SHARON — Curwensville Area High School freshman 106-pounder Blake Passarelli and senior 152-pounder Shae Bloom advanced to the Northwest Region Class AA Wrestling Tournament semifinals with victories in their only action in Sharon High School Friday night.
Both will be back on the mats in the first portion of Saturday’s 9 a.m. session, and teammate Steven McClure will follow in the consolation quarterfinals after losing his opening bout at 182.
“I pretty happy,” Curwensville coach Dean Swatsworth said. “We were hoping to get Steven through there, too. He came up a little short and knows what he has to do.”
Four wrestlers at each weight will move on to the PIAA Class AA Championships in the Hershey Giant Center next week.
Passarelli (26-7) repeated an earlier win over Cochranton junior Devan Davis, but he had to come from behind and go the distance this time. He had pinned Davis in 3:34 at the Fred Bell Tournament in Grove City in late January.
Davis went up 4-0, snapping down Passarelli, going behind and hooking up a cradle, according to Swatsworth.
The Golden Tide bantam began his comeback with a reversal and then hit a five-point move after Davis escaped in the second period.
“The kid tried a lateral drop, and Blake defended it perfectly by sagging his hips to catch the kid on his back,” Swatsworth said. “He kept him there for more than 30 seconds.”
Davis rode Passarelli the last two minutes but couldn’t turn him.
“I thought Blake wrestled pretty well for coming in here as a freshman,” Swatsworth said. “He had never been in that environment before. He went out and wrestled hard and come out with a big win.
“I can really see him starting to mature as a wrestler now.”
Passarelli, the District 9 runner-up, must contend with District 10 champion Beau Bayless (26-7) of Reynolds next while D-9 champ Keelan Kunselman (26-10) of Brookville and District 10 silver medalist Aaron Gelvin (33-8) square off on the other mat.
Bloom (30-1) won by injury default over Seneca’s Adam Fish at the 3:31 mark after building a 6-0 lead via a quick takedown and then a reversal and two-point nearfall in the second period.
“Shae wrestled well and pretty much dominated his match,” Swatsworth said.
In the semis, the four-time D-9 titlist will go against Sheffield’s D-9 fourth-placer Williams (21-4), a 12-5 winner over D-10 runner-up Joshua Christner of Greenville.
D-10 champ and three-time PIAA placewinner Nick Monico (35-4) of Greenville and D-9 silver medalist Caleb Hetrick (27-8) will meet in the other semi.
McClure (6-4) was a victim of two big moves by Bryce Laughlin (31-3) of Sharon in an 11-4 loss.
“They got into an upper body lock, and the kid ended up headlocking him for a five-point move right off the bat,” Swatsworth said. “That really hurt, because Steven was one move away from taking that match in a completely opposite direction.
Laughlin, the D-10 runner-up, took the Golden Tide sophomore down to his back for four more points in the middle period.
McClure drops down to the consolation quarterfinals, where he will get either Mark Latuska (11-18) of Brockway or Tyler Zebrovious (24-14) of Lakeview.
He’ll need two victories to reach the consy finals for a trip to the state tourney.
Two D-9 titlists will have to battle back through the consy rounds after losing to D-10 low seeds in the quarterfinals.
In a rematch of last year’s 113 finals, Jamestown’s Faris Messai of Jamestown nipped Brockway’s Ryan Carlson 4-3 at 120. The D-10 fourth placer beat the Rover 5-3 last March.
Greenville 170-pounder Gavin Wilkerson, who was sixth at districts a week ago, defeated Brookville’s Xavier Molnar 8-5.
Saturday morning’s session also includes the consy semifinals.
The consolation finals will begin at 3 p.m. with the Parade of Champions slated for 5:15 and the championship finals at 5:30.
Click here for complete bracket results by Bob Imhof and Ridgway wrestling.
