GROVE CITY — An eye injury cost Curwensville senior Shae Bloom a shot at the 138-pound title in the 32nd annual Fred Bell Wrestling Tournament after he had won four matches Friday and Saturday in Grove City High School’s gym.
General McLane’s John Ciotti was declared the champion when Bloom was not cleared to compete after treatment for a cut he suffered in the final seconds of his 3-1 semifinal win over Luke Walters of Grove City.
The two had met during the Clearfield Duals a week earlier, with Ciotti prevailing 3-2 in an ultimate tiebreaker rideout.
“Bloom wrestled really well,” Curwensville coach Dean Swatsworth said. “He was on top of his game. Unfortunately, he had that injury and couldn’t wrestle in the finals, because that was the big match we were waiting to see.”
Bloom’s other victories were falls against Moon’s Justin Daffern in 35 seconds and Cambridge Springs’ Austin Humes in 2:25 and a 14-2 major decision against Redbank Valley’s Luke Gallo.
Sophomore 170-pounder Kaleb Witherite was the only other placewinner for the Golden Tide, which finished 18th among the 27 teams with 58 points.
Witherite opened with a big win, besting Clarion’s Jacob Troutman 7-4 to atone for a 14-8 loss in the Jan. 13 dual meet bout.
He followed up by pinning Shane Slicker of West Middlesex in 2:25 and defeating Conneaut’s Braden Morris 4-1 to advance to the semifinals.
General McLane’s Ethan Laird, the eventual champ, dropped Witherite into the consolations with a technical fall, and the Golden Tide matmen then lost two close decisions to place sixth.
“Both of those matches went clear to the end,” Swatsworth noted. “It was nice to see Kaleb beat that Clarion kid, who came all the way back for third place.”
Jake Stiles (195) split four bouts while Anthony Winebold (106), Seth Woolcock (113), Sam Bressler (145), Hunter Lancaster (160) and Ben Junod (182) were 1-2.
Bressler and Junod bowed out with one-point losses and Lancaster lost his final match in overtime.
“We go up there because it’s such good competition and we get to see a lot of kids that we might see at regionals,” Swatsworth said.
The Golden Tide resume their dual meet slate Tuesday when state-ranked Brookville visits Patton Hall for the first of four consecutive home matches.
With five champs and four runners-up, District 10 Class AAA power General McLane spread-eagled the field, amassing 289½ points. District 9 teams Redbank Valley and St. Marys were far back in second and third place with 169 and 146 points, respectively.
Redbank Valley had one titlist, 160-pounder Keshon Truitt.
Penns Valley’s Corey Hazel, No. 3 in last week’s Off The Mat Class AA state rankings, earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award by beating No. 1 Dakota Geer of Franklin 4-3 for the 182 crown.
TEAM SCORING & KEY
1. General McLane (GM), 289½ points; 2. Redbank Valley (RV), 169; 3. St. Marys (SM), 146; 4. Penns Valley (PV), 141½; 5. Seneca Valley (SV), 128½; 6. Titusville (T), 125; 7. (tie) Franklin (F) and Warren (W), 110½; 9. Clarion (Cl), 107; 10. Grove City (GC), 98; 11. Cambridge Springs (CS), 90; 12. Lakeview (L), 88; 13. Mercer (Mer), 79; 14. Hickory (H), 71½; 15. Sharpsville (S), 69; 16. Union City (UC), 64; 17. Moon (M), 62; 18. Curwensville (Cur), 58; 19. Keystone (K), 53; 20. Jamestown (J, 47; 21. West Middlesex (WM), 46; 22. Youngsville (Y), 41; 23. (tie) Coudersport (Cou), Glendale (G) and Northwestern (N), 34; 26. Conneaut (Con), 26; 27. Cochranton (Coch), 22½.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106 – Louis Newell, SV, pinned Aidan Thompson, Cl, 4:48.
113 – Faris Messai, J, dec. Leno Ciotti, GM, 5-3.
120 – Carmine Ciotti, GM, tech fall over Justin Walter, H, 5:00.
126 – Preston Hoover, Mer, dec. Hunter Hendricks, GM, 8-7.
132 – D.J. Fehlman, W, pinned Dustin Weilacher, UC, :57.
138 – John Ciotti, GM, won by medical default over Shae Bloom, Cur.
145 – Derek Steetle, F, dec. Owen Watkins, GM, 10-4.
152 – Keller Watkins, GM, pinned Gavin Kroesen, WM, 2:43.
160 – Keshon Truitt, RV, won by injury default over Briggs Twitchell, GM.
170 – Ethan Laird, GM, dec. Austin Leon, SV, 3-2.
182 – Corey Hazel, PV, dec. Dakota Geer, F, 4-3.
195 – Marquis Spence, L, dec. Nathan Barcaskey, M, 3-0.
220 – Zach Stafford, CS, pinned Cal Haines, RV, :21.
285 – Jacob Lenhardt, GM, dec. Jason Oakes, T, 5-2 (OT).
Curwensville results:
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR FIFTH PLACE
170 – Austin Miczo, N, dec. Kaleb Witherite, Cur, 7-5.
