CURWENSVILLE — Curwensville Area High School senior 152-pounder Shae Bloom will be out to join the exclusive fraternity of four-time District 9 champions when he leads the 12-wrestler Golden Tide contingent into the Class AA tournament at Clearfield Area High School’s Bison Gym Friday afternoon.
Bloom was wearing a DuBois singlet when he won his first two titles in Class AAA as a 106-pounder in 2013 and a 126-pounder in 2014.
After transferring back to Curwensville, he earned the Class AA 138 crown last year.
Surviving the two-day tourney’s only full bracket would make him just the second four-timer who competed for two schools.
Bloom, 25-1 with a 3-1 loss to defending 145 champion James Duffy of Smethport the lone blemish, will begin his bid against Bryce Greco (3-11) of Brockway in the 4 p.m. preliminary round that will be followed by the first-round consolations, championship quarterfinals and second-round consolations.
The Golden Tide’s two other high seeds also will be in action with No. 2 Blake Passarelli (23-6) meeting Brynen Kisiel (8-16) of Coudersport at 106 and No. 4 Ben Junod (17-8) going against Jesse York (11-16) of Cranberry at 170. Junod placed third at 182 last year.
Three Curwensville seeds drew byes for the preliminary round, with No. 7 Seth Woolcock (9-14) paired against No. 2 Kai Sorbin (20-11) of Brookville at 120 in the quarterfinals.
No. 8 seeds Dylan Myers (10-15) at 126 and Eli Jacobs (3-6) at 160 most likely will run into top seeds in their first bouts. Prelim pairings pit Tanner Altobelli (25-1) of Redbank Valley against David Duell (6-7) of Oswayo Valley at 126 and Paul Zacherl (30-0) of Cranberry against Prince Brooks (22-7) of Clarion at 160.
The rest of Curwensville’s opening round matches show Jordan Peters (7-15) against No. 2 seed Cole Aaron (29-4) of Brookville at 138, Mason Lancaster (2-9) against No. 1 seed Duffy (26-0) at 145, Hunter Lancaster (10-15) against No. 6 seed Garrett McClintick (18-13) of Brockway at 182, Jeff Harvey (7-8) against No. 5 seed Joe Lawton (12-11) of Coudersport at 195, Steve McClure (2-2) against No. 5 seed Josh Miller (9-8) of Keystone at 220 and James Lee (13-13) against No. 1 seed Brylee Shumaker (29-1) of Redbank Valley at 285.
Bloom, Duffy and Altobelli are among 11 reigning or former champions in a tourney that has nearly three dozen placewinners returning from last year.
Taylor Ortz (34-0) of Brookville will be striving to beat Bloom into the Four-Title Club, jumping two weights to 132 after ruling at 106, 113 and 120 the last three seasons.
Also seeking back-to-back crowns are Brookville’s Gavin Park (13-2), up a weight at 113; Brockway’s Mason Lindenmuth (25-3), down a weight at 126; Brockway’s Michael Martino (15-3), down a weight at 170; Clarion’s Zach Sintobin (26-2) at 195 and Port Allegany’s Ethan Budd (24-2) at 220.
A pair of 2014 champions will be out to climb back to the top of the winner’s stand after losing in the finals last year. Ryan Carlson (26-1) of Brockway is back at 113, while Bryce Town (18-4) has moved up a weight to 285.
Three of the former champs did not rate No. 1 seeds, with Lindenmuth and Martino both second and Town third.
The other No. 1 seeds are Brookville’s Keelan Kunselman (22-10) at 106, Smethport’s Adam Shunk (23-3) at 138, Brookville’s Xavier Molnar (21-8) at 170 and Brookville’s Noah Cieleski (26-5) at 182.
Three mats will be used Friday and in Saturday’s first session that begins at 10 a.m. with the championship semifinals and consolation quarterfinals. Consolation semifinals will follow.
The final session gets under way at 3 p.m. with the District 9 Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame Inductions, followed by the Parade of Champions and then championships and consolation finals on two mats at 3:30.
Ticket prices for each of the three sessions will be $6 for adults and $3 for students. Series tickets can be purchased at $18 for adults and $9 for students.
Gates will open one hour prior to each session.
Click here for complete brackets, courtesy of Bob Imhoff and Ridgway Wrestling.