PUNXSUTAWNEY — Winning five of the seven contested bouts, the Curwensville Area High School wrestling team broke into the win column by besting Punxsutawney 48-36 in a match that lasted less than half an hour Wednesday night.
All of the bouts resulted in falls with just under 13 minutes of action.
After the Chucks received the first of their four forfeits at 160 pounds, Mason Lancaster (170), Kaleb Witherite (182) and Nick Stewart (195) posted quick pins to stake the Golden Tide to a lead, 18-6, they never relinquished.
Steven McClure (285) continued Curwensville’s domination of the heavyweights, but the victory wasn’t secured until Cole Bressler stuck Zach May 15 seconds into the second period at 145.
The Golden Tide’s other points came on forfeits to Blake Passarelli, down at 113 for the first time, Dylan Myers at 126 and Anthony Winebold at 132.
“It was nice to get our first win,” Curwensville coach Dean Swatsworth said. “We went out very aggressively and wrestled hard as a team.
“Every kid went out looking for a fall, not just to wrestle, and that’s what we’ve been trying to get them to do.”
Lancaster etched his name in the Golden Tide record book with a 13-second fall against Caleb Harvey that ranks as one of the quickest in program history.
“Mason shot right in, took him down, put in a bar when they hit the mat and ran him over,” Swatsworth explained.
Witherite also used a bar to turn John Mark Miller for a 46-second fall before first-year matman Nick Stewart registered his first on-the-mat win by cradling Jacob Shuckers in 33 seconds.
McClure put Alexander Neal on his back with a bar, getting the fall at the 2:28 mark to make it 24-12.
The margin still was 12 points with two bouts remaining when Bressler hit a cement mixer for the clincher.
“That was a big match for Cole,” Swatsworth said.
Zach Holland (120) and Ethan Collins (138) were pin victims, Swatsworth noting that both bumped up a weight at weigh-ins.
“I gave kudos to both of them for wanting to go up and wrestle,” Swatsworth said. “That was their decisions.”
In the lone bout that went into the third period, Holland and Jake Skarbek were scoreless when the Golden Tide freshman got too high after locking up a cradle and was pulled underneath by the Chuck sophomore.
Curwensville (1-2) will head south again Saturday for the Indiana Tournament.
CURWENSVILLE 48, PUNXSUTAWNEY 36
160 – Connor Giavedoni, P, won by forfeit. (0-6)
170 – Mason Lancaster, C, pinned Caleb Harvey, :13. (6-6)
182 – Kaleb Witherite, C, pinned John Mark Miller, :46. (12-6)
185 – Nick Stewart, C, pinned Jacob Shuckers, :33. (18-6)
220 – Blake Bizousky, P, won by forfeit. (18-12)
285 – Steven McClure, C, pinned Alexander Neal, 2:28. (24-12)
106 – Jacob Good, P, won by forfeit. (24-18)
113 – Blake Passarelli, C, won by forfeit. (30-18)
120 – Jake Skarbek, P, pinned Zach Holland, 5:38. (30-24)
126 – Dylan Myers, C, won by forfeit. (36-24)
132 – Anthony Winebold, C, won by forfeit. (42-24)
138 – Caleb Bender, P, pinned Ethan Collins, 1:10. (42-30)
145 – Cole Bressler, C, pinned Zach May, 2:15. (48-36)
152 – Stone Smith, P, won by forfeit.
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/10 | Mountaineer Tourney @ PO | 77 pts. | 8th place |
| 12/13 | @ Redbank Valley | 27 – 54 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/17 | @ Redbank Valley Duals | ppd. | 0 – 1 |
| 12/22 | @ Ridgway | 27 – 53 | 0 – 2 |
| 01/04 | @ Punxsutawney | 48 – 36 | 1 – 2 |
| 01/07 | @ Indiana Tourney | ||
| 01/12 | @ West Branch | ||
| 01/19 | JOHNSONBURG | ||
| 01/24 | BROOKVILLE | ||
| 01/26 | MO VALLEY | ||
| 01/27 & 28 | Fred Bell Tourney @ Grove City | ||
| 01/31 | CLARION | ||
| 02/02 | GLENDALE | ||
| 02/14 | INDIANA | ||
| 02/24 & 25 | District 9 AA Champs @Clfd HS | ||
| 03/03 & 04 | Northwest Regionals @ Sharon | ||
| 03/09-11 | PIAA States @ Hershey |