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
170 – Isaac Hefner, GC, dec. Witherite, Cur, 6-3.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
138 – Bloom, Cur, 3-1, dec. Luke Walters, GC, 3-1.
170 – Ethan Laird, GM, tech fall over Witherite, Cur, 19-2 (5:52).
CONSOLATION FOURTH ROUND
145 – Cameron Preeble, S, dec. Sam Bressler, Cur, 4-3.
195 – Riley Vaughn, GM, pinned Jake Stiles, Cur, 4:54.
CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS
138 – Bloom, Cur, major dec. Luke Gallo, RV, 14-2.
145 – Watkins, GM, dec. Bressler, Cur, 6-2.
170 – Witherite, Cur, dec. Braden Morris, Con, 4-1.
CONSOLATION THIRD ROUND
106 – Iain Scott, CS, pinned Anthony Winebold, Cur, 1:29.
113 – Alex Weston, W, dec. Seth Woolcock, Cur, 12-5.
160 – Austin Holz, Cl, dec. Hunter Lancaster, Cur, 7-5 (OT).
182 – Brad Hensler, SV, dec. Ben Junod, Cur, 3-2.
195 – Stiles, Cur, pinned Austin Spear, Y, 3:12.
CONSOLATION SECOND ROUND
106 – Winebold pinned Preston Schell, S, 1:31.
113 – Woolcock, Cur, pinned Tyler Davis, CS, 1:28.
120 – Jason Ticknor, PV, pinned Jeremy Gardner, Cur, 3:00.
126 – Jacob Powell, GC, pinned Ethan Collins, Cur, :58.
160 – H. Lancaster, Cur, pinned Trevor Jimerson, CS, :33.
182 – Junod, Cur, pinned Shane McKinney, Coch, :14.
195 – Stiles, Cur, pinned Austin Groenendaal, WM, 1:53.
285 – Bobby Gregory, Mer, dec. Seth Connors, Cur, 5-1.
CONSOLATION FIRST ROUND
152 – Hunter Exley, F, major dec. Mason Lancaster, Cur, 14-4.
CHAMPIONSHIP SECOND ROUND
106 – Newell, SV, pinned Winebold, Cur, :53.
120 – Hunter Goodlin, J, pinned Gardner, Cur, 2:55.
126 – Tanner Altobelli, RV, pinned Collins, Cur, :27.
138 – Bloom, Cur, pinned Austin Humes, CS, 2:25.
145 – Bressler, Cur, dec. Jake Yarnell, Coch, 7-2.
160 – Easton Hogue, T, pinned H. Lancaster, Cur, :48.
170 – Witherite, Cur, pinned Shane Slicker, WM, 2:25.
182 – Dakota Greer, F, pinned Junod, Cur :47.
195 – Brandon Kent, UC, pinned Stiles, Cur, 3:23.
PRELIMINARY ROUND
113 – Kolbin Altobelli, RV, pinned Woolcock, Cur, 1:36.
138 – Bloom, Cur, pinned Justin Daffern, M, :35.
152 – Kyle Pecht, SM, pinned M. Lancaster, Cur, 2:29.
170 – Witherite, Cur, dec. Jacob Troutman, Cl, 7-4.
285 – Austin Slocum, Y, dec. Connors, Cur, 6-5.
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/06 | Mountaineer Tourney @ PO | 4th | 0 – 0 |
| 12/18 | @ Ridgway | 32 – 45 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/23 | JOHNSONBURG | 41 – 19 | 1 – 1 |
| 12/27&28 | Big Dog Tourney @ Brockway | 2nd | 1 – 1 |
| 01/06 | @ Punxsutawney | 48 – 27 | 2 – 1 |
| 01/08 | @ Redbank Valley | 31 – 42 | 2 – 2 |
| 01/13 | CLARION | 18 – 43 | 2 – 3 |
| 01/15 | GLENDALE | 45 – 30 | 3 – 3 |
| 01/17 | Bison Duals @ Clearfield | ||
| 01/17 | vs. Port Allegany | 43 – 29 | 4 – 3 |
| 01/17 | vs. General McLane | 3 – 69 | 4 – 4 |
| 01/17 | vs. Montoursville | 0 – 73 | 4 – 5 |
| 01/17 | vs. West Branch | 18 – 64 | 4 – 6 |
| 01/17 | vs. Coughlin | 30 – 49 | 4 – 7 |
| 01/21 | @ West Branch | ppd. | 4 – 7 |
| 01/22 | @ West Branch | 23 – 56 | 4 – 8 |
| 01/23&24 | Fred Bell Tourney @ Grove City | 18th | 4 – 8 |
| 01/27 | BROOKVILLE | ||
| 01/29 | MO VALLEY | ||
| 02/04 | CAMERON COUNTY | ||
| 02/12 | BROCKWAY | ||
| 02/20&21 | District 9 Champs @ Clarion | ||
| 02/27&28 | Nortwest Regionals @ Sharon | ||
| 03/05-07 | PIAA States @ Hershey |