CURWENSVILLE – The Curwensville Golden Tide wrestling team may have lost the war, but won the battle Thursday night at home against an outstanding Moshannon Valley squad, losing to the Black Knights 47-24.
The Tide actually won six of the 10 bouts wrestled, but Moshannon Valley picked up four forfeits along with four of the matches that were contested on the wrestling surface at Patton Hall to garner the win.
Curwensville head coach Dean Swatsworth said after the dual meet, “I felt we gave a great effort tonight. We know that we are going to give up forfeits in meets but our goal is to win on the mat and tonight we did that, winning six of 10 bouts wrestled.”
At 120 pounds, Tide sophomore Blake Passarelli (10-2) knocked off Joe Ball (15-5) with a 10-4 decision that included two takedowns, two reversals and two near fall points.
That 3-0 early Curwensville lead was quickly erased, as the Black Knights picked up the next 17 points on two pins and a technical fall to take a lead the Tide would never get back at 17-3.
Tide 145 pound sophomore Cole Bressler looked good in defeating Carsyn Good 11-4 to break the 17 point run by the Knights. Bressler had a seven point third period to pick up his third victory of the season.
With Curwensville trailing 17-6, Moshannon Valley then added 18 straight points to essentially sew up the win, now out in front 35-6, and two more forfeits yet to come.
The Tide, however, weren’t quite ready to turn out the lights, as it won the next three matches that added 12 points to its side of the scoreboard.
At 182, senior Kaleb Witherite edged Caleb Kitko of Moshannon Valley 6-5 which was followed by a Nick Stewart pin in 1:05 over Black Knight Noah Burton.
It was now 41-21 in favor of visiting Moshannon Valley, coached by Justin Fye, with the Knights getting six more points with the forfeit at 106.
The 113 pound bout had only one point scored, and that was by Curwensville freshman Zach Holland who utilized a second period escape to best Jacob Matchock 1-0. It was the ninth win of the season for Holland.
Swatsworth finished his comments saying, “We want to get better for the upcoming PIAA tournaments (Districts, Regionals and States) at the end of the year. And the kids are working hard and getting better.”
Number two state ranked Larry Brown of Moshannon Valley remained perfect with a fall at 160 pounds to see his season record grow to 19-0.
In the junior high match Curwensville picked up the win over the Black Knights, 55-22.
The Tide (2-5) and Moshannon Valley (13-2) will both be traveling to tournaments this Friday and Saturday. Curwensville will wrestle in the Fred Bell Tournament in Grove City while the Black Knights will participate at the Ultimate Warrior Tournament at West Branch High School.
Bout by bout results:
120 Blake Passarelli, CUR dec Joe Ball, MV 10-4 3 0
126 Patrick Dugan, MV tech fall Dylan Myers, CUR 25-10 3 5
132 Alex Richner, MV pinned Ethan Collins, CUR 1:19 3 11
138 Brandon Smith, MV pinned Anthony Winebold, CUR 2:18 3 17
145 Cole Bressler, CUR dec Carsyn Good, MV 11-4 6 17
152 Jon Dale, MV won by forfeit FF 6 23
160 Larry Brown, MV pinned Mason Lancaster, CUR :12 6 29
170 Devin Thomas, MV won by forfeit FF 6 35
182 Kaleb Witherite, CUR dec Caleb Kitko, MV 6-5 9 35
195 Clayton Stewart, MV won by forfeit FF 9 41
220 Nick Stewart, CUR pinned Noah Burton, MV 1:05 15 41
285 Steven McClure, CUR pinned Nathan McDonald, MV 2:26 21 41
106 Micah Delattre, MV won by forfeit FF 21 47
113 Zach Holland, CUR dec Jacob Matchock, MV 1-0 24 47
OFFICIAL: Aaron Gustkey
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 | 90.5 pts. | 8th place |
| 01/12 | @ West Branch | 28 – 51 | 1 – 3 |
| 01/19 | JOHNSONBURG | 42 – 30 | 2 – 3 |
| 01/24 | BROOKVILLE | 9 – 64 | 2 – 4 |
| 01/26 | MO VALLEY | 24 – 47 | 2 – 5 |
| 01/27 & 28 | Fred Bell Tourney @ Grove City | ||
| 01/31 | CLARION | ||
| 02/02 | GLENDALE | ||
| 02/04 | @ Juniata Valley Tourney | ||
| 02/14 | INDIANA | ||
| 02/24 & 25 | District 9 AA Champs @Clfd HS | ||
| 03/03 & 04 | Northwest Regionals @ Sharon | ||
| 03/09-11 | PIAA States @ Hershey |