Ridgway Defeats Curwensville Matmen 42-24

CURWENSVILLE — Ridgway doubled up the Curwensville Area High School wrestling team in falls 4-2 and forfeit wins 2-1 to prevail 42-24 in their District 9 Class AA dual meet on the Patton Hall mats Thursday night.

Adam Straw and Steven McClure engineered pins, Jake McCracken and Mason Gasper registered decisions and Brady Peters received a forfeit for the 0-2 Golden Tide’s points.

The Elkers (4-4) never trailed as 152-pounder Logen McClain, who placed seventh at 138 in last season’s state tournament, pinned Caleb Stiles 34 seconds into the second period of the opening bout.

Curwensville frosh Jake McCracken cut the margin in half by defeating Jacob Wickett 9-3 with three takedowns, a two-point nearfall and an escape at 145.

Ridgway then built a 24-3 lead on falls by Damon Kelly at 182 and Robert Briggs at 195 and a forfeit for Maximus Ehrensberger at 220.

The Golden Tide quickly closed the gap when heavyweight McClure flattened Jacob Kunselmen in 29 seconds and 106-pounder Peters had his hand raised via a forfeit.

Following a forfeit to Elker Gary Emerick at 113, Golden Tide junior Blake Passarelli and Kyle Bush, a returning Northwest Region champ, resumed their rivalry that shows them trading two-point decisions in the last two District 9 Class AA tourneys.

They went to the final two minutes knotted at 2-2 after Passarelli sandwiched a takedown between the Elker senior’s two escapes in the middle period.

Passarelli was down and gave up a penalty point for a third caution call before standing for an escape with time running out, but Bush immediately grabbed a leg for a takedown and 5-3 win.

“Blake wrestled a tough match, but Bush timed it great when Blake broke away with a whizzer,” Curwensville coach Dean Swatsworth said.

Another nail-biter ensued at 126, where Gasper was seconds away from a 4-2 victory when Luke Tomaski hit a headlock for a takedown. However, the Golden Tide junior came out on top for a reversal that beat the buzzer and made him a 6-4 winner.

Bryce Barclay, who teamed with the McClain twins for back-to-back-to-back championships in the 2017 district tournament, clinched the victory for the Elkers with a 53-second fall at 132.

Then, in another duel between two of D-9’s top middleweights, returning region runner-up Lukas McClain worked a takedown with just under 30 seconds remaining to hand Zach Holland his first loss, 3-1, at 138.

“We lost two really good matches we were in the whole time,” Swatsworth said.

At 145, Straw led 5-0 via a pair of takedowns when he pinned Joseph Miller with 47 seconds gone in the second period.

The Golden Tide will be off until traveling to New Bethlehem on Saturday, Dec. 30, for the Redbank Valley Duals and meets against Punxsutawney, Keystone, Brashear, Conneaut and Mercer.

RIDGWAY 42, CURWENSVILLE 24

152 – Logen McClain, R, pinned Caleb Stiles, 2:34. (6-0)
160 – Jake McCracken, C, dec. Jacob Wickett, 9-3. (6-3)
170 – No match.
182 – Damon Kelly, R, pinned Nick Holbert, 4:37. (12-3)
195 – Robert Briggs, R, pinned Gage Roos, :27. (18-3)
220 – Maximus Ehrensberger, R, won by forfeit. (24-3)
285 – Steven McClure, C, pinned Jacob Kunselman, :29. (24-9)
106 – Brady Peters, C, won by forfeit. (24-15)
113 – Gary Emerick, R, won by forfeit. (30-15)
120 – Kyle Bush, R, dec. Blake Passarelli, 5-3. (33-15)
126 – Mason Gasper, C, dec. Luke Tomaski, 6-4. (33-18)
132 – Bryce Barclay, R, pinned Noah Holt, :53. (39-18)
138 – Lukas McClain, R, dec. Zach Holland, 3-1. (42-18)
145 – Adam Straw, C, pinned Joseph Miller, 2:47. (42-24).

Golden Tide Scoreboard: