GROVE CITY — Three Curwensville Area High School underclassmen, led by heavyweight runner-up Steven McClure, placed in the 34th Fred Bell Tournament that concluded Saturday evening in the Grove City gymnasium.
Sophomore 113-pounder Blake Passarelli and freshman bantam Zach Holland bounced back from tough, one-point losses to finish third and fifth, respectively, as the Golden Tide wound up 22nd in the 36-team field with 52 points.
After shutting out Harbor Creek’s Joe Newara 4-0 in the quarterfinals, the third-seeded McClure advanced to the championship bout with a come-from-behind 10-6 win over No. 2 seed Brendan Marsocci of Byron-Bergen (N.Y.).
McClure had to fight off his back and rally after Marsocci worked a throw for a five-point move, according to Curwensville coach Dean Swatsworth.
“That probably was the best match Steven has wrestled all year,” Swatsworth said.
In the finals, McClure (13-2) couldn’t get off the bottom against the much heavier Jacob Lenhardt and lost 2-0 to the General McLane’s No. 1 seed on a third period reversal.
Edged 5-4 by Hopewell’s Anthony Rosati in a quarterfinal bout decided by penalty points that Swatsworth questioned, the top-seeded Passarelli (15-3) charged through the consolations with falls over Port Allegany’s Payton Caden at 1:53 and Franklin’s Matt Franklin at 4:06 and a decision over Glendale’s Tristan Rutter 8-4 to reach the bronze medal match.
He wrapped his comeback by pinning Redbank Valley’s Mason Songer at the 2:33 mark.
Holland, down to 106 for the first time, made it to the semifinals with a 3-1 victory over St. Marys’ Tylor Herzing, but he was nipped 4-3 by Union City’s Will Burgess, No. 2 seed who was ranked No. 8 in the state last week by Off The Mat.
The initial takedown was crucial as the two traded reversals and Holland had an escape.
Holland then lost 2-1 to Port Allegany’s Reese Vollmer on an interlocking call to which Swatsworth objected and 4-1 to Redbank Valley’s No. 3 seed Ethan Wiant, whom he had beaten 3-0 in the first round Friday afternoon.
Senior 182-pounder Kaleb Witherite, Curwensville’s fourth quarterfinalist, also was dropped into the consolations by a one-point loss as Glendale’s No. 3 seed Matt Yeckley escaped in the second overtime period and was able to ride out the next 30-second period for a 2-1 win.
Witherite stayed alive with a 9-2 victory over Bryce Randall of Brookfield (Ohio) but ran into No. 7 seed Parker Harvey of Titusville and was ousted, 14-1, one win shy of placing.
The Golden Tide’s Mason Lancaster (160) and Nick Stewart (195) were eliminated in their morning consolation third round matches.
“Overall, we wrestled well,” Swatsworth said.
Curwensville (2-5) will be at home for dual meets with Clarion Tuesday and Glendale Thursday.
Harbor Creek won the team title with 177.5 points. Rounding out the top five were General McLane, St. Marys, Penns Valley and Titusville .
South Park 145-pounder Dallas Bulsak was selected for the Outstanding Wrestler Award and Titusville 113-pounder Hunter Thompson was the choice for the Tom Tomeo Most Promising Young Wrestler Award.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Harbor Creek, 177.5 points; 2. General McLane, 149; 3. St. Marys, 147.5; 4. Penns Valley,114; 5. Titusville, 110; 6. McGuffey, 103; 7. Meadville, 101.5; 8. Sharpsville, 95; 9. Clarion, 94.5; 10. Madison (Ohio), 87.5; 11. Grove City, 74; 12. Port Allegany, 72.5; 13. Union City, 71; 14. South Side, 70; 15. Warren, 69; 16. Franklin, 66.5; 17. Hopewell, 63; 18. Lakeview, 62.5; 19. Byron-Bergen (N.Y.), 61; 20. Glendale, 59; 21. Mercer, 53.5; 22. Curwensville, 52; 23. Northwestern, 51; 24. (tie) Cranberry and Conneaut, 49; 26. South Park, 46.5; 27. (tie) Cambridge Springs and Warsaw (N.Y.), 45.5; 29. Cochran, 44; 30. Redbank Valley, 42.5; 31. Jamestown, 42; 32. Youngsvikle, 25; 33. Brookfield (Ohio), 23.5; 34. Keystone, 15.5; 35. Beaver, 15; 36. West Middlesex, 10.
CHAMPIONSHIPS
106 – Andrew Brest, General McLane, dec. Will Burgess, Union City, 3-1.
