PHILIPSBURG — Junior 145-pounder Shae Bloom breezed to a gold medal and seven teammates finished in the top four of their weight classes as the Curwensville wrestlers claimed fourth place in the eighth annual J.J. Powell Mountaineer Tournament at Philipsburg-Osceola Area High School Saturday.
Helping to make Dean Swatsworth’s debut as head coach at his alma mater a success were runner-up Anthony Winebold at 113, third-placers Sam Bressler at 138, Hunter Lancaster at 160 and Kaleb Witherite at 170 and fourth-placers Jake Lancaster at 152, Ben Junod at 182 and James Lee at 285.
The Golden Tide piled up 128.5 points for their best showing in four Mountaineer tourney appearances.
Led by four champions, Central Dauphin East spread-eagled the eight-team field with 194 points, New Oxford was runner-up with 163 and four titlists and P-O came in third with 160.5 and three champs.
“For the first time out, we wrestled pretty well,” Swatsworth said. “I thought we wrestled hard as a team. You have to leave it all on the mat, and I felt that that’s what our kids did.
“I was very pleased when I found out we placed fourth and knowing there were five AAA teams.”
Bloom, a two-time District 9 Class AAA champion and PIAA qualifier for DuBois, had little trouble upholding his No. 1 seed, allowing only two escapes.
He pinned P-O’s Jacob Maines in 34 seconds, rolled to a 16-1 technical fall in 4:55 against Central Dauphin East’s Mahlon Chase and majored Somerset’s No. 2 Jon Fabian 14-1.
“Shae’s a very good wrestler and with his background, we expected him to be the champ,” Swatsworth said.
Bloom is the third Golden Tide matmen to earn a Mountaineer Tournament crown. Jake Keller reigned at 138 in 2011 and Bressler ruled at 126 last year as the lone Curwensville wrestler to crack the top four.
Winebold, a freshman, split two bouts in the round-robin format at 113, pinning Central Dauphin East’s Jasmine Chesley in 1:03 for his first varsity win for the silver medal.
The three winners in the consolation finals for third place matched 3-1 records, Hunter Lancaster doing it the hard after being pinned in the first round.
Bressler became a four-time top-four placewinner with three first-period falls around a tough 7-6 loss to Punxsutawney’s Eli Lambiotte in the championship semis.
After being pinned in the first round, Hunter Lancaster bounced back with two falls and a solid 8-3 decision over Punxsy’s Levi Campbell.
Witherite, a sophomore seeded sixth for his first varsity action, triumphed in two close matches and also posted a fall.
Jake Lancaster engineered a pair of falls but couldn’t get past Central Dauphin East’s Joe Porter, who prevailed 8-6 in overtime in the first round and 6-3 in the consolation finals.
Junod and Lee had one win apiece, both falls. Lee’s victory was his first.
Seth Woolcock, Jeremy Gardner and Ethan Collins wound up sixth, with Swatsworth noting that all three wrestled above their regular weights because Logan Charles unable was restricted from getting down to 132 until next week due to the PIAA rule that limits how quickly a wrestler can shed pounds.
Also preventing the Golden Tide from racking up more points was the absence of 195-pound letterman Jake Stiles because of an injury in practice Friday.
“And we lost several matches in which we were winning, so we were right there,” Swatsworth added. “We’ve still got some things, situation-wise, we didn’t get to work on before the tournament, but I think we can really turn it on.
“The kids come into the room every day willing to work, and that’s what you have to have.”
The Golden Tide are off until Dec. 18 when they go to Ridgway for their first dual meet.
TEAM SCORING AND KEY
1. Central Dauphin East (CDE), 194 points; 2. New Oxford (NO), 163.5; 3. Philipsburg-Osceola (P-O), 160.5; 4. Curwensville (Cur), 128.5; 5. Altoona (A), 121; 6. Punxsutawney (P), 117; 7. Somerset (S), 75.5; 8. Glendale (G), 51.
THREE-WRESTLER ROUND-ROBIN
106 – 1. Jake Reck, NO; 2. Derek Talley, S; 3. Nykari Cunningham, CDE. Reck pinned Tally, :49; Reck pinned Cunningham, 1:39; Tally pinned Cunningham, 3:26.
