleased with Sam’s performance and can’t wait to tweak some things to help him get ready for regionals.”
Junior 145-pounder Trey McKenzie (23-10) had to settle fourth place, which also was one spot above his seed, after his second 3-1 loss of the tourney to Ridgway’s Zac McKnight in the consy finals.
The outcome was similar to their quarterfinal match with the No. 4-seeded Elker working a takedown for the crucial move, this one with 23 seconds remaining. McKnight also edged McKenzie 5-3 in their dual meet bout with a late takedown.
“McKnight has been a thorn in Trey’s side,” Wriglesworth said. “I honestly thought we would have gotten one of those wins. It just didn’t happen for Trey.
“But he wrestled a good tournament. He battled back in the consolation bracket.”
McKenzie won three consy matches for a 4-2 showing, gaining his rematch with McKnight by pinning No. 8 seed Justin Burgess of Smethport in 4:59 and besting No. 3 seed Mac Tanner of Port Allegany in a physically-tough 4-1 bout with the ticket to the region tourney at stake.
Needing a takedown to tie it up in the final minute, Tanner was called for a slam when he hoisted McKenzie and dropped him to the mat. McKenzie would have been declared the winner had he not resumed action after using up all his injury time, but he was bent on finishing the job.
Wriglesworth noted, “When I went out to see if he was okay, he made the remark to me, ‘Coach, I am not staying down. I am fine, and I am finishing this thing.’
“That is the kind of kid McKenzie is.”
Three qualifiers for the regional is the most for Curwensville since 2007, when four Golden Tide matmen placed in the top three.
“At the beginning of the year, our hopes were to get four to move on, and that was with a healthy team,” Wriglesworth said. “We had guys drop out due to injuries, so to send three with the guys we had here, I thought, was a great performance.”
Junior Tyler Mays (14-13) was one win away from advancing at 120, losing 2-0 on a third period reversal by Cameron County’s Brandon Saline in the consy semifinals. Mays had reached the championship semis, where he was pinned in 50 seconds by No. 2 seed Mason Lindenmuth of Brookville.
“We knew it was gonna be a tough battle (with Saline), but Mays has had a good year,” Wriglesworth said.
Golden Tide freshman Jason Koptchak (9-15) at 113, junior Ricky Magnuson (9-7) at 220 and sophomore A.J. Bloom (4-10) were eliminated in the consolation quarterfinals.
Curwensville, with 66 points, finished 10th in the 16-team field.
“Overall, we feel we wrestled a good tournament,” Wriglesworth said. “From the kids’ point of view, they’re happy how we did. This is a credit to the hard work and determination these guys are doing and displaying.”
Ortz, Brock Zacherl at 138 and Zach Vroman at 145 gave Brookville the most champions.
Three teams boasted two titlists, Redbank Valley with Aaron Hook at 182 and Cal Haines at 220, Kane with Cody Blankenship at 113 and Evan Delong at 160 and Smethport with Trent Neely at 120 and Karl Lightner at 132.
Other champs were Coudersport’s Kyle Bova at 152, Brockway’s Anthony Benson at 170, Oswayo Valley’s Jack Wichert at 195 and Port Allegany’s Nick Budd at 285.
Benson blocked Port Allegany senior Alex Gular’s bid to become the district’s ninth Class AA four-time champion, taking the Gator down twice for a 5-1 lead en route to a 6-4 victory.
That surprise, coupled with a stunning fall in 3:18 against No. 2 seed Brandon Bailey of Redbank Valley, earned Benson the Outstanding Wrestler Award.
Zacherl, Vroman, Blankenship, Delong, Neely and Lightner joined the list of two-time champions.
Blankenship, who lost 1-0 to Neely at 103 in the 2010 finals and beat him 4-0 in overtime for the 106 crown, had to knock off a defending champion again. Willie Gruver of Redbank Valley owned a 3-0 late in the third period when Blankenship worked a takedown to a cradle for a fall at 5:47.
The team title chase between Redbank Valley and Brookville wasn’t settled until the heavyweights when Raider 195-pounder Taylor Cudworth couldn’t answer the win by Hook in the preceding bout.
The Bulldogs finished with 177.5 points, seven more than the defending champion Raiders.
TEAM STANDINGS AND KEY
1. Redbank Valley (RV), 177.5 points; 2. Brookville (Bv), 170.5; 3. Port Allegany (PA), 122; 4. Smethport (Sm), 102.5; 5. Brockway (Bw), 97.5; 6. Kane (K), 97; 7. Oswayo Valley (OV), 77; 8. Coudersport (Cou), 71.5; 9. Cameron County (CC), 70.5; 10. Curwensville (Cur), 66; 11. Cranberry (Cr), 53; 12. Ridgway (R), 48.5; 13. Keystone (Key), 44; 14. Clarion (Cl), 34; 15. Johnsonburg (J), 32.5; 16. Sheffield (Sh), 24.
CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Wrestler’s name preceded by seed and followed by grade and record)
106 – (1) Taylor Ortz, 9, (30-6), Bv, pinned (2) Casey Vollmer, 10, (28-3), PA, 1:28.
113 – (2) Cody Blankenship, 11, (21-3), K, pinned (1) Willie Gruver, 11, (31-4), RV, 5:47.
120 – (1) Trent Neely, 12, (24-2), Sm, dec. (2) Mason Lindenmuth, 9, (22-3), Bw, 4-2.
126 – (3) Jake Lancaster, 10, (23-10), Cur, dec. (4) Mitch Blose, 11, (21-12), RV, 4-3.
132 – (1) Karl Lightner, 12, (28-0), Sm, tech fall over (3) Alex Zimmerman, 11, (16-2), J, 15-0 (3:05).
138 – (1) Brock Zacherl, 11, (29-4), Bv, tech fall over (2) Cody Bova, 12, (20-6), Cou, 20-4 (4:24).
145 – (2) Zach Vroman, 11, (26-4), Bv, dec. (1) Ty Haines, 12, (30-4), RV, 4-2 (OT-SV).
152 – (1) Kyle Bova, 11, (34-0), Cou, dec. (2) Sam Colebert, 11, (27-4), OV, 4-1.
160 – (1) Evan Delong, 11, (23-1), K, dec. (2) Cole Shirey, 12, (30-5), RV, 2-1 (OT-TB).
170 – (3) Anthony Benson, 10, (24-4), Bw, dec. (1) Alex Gular, 12, (27-4), PA, 6-4.
182 – (1) Aaron Hook, 12, (31-2), RV, dec. (6) Zach Bruce, 11, (30-3), Cr, 5-1.
195 – (1) Jake Wichert, 12, (31-1), OV, dec. (2) Taylor Cudworth, 12, (27-7), Bv, 8-2.
220 – (1) Cal Haines, 10, (24-11), RV, dec. (3) Matt Baugher, 12, (17-3), Cr, 3-1 (OT-TB).
285 – (1) Nick Budd, 12, (30-0), PA, pinned (3) Dylan Dinch, 9, (23-9), Sm, :41.
CONSOLATION FINALS
106 – (4) Sam Bressler, 10, (21-10), Cur, dec. (3) Ryan Carlson, 9, (19-11), Bw, 2-1.
113 – (3) Cole Aaron, 9, (28-7), Bv, dec. (5) Nick Baughman, 9, (19-13), Key, 9-2.
120 – (4) Brandon Saline, 10, (22-6), CC, dec. Ricky Prosen, 11, (20-12), Sh, 7-2.
126 – (6) Brett Himes, 12, (19-10), R, dec. (3) Jack Glasl, 10, (23-7), Bw, 5-1 (OT-SV).
132 – (2) Dalton Zimmerman, 10, (28-7), Bv, pinned (4) Zach Fitzsimmons, 12, (17-15), OV, :37.
138 – (3) Darren Brown, 11, (21-6), K, dec. (4) Jake Abrams, 12 (22-11), Sm, 7-0.
145 – (4) Zac McKnight, 12, (22-10), R, dec. (5) Trey McKenzie, 11, (18-11), Cur, 3-1.
152 – (3) Sam Kysor, 12, (27-7), PA, dec. (6) Jimmy Miller, 10, (24-10), Bv, 3-2.