113 – Hunter Thompson, Titusville, pinned Anthony Rosati, Hopewell, 3:21.
120 – Jacob Ealy, Hopewell, dec. Tyler Dilley, St. Marys, 9-6.
126 – Tye Varndell, Cambridge Springs, dec. Nick Oosterkamp, Harbor Creek, 1-0.
132 – Sam Sallott, Harbor Creek, dec. Caiden Mooney, Northwestern, 6-4.
138 – Hunter Wagner, Titusville, dec. Alec Bittler, St. Marys, 3-2.
145 – Dallas Bulsack, South Park, dec. Jared Hurd, Penns Valley, 7-4.
152 – Owen Watkins, General McLane, tech fall over Mike LeFay, Clarion, 16-1.
160 – Chrstian Clutter, McGuffey, dec. Jacob Kallenborn, Port Allegany, 4-3 (TB).
170 – Zach Cassidy, Harbor Creek, dec. Nick Enos, Sharpsville, 2-1.
182 – Will Thompson, Byron-Bergen (N.Y.), dec. Khalil Messai, Jamestown, 4-3.
195 – Ethan Laird, General McLane, major dec. Jeff Craig, Meadville, 12-4.
220 – Bishop McCoy, South Side, major dec. Collin Askins, Harbor Creek, 11-3.
285 – Jacob Lenhardt, General McLane, dec. Steven McClure, Curwensville, 2-0.
CONSOLATION FINALS (THIRD PLACE)
106 – Reese Vollmer, Port Allegany, dec. Baylor Shunk, Penns Valley, 5-2.
113 – Blake Passarelli, Curwensville, pinned Mason Songer, Redbank Valley, 2:33.
120 – John Wheeler, Northwestern, pinned Devin Davis, Cochranton, 4:15.
126 – Sam Wolf, Warsaw (N.Y.), dec. Owen Clayton, Lakeview, 4-1.
132 – Nate Murphy, Warsaw (N.Y.), pinned Trent Tidball, Meadville, :22.
138 – Josh Hancock, Cranberry, dec. Brent Mallory, General McLane, 9-4.
145 – Joe Demore, South Side, dec. Peyton Hearn, Conneaut, 4-3.
152 – Andrew Sharer, Penns Valley, dec. Isaac Krause, Glendale, 3-1.
160 – Nick DeSimone, Warren, dec. Cameron Prebble, Sharpsville, 13-6.
170 – Bryan Zehe, Madison (Ohio), pinned Holden Cook, Franklin, 3:54.
182 – Parker Harvey, Titusville, dec. Brandon Cherry, St. Marys, 8-5.
195 – Dom Viscuso, Harbor Creek, dec. Logan Nosko, Titusville, 4-3.
220 – Clay Verbanac, Cambridge Springs, dec. Tyler Zebrovious, Lakeview, 1-0.
285 – Brendan Marsocci, Byron-Bergen (N.Y.), pinned Bobby Gregory, Mercer, 2:33.
CONSOLATION FINALS (FIFTH PLACE)
106 – Ethan Wiant, Redbank Valley, dec. Zach Holland, Curwensville, 4-1.
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
106 – Vollmer, Port Allegany, dec. Holland, Curwensville, 2-1.
113 – Passarelli, Curwensville, dec. Tristan Rutter, Glendale, 8-4.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
106 – William Burgess, Union City, dec. Holland, Curwensville, 4-3.
285 – McClure, Curwensville, dec. Marsocci, Byron-Bergen, 10-6.
CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS
113 – Passarelli, Curwensville, pinned Matt Vincent, Franklin, 4:06.
182 – Parker Harvey, Titusville, major dec. Kaleb Witherite, Curwensville, 14-1.
CONSOLATION FOURTH ROUND
113 – Passarelli, Curwensville, pinned Payton Caden, Port Allegany, 1:53.
182 – Witherite, Curwensville, dec. Bryce Randall, Brookfield (Ohio), 9-2.
CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS
106 – Holland, Curwensville, dec. Tylor Herzing, St. Marys, 3-1.
113 – Rosati, Hopewell, dec. Passarelli, Curwensville, 5-4.
182 – Matt Yeckley, Glendale, dec. Witherite, Curwensville, 2-1 (TB).
285 – McClure, Curwensville, dec. Joe Newara, Harbor Creek, 4-0.
CONSOLATION THIRD ROUND
160 – Tyler Lucas, Brookfield, pinned Mason Lancaster, Curwensville, 1:27.
195 – Devin Foster, Conneaut, pinned Nick Stewart, Curwensville, 1:46.