HERSHEY — Curwensville Area High School senior Shae Bloom will be climbing the winner’s stand again Saturday afternoon as the finals of the 2016 PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships unfold in the Giant Center.
Not as high as he had envisioned, though, after two narrow losses Friday.
The Golden Tide 152-pounder will be seeking to repeat as a fifth-place medalwinner when he takes on Morgan Deremer (42-8) of Chestnut Ridge after the Parade of Champions that are booked for a 1:45 p.m. start.
Like the majority of the 280 wrestlers who gathered on the mats early Thursday morning, Bloom (35-3) had his sights set on the ultimate goal of a gold medal to go with his fourth District 9 championship and second Northwest Region crown.
Southwest Region runner-up Damon Greenwald of Burrell shattered that dream in the morning quarterfinals by limiting him to a pair of escapes and converting two takedowns into a 4-2 win.
Bloom was in his favorite position when Greenwald chose down in the third period, but he was unable to earn any back points as his opponent kept getting to his feet on restarts.
“Shae couldn’t turn him,” Curwensville coach Dean Swatsworth said. “He tried and tried and tried. Every time the kid stood up, he would try to return him to the mat. He would go to his claw and crotch lift, and the kid would scramble out of bounds.
“To cut him and try to take him down twice would have been hard. We figured Shae was better off trying to turn him. On the first takedown, Shae shot in deep, and they got in a flurry and the other kid got the takedown.”
Bloom immediately had to begin preparing for the all-important consolation quarterfinal match, and he made sure he would return as a participant on the final day of the grueling three-day tourney by taking down Brian Shermeyer (35-10) of Delone Catholic twice and eventually cradling the Southeast Region runner-up for a fall at 4:05.
In the evening session, the Golden Tide standout moved into the consy semifinals with a 3-1 sudden victory against District 6 runner-up and SW Region third-placer Jon Wagner (43-8) of Huntingdon. They traded escapes in regulation before Bloom emerged from a scramble with the winning takedown in the first overtime period.
“Shae pretty much controlled that match,” Swatsworth said. “He did all the shooting but couldn’t finish. At the end, he did finish.”
Finishing was a problem again with the bronze medal bout at stake in the consy semifinals as NW Region third-placer Nick Monico (40-5) of Saegertown eked out a 3-2 victory with a first period takedown the key.
“Shae got in deep, but the kid countered and got the takedown,” Swatsworth said. “With those one-minute first periods, that is pretty important. Going to the second and third periods, your choices are different when you’re behind.”
Two escapes for Bloom had them even before Monico, who will be collecting his fourth PIAA medal, got out in the third period for the winning point.
Greenwald (42-8), seventh at 152 last year, advanced to the gold medal match with a 5-1 sudden victory over SE Region champ Nate Newberry (39-3) of Biglerville.
The season ended for Curwensville 106-pounder Blake Passarelli in the second round of consolations.
He made it close with a late escape and takedown before bowing out in a 5-3 loss to Penn Cambria’s Chase Proudfit, who was second in District 6 and fourth in the SW Region.
Passarelli wound up with a 29-10 record, the fourth most wins by a Golden Tide freshman for a very good start to his career.
“Blake wrestled hard down here, and it was a great learning experience for him,” Swatsworth said. “He had a great season for a freshman. He just has to build on where he ended this year.”
Thirteen of District 9’s 22 qualifiers will medal.
Topping the list are two finalists in undefeated NW Region champions Taylor Ortz (43-0) of Brookville at 132 pounds and James Duffy (36-0) of Smethport at 145.
Vying for third place will be Cole Aaron of Brookville at 138, Ethan Budd of Port Allegany at 220 and BryLee Shumaker of Redbank Valley at 285.
In addition to Bloom, Keelan Kunselman of Brookville at 106, Tanner Altobelli of Redbank Valley at 126, Mason Lindenmuth of Brockway at 126 and Zach Sintobin of Clarion will be contending for fifth place.
Seventh place now is the goal for Gavin Park of Brookville at 113, Ryan Carlson of Brockway at 120 and Caleb Hetrick of Brookville at 152.
The shocker of the day occurred in the semifinals when Franklin 182-pounder Dakota Geer, the defending champion, was taken down in overtime by Montoursville senior Garrett Hoffman (49-2).
The 3-1 loss was the first in 40 matches this season for the District 10 and NW Region champ, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation by InterMat.
It was a given that two other returning gold medalists would not repeat with three bunched at 126.
Northeast Region champ Brian Courtney (40-2) soundly defeated both of them, besting defending titlist Jonathan Gabriel of Bedford 8-3 in the quarterfinals and last year’s 120-pound titlist Cole Matthews of Reynolds 9-3 in the semifinals.
Awaiting in the finals will be Max Murin (40-1) of Central Cambria. The District 6 and SW region champ reigned at 113 last year.
George “Micky” Phillippi of Derry will go for the gold at 138 to add to the titles he won at 113 in 2013 and 132 in 2015.
Seeking to repeat are Jefferson Morgan’s Gavin Teasdale, up at weight at 113; South Fayette’s Mike Carr at 145; South Park’s Jake Wentzel, up a weight at 170, and South Park’s Greg Bulsak at 182.
Teasdale (35-0) has never lost in 81 bouts, while Carr (42-0) and Wetzel (41-0) also are undefeated, as is Southmoreland 285-pounder Jacob Beistel (35-0) and D-9’s pair of finalists.
For complete bracket results from PA-Wrestling.com:
