CURWENSVILLE — Because of a lack of numbers, coach Dean Swatsworth’s goal for his Curwensville Area High School wrestling team in dual meets is winning a majority of the head-to-head matches, and the Golden Tide came up just short in their 66-12 loss to District 9 Class AA powerhouse Brookville in Patton Hall Tuesday night.
A fall by Adam Straw at 145 pounds and decisions by Spencer Hoover at 120 and Cole Bressler at 160 accounted for Curwensville’s points.
The state-ranked Raiders, 9-2 with losses only to undefeated Waynesburg Central and once-beaten Greenville, engineered falls in the other four bouts to go with seven forfeits.
Straw’s first-period pin against Hayden Kramer was especially pleasing to Swatsworth.
The junior shot in for a double-leg takedown, lifted Kramer and worked in a half nelson on the way down to take the Raider right to his back 18 seconds into the match. Straw got the fall call at the 41-second mark.
“I was happy with him,” Swatsworth said. “He did what we’ve been practicing in the room. I try to teach them to swim and hit a half on the way down from a blast double or a high crotch to an L shot. Chain wrestling is all it is.
“We’ve worked on that a lot the last two weeks, and the kids are starting to get there.”
Bressler (11-5) hooked up with Jacob Cable in a crowd-pleasing duel between two wrestlers with similar records that was 15-11 at the buzzer.
Three takedowns in the first period keyed an 8-2 lead for the Golden Tide senior, who rolled through a cradle to catch Cable (10-5) on his back for two-and-three in the second period, which ended with the score 13-8.
They traded reversals in the final two minutes.
“Cole had a good match, back and forth, back and forth,” Swatsworth said. “He’s getting really good on his feet. I was pretty happy with that.
“Those are the kind of matches you want to come and watch. Both kids are good, and I’m glad to see a good match between them. And I’m glad Cole came out on top.”
Hoover came from behind in the third period to pull out a 6-2 win over Josh Popson.
Down 2-1, he turned a double-leg takedown into a cradle with 37 seconds remaining and received the three nearfall points at the buzzer.
“We did a little research and we were able to get the flip and get the matchup we wanted,” Swatsworth said. “Spencer wrestled hard, and that was a big win for him. He just needs to get more wins under his belt as a freshman on the varsity to get his confidence built up.”
In another bout between sophomores with similar records at 170, Raider Elliot Park (12-4) took down Jake McCracken three times and turned him twice for a 13-3 lead through two periods before registering a fall 19 seconds into the third period.
“I know Jake had a tough one, but we wanted to see that matchup anyway, because that’s gonna be the kid he’s gonna have to beat in districts if he wants to go anywhere,” Swatsworth said. “But Jake wrestled hard.”
Duane Brady met another good Raider middleweight at 152, and was trailing 17-3 when Jacob Cable (11-4) put him on his back for the third and final time at 5:48.
“I tell these kids, it doesn’t matter how much you’re down, it only takes one move to change a match,” Swatsworth said. “I tell them to keep wrestling that six minutes, and Duane almost did.”
Freshman Jacob Carfley was cradled by Owen Reinsel (14-2) at 106 and Gage Roos was pinned by Nathan Taylor at 195.
“Jacob is a little under weight, but he’s working hard as a freshman, and I’m glad to see him and Spencer come up and to help the varsity team,” Swatsworth said. “And Gage hasn’t been wrestling very long but comes to practice every day and tries. That’s all I ask.”
The Golden Tide will be back on their home mat Friday to take on Johnsonburg, which handed them a 44-15 loss at the Ridgway Duals Dec. 15.
BROOKVILLE 66, CURWENSVILLE 12
106 – Owen Reinsel, B, pinned Jacob Carfley, 1:34. (6-0)
112 – Cayden Walter, B, won by forfeit. (12-0)
120 – Spencer Hoover, C, dec. Josh Popson, 6-2. (12-3)
126 – Parker Fleming, B, won by forfeit. (18-3)
132 – Cabe Park, B, won by forfeit. (24-3)
138 – Wyatt Kulik, B, won by forfeit. (30-3)
145 – Adam Straw, C, pinned Hayden Kramer, :41. (30-9)
152 – Jacob Cable, B, pinned Duane Brady, 5:49. (36-9)
160 – Cole Bressler, C, dec. Wyatt Griffin, 15-11. (36-12)
170 – Elliot Park, B, pinned Jake McCracken, 4:19. (42-12)
182 – Braden MacBeth, B, won by forfeit. (48-12)
195 – Nathan Taylor, B, pinned Gage Roos, :24. (54-12)
220 – Tanner LaBenne, B, won by forfeit. (60-12)
285 – Colby Whitehill, B, won by forfeit. (66-12)
Referee – Nick Sipes and Dan Dowling.
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/13 @ Redbank Valley 16 – 48 0 – 1
12/15 @ Ridgway Duals
12/15 vs. Johnsonburg 15 – 44 0 – 2
12/15 vs. Greenville 18 – 65 0 – 3
12/15 vs. Titusville 2 – 60 0 – 4
12/15 vs. Sheffield 37 – 36 1 – 4
12/15 vs. Ridgway 42 – 18 2 – 4
12/20 @ Ridgway ppd. 2 – 4
12/29 @ Redbank Dual Tourney
12/29 vs. Youngsville 48 – 12 3 – 4
12/29 vs. Mercer 16 – 57 3 – 5
12/29 vs. Slippery Rock 24 – 54 3 – 6
12/29 vs. Jamestown 36 – 45 3 – 7
12/29 vs. Punxsutawney 36 – 42 3 – 8
01/05 @ Bo Wood Tourney 78 pts. 8th place
01/08 BROOKVILLE 12 – 66 3 – 9
01/11 JOHNSONBURG
01/14 @ Punxsutawney
01/17 ST. MARYS
01/25 & 26 @ Fred Bell Tourney
01/29 CLARION
01/31 @ West Branch
02’11 @ Ridgway
02/07 MO VALLEY
02/14 @ Brockway
02/22 & 23 D9 CHAMPIONSHIP
03/01 & 02 NW REGIONAL
03/07 – 10 PIAA CHAMPIONSHIPS