113 – 1. Seth Roach, P-O; 2. Anthony Winebold, Cur; 3. Jasmine Chesley, CDE. Roach pinned Winebold, 2:47; Roach pinned Chesley, :44; Winebold pinned Chesley, 1:03.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
120 – Zurich Storm, NO, pinned Hunter Hileman, A, 3:10.
126 – Bryce Bennett, P-O, tech fall over Jerrell Kephart, A, 16-0 (4:26).
132 – Dennis Sisti, CDE, pinned Levi Hughes, P-O, 1:06.
138 – Dakota Weitoish, P-O, dec. Levi Lambiotte, P, 5-3.
145 – Shae Bloom, Cur, major dec. Jon Fabian, S, 14-1.
152 – Kaleb Young, P, pinned Nolan Poust, NO, 1:26.
160 – D.J. Hollingshead, A, major dec. Nick Patrick, P-O, 18-5.
170 – Cevon Nguyen, CDE, dec. Perry Arrington, P, 6-4.
182 – Tyler Moyer, CDE, dec. Joey Bickel, P-O, 7-0.
195 – Sean Fitzkee, CDE, dec. Keegan Fischer, P, 3-1.
220 – Dalton Smith, NO, dec. Ray Carlheim, G, 11-5.
285 – Brock Hartman, NO, pinned David Hess, A, :59.
THIRD-PLACE FINALS
120 – Quinn Cole, S, dec. Matt Johnson, P-O, 3-0.
126 – Anthony Radic, CDE, dec. Jett Sacolic, G, 4-2.
132 – Zach Tinkey, S, pinned Tristan Grassmyer, A, 1:22.
138 – Sam Bressler, Cur, pinned Morgan Bell, S, :47.
145 – Jon Rojas, G, pinned Mahlon Chase, CDE, 4:27.
152 – Joe Porter, CDE, dec. Jake Lancaster, Cur, 6-3.
160 – Hunter Lancaster, Cur, dec. Levi Campbell, P, 8-3.
170 – Kaleb Witherite, Cur, dec. Brinton Simington, A, 4-3.
182 – Travis Perry, P, dec. Ben Junod, Cur, 5-2.
195 – Joey Hoffman, NO, pinned Garth Fochler, A, 1:44.
220 – Jordan Hohney, CDE, dec. Blake Bizousky, P, 4-3.
285 – Alex Smith, CDE, pinned James Lee, Cur, 1:27.
FIFTH-PLACE FINALS
120 – Eric Chambers, CDE, pinned Seth Woolcock, Cur, 1:34.
126 – Matthew Poust, NO, pinned Jeremy Gardner, Cur, 3:22.
132 – Issac Siegman, NO, pinned Ethan Collins, Cur, 2:19.
138 – Dylan McClellan, A, dec. Jordan Simonetti, CDE, 3-2.
145 – Stone Smith, P, pinned Zach Reidell, A, 3:20.
152 – Scott Yarger, P-O, dec. Parker McClellan, A, 7-4.
160 – Darrick Rudisill, NO, pinned Dominic Gonzalez, CDE, 2:09.
170 – Guy Nitchman, NO, pinned Clint Rudy, P-O, 1:32.
182 – Kade Hughes, NO, no match.
195 – Noah Quick, P-O, no match.
220 – Ed Voyzey, P-O, no match.
285 – Jared Anderson, P-O, no match.
SEVENTH-PLACE FINALS
138 – Benji Rannels, G, no match.
145 – Jacob Maines, P-O, pinned Brandon Racer, NO, 4:30.
152 – Matt Yeckley, G, pinned Lane Lohr, S, :40.
160 – Stephen Hamilton, G, no match.
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
120 – Cole, S, major dec. Chambers, CDE, 11-0; Johnson, P-O, pinned Woolcock, Cur, 1:48.
126 – Sacolic, G, dec. M. Poust, NO, 3-1; Radic, CDE, pinned Gardner, Cur, 2:46.
132 – Tinkey, S, pinned Collins, Cur, :44; Grassmyer, A, dec. Siegman, NO, 4-3.
138 – Bressler, Cur, pinned D. McClellan, A, 1:26; Bell, S, pinned Simonetti, CDE, 4:30.
145 – Rojas, G, pinned S. Smith, P, 3:37; Chase, NO, pinned Reidell, A, 2:15.
152 – J. Lancaster, Cur, pinned Yarger, P-O, 2:02; Nolan, CDE, dec. P. McClellan, A, 8-4.
