HERSHEY — Curwensville Area High School wrestlers Blake Passarelli and Steven McClure advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2018 PIAA Class AA Championships with first-round wins in the Giant Center Thursday morning.
Not since 2005 has the Golden Tide had more than one gold medal contender after opening day.
Passarelli, the Northwest Region silver medalist at 113 pounds, defeated Brandywine Heights freshman Dalton Gimbor 5-1.
NW Region heavyweight champion McClure made it a sweep for Golden Tide fans by squeezing past Central Cambria senior Nate Martin 3-2 in overtime.
Both will be back in action Friday morning in a session that begins at nine o’clock and also includes two rounds of consolations.
Takedowns in the second and third periods were the difference for Passarelli (29-5).
The Golden Tide’s junior District 9 champ fell behind when Gimbor, who placed third in the Southeast Region, escaped after choosing the bottom position for the second period.
Passarelli went in front by hitting a duck under with 37 seconds remaining in the period.
He broke free seven seconds into the third period for a 3-1 lead and sealed the victory by executing the same takedown move with 17 seconds left.
“Blake knows a lot of moves, and when a kid’s gonna push on you like that, he ‘s gonna know what to do,” Curwensville coach Dean Swatsworth said. “The kid gave it to him, and he took it.”
Next up for Passarelli is Montoursville’s Northeast Region champion Wyatt Lutz (37-2), who upheld his No. 1 ranking by Off The Mat by pinning Jack Bruce of Blairsville at 5:28.
The winner will meet either Southwest Region champ Josh Boozel of Mount Union or NW bronze medalist Dylan Pesock of Oswayo Valley in the semifinals that get under way Friday night at 7:30.
Like he’s done so many times on the tournament trail, McClure (32-3) traded escapes with Martin in regulation and finished the first extra period in the neutral position.
Down to start the first 30-second tiebreaker period, McClure worked a reversal with 11 seconds on the clock for what proved to be the deciding move.
“Honestly, I thought he had an escape and takedown,” Swatsworth said. “The kid was on his knees, and Steven got out and went right around him.”
Surprisingly, when Martin stood as time was running out, McClure cut him loose at the buzzer to make it 3-2.
That meant Steven had to control Martin for 30 seconds in the next tiebreaker period, which he was able to do.
“Steven had to hold him down not to go to the ultimate rideout,” Swatsworth said. “He finds his ways to win.”
McClure’s quarterfinal bout will be against Line Mountain senior Jaron Renn (40-10). The NE Region third-placer edged SE runner-up Tanner Harkins of Kennard-Dale 5-4 with a late takedown.
“We watched that kid, and he’s tall but only weighs about 205 pounds,” Swatsworth said.
Passarelli, ranked No. 8 by OTM, and McClure, ranked No. 6, now are one more win away from securing a medal.
Other District 9 qualifiers joining those two and Pesock in the quarters are NW-2 Anthony Glasl of Brockway at 120, NW-2 Lukas McClain of Ridgway at 138, NW-1 Caleb Hetrick of Brookville and NW-3 Logen McClain of Ridgway at 145, NW-1 Jacob Kallenborn of Port Allegany at 160 and Garrett McClintick of Brockway at 182.
Six more District 9 hopefuls remain in the running for medals in the wrestlebacks, NW-4 Mason Songer of Redbank Valley at 113, NW-1 Alec English at 152, NW-3 Julian Smith of Coudersport at 160, NW-4 Elijah Ayers of Coudersport at 182, NW-4 Tom Wurster of Clarion at 220 and NW-2 Colby Whitehill of Brookville at 285.
English was one of six region champions to fall by the wayside in the first round. The District 9 titlist was beaten 7-3 by SW-4 Corey Christie of Burrell.
Union City 170-pounder Gavin Henry was the other NW Region titlist who was upset.
Click here for complete bracket results courtesy the PIAA.