160 – (3) Brodie Zacherl, 11, (34-4), Bv, dec. (4) Logan Warnick, 12, (18-10), PA, 3-0.
170 – (3) Brandon Bailey, 12, (30-12), RV, pinned (5) Taylor Saline, 12, (14-6), CC, 1:58.
182 – (3) Brandon Chambers, 12, (29-7), Key, injury default over (2) Forest Tuttle, 11, (29-7), Cou, 4:51.
195 – (3) Nate Moore, 11, (22-4), K, pinned (7) Zach Sintobin, 9, (18-17), Cl, 2:33.
220 – (4) Trent Neal, 12, (19-14), PA, dec. (8) Nate Rodgers, 12, (24-10), OV, 4-3 (OT-UTB).
285 – (4) Jack Karsten, 10, (25-4), CC, pinned Ben Carrillo, 11, (23-11), RV, 4:15.
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
106 – Bressler, Cur, pinned (6) Tanner Barr, 9, (22-8), Sh, 2:39.
120 -B. Saline, CC, dec. (3) Tyler Mays, 11, (14-13), Cur, 2-0.
145 – McKenzie, Cur, dec. (3) Mac Tanner, 9, (23-8), PA, 4-1.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
106 – Ortz, Bv, major dec. Bressler, Cur, 15-3; Vollmer, PA, dec. Carlson, Bw, 8-2.
113 – Gruver, RV, tech fall over Baughman, Key, 16-1 (5:54); Blankenship, K, dec. Aaron, Bv, 2-1.
120 – Neely, Sm, dec. (5) Tanner Altobelli, 9, (25-11), RV, 7-2; Lindenmuth, Bv, pinned (3) Tyler Mays,
126 – Blose, RV, pinned (8) Riley Gunter, 11, (20-14), Cl, 5:45; Lancaster, Cur, pinned Glasl, Bw, 2:38.
132 – Lightner, Sm, tech fall over Fitzsimmons, OV, 19-3 (1:57); A. Zimmerman, J, dec. D. Zimmerman, Bv, 9-7.
138 – Brock Zacherl, Bv, tech fall over Abrams, Sm, 16-1 (2:53); C. Bova, Cou, dec. D. Brown, K, 5-1.
145 – T. Haines, RV, dec. McKnight, R, 5-2; Vroman, Bv, major dec. Tanner, PA, 12-2.
152 – K. Bova, Cou, tech fall over (5) Jimmy Duffy, 9, (10-8), Sm, 19-4 (2:39); Colebert, OV, dec. Miller, Bv, 4-3.
160 – Delong, K, tech fall over Warnick, PA, 18-2 (3:21); Shirey dec. Brodie Zacherl, Bv, 3-1.
170 – Gular, PA, pinned T. Saline, CC, 3:25; Benson, Bw, pinned B. Bailey, RV, 3:18.
182 – Hook, RV, major dec. Sam Delhunty, 11, (12-16), R, 15-5; Bruce, Cr, dec. Tuttle, Cou, 5-0.
195 – Wichert, OV, pinned (4) Casey Wolfe, 12, (16-11), Bw, 1:45; Cudworth, Bv, dec. Moore, K, 8-7.
220 – C. Haines, RV, dec. Neal, PA, 5-1; Baugher, Cr, injury default over (2) Andrew Bigley, 12, (23-9), Cl.
285 – Budd, PA, dec. Karsten, CC, 3-1; Dinch, Sm, pinned Carrillo, RV, :57.
CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS
113 – (4) Dylan Baumgarner, 9, (18-6), PA, pinned (8) Jason Koptchak, 9, (9-15), Cur, 2:47.
145 – McKenzie, Cur, pinned (8) Justin Burgess, 12, (18-13), Sm, 4:59.
220 – (7) Tyler Beal, 9, (14-18), Key, dec. (6) Ricky Magnuson, 11, (9-7), Cur, 3-2 (OT-UTB).
285 – (8) Gavin Yahner, 10, (11-14), Bw, pinned A.J. Bloom, 10, (4-10), Cur, :15.
Complete AA results courtesy Escape Sports: http://liveresults.escapesports.com/PIAA/2013_District_9_AA_Tournament.html