160 – Campbell, P, dec. Gonzalez, CDE, 6-0; H. Lancaster, Cur, pinned Rudisill, NO, 2:58.
170 – Witherite, Cur, pinned Rudy, P-O, 4:06; Simington, A, dec. Nitchman, NO, 5-1.
182 – Junod, Cur, pinned Hughes, NO, 4:47.
195 – Hoffman, NO, pinned Quick, P-O, 3:23.
220 – Hohney, CDE, pinned Voyzey, P-O, :49.
285 – A. Smith, CDE, pinned Anderson, P-O, 1:32.
CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS
138 – Simonetti, CDE, pinned Rannels, G, 1:47.
145 – S. Smith, P, pinned Maines, P-O, :42; Reidell, A, dec. Racer, NO, 7-1.
152 – J. Lancaster, Cur, pinned Yeckley, G, 1:38; P. McClellan, A, pinned Lohr, S, :58.
160 – H. Lancaster, Cur, pinned Hamilton, G, 1:32.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
120 – Storm, CDE, tech fall over Johnson, P-O, 21-3 (2:48); Hileman, A, dec. Cole, S, 2-0.
126 – Bennett, P-O, dec. Radic, CDE, 6-0; Kephart, A, dec. Sacolic, G, 3-2.
132 – Hughes, P-O, pinned Siegman, NO, 2:33; Sisti, CDE, pinned Tinkey, S, 4:33.
138 – Weitoish, P-O, pinned Bell, S, 3:22; Lambiotte, P, dec. Bressler, Cur, 7-6.
145 – Bloom, Cur, tech fall over Chase, CDE, 16-1 (4:55); Fabian, S, dec. Rojas, G, 4-1.
152 – Young, P, pinned Porter, CDE, :53; N. Poust, NO, pinned Yarger, P-O, 4:32.
160 – Hollingshead, A, pinned Rudisill, NO, :10; Patrick, P-O, tech fall over Gonzalez, CDE, 18-3 (4:46).
170 – Nguyen, CDE, dec. Simington, A, 5-1; Arrington, P, major dec. Witherite, Cur, 19-9.
182 – Bickel, P-O, dec. Perry, P, 8-4; Moyer, CDE, pinned Junod, 3:13.
195 – Fitzkee, CDE, pinned Fochler, A, :44; Fischer, P, dec. Hoffman, NO, 10-6.
220 – Carlheim, G, dec. Bizousky, P, 2-1; D. Smith, NO, pinned Honey, CDE, 1:13.
285 – Hartman, NO, pinned Lee, Cur, :35; Hess, A, pinned A. Smith, CDE, 1:26.
FIRST ROUND
120 – Johnson, P-O, tech fall over Chambers, CDE, 15-0 (4:31); Hileman, A, pinned Woolcock, Cur 1:32.
126 – Radic, CDE, pinned M. Poust, NO, 3:59; Kephart, A, pinned Gardner, Cur, :57.
132 – Siegman, NO, pinned Collins, Cur, 1:02; Tinkey, S, pinned Grassmyer, A, 1:54.
138 – Bell, S, pinned D. McClellan, A, 1:38; Bressler, Cur, pinned Rannels, G, :34; Lambiotte, P, pinned Simonetti, CDE, 2:47.
145 – Bloom, Cur, pinned Maines, P-O, :34; Chase, CDE, pinned S. Smith, P, 2:38; Rojas, G, pinned Reidell, A, 2:55; Fabian, S, tech fall over Racer, NO, 15-0 (3:20).
152 – Young, P, pinned Yeckley, G, 1:27; Porter, CDE, dec. J. Lancaster, Cur, 8-6 (OT); Yarger, P-O, dec. P. McClellan, A, 4-1; N. Poust, NO, pinned Lohr, S, :18.
160 – Rudisill, NO, dec. Campbell, P, 9-6; Gonzalez, CDE, pinned H. Lancaster, Cur, 3:08; Patrick, P-O, pinned Hamilton, G, 1:46.
170 – Simington, A, dec. Rudy, P-O, 3-0; Witherite, Cur, dec. Nitchman, NO, 8-6.
182 – Bickel, P-O, dec. Hughes, NO, 9-7.
195 – Fochler, A, pinned Quick, P-O, 1:59.
220 – Bizousky, P, pinned Voyzey, P-O, 3:04.
285 – Lee, Cur, pinned Anderson, P-O, :53.