CURWENSVILLE — The winner of Tuesday evening’s dual meet at Patton Hall between host Curwensville and visiting Tussey Mountain was never in question as the Titans’ program is struggling with low numbers this season, having no more than five wrestlers compete in any dual meet.
The Titans only had three on the mat against the Tide, but what they were missing in quantity they certainly did not lack in quality as the talented trio brought a combined 48-9 mark into the meet with a pair of state-ranked athletes leading the way.
Dakota Santamaria (114) and Ezra Masood (189) each won by technical fall for the visitors, who gave up 10 forfeits to the Tide in Curwensville’s 63-10 victory.
Curwensville 133-pounder Dylan Deluccia won a high-scoring 14-10 affair over Cole Tanger in a rematch of an ICC Tournament quarterfinal match from early December and Russell Bloom (107), Dean Swatsworth Jr. (121), Hayden Queen (127), Javon Bunce (139), Cooper Haag (145), Braxten Pierce (152), Reed Hawkins (160), Alex Murawski (172), Caleb Hendershot (215) and Brooks Hendershot (285) all picked up forfeit wins.
“We weren’t exactly sure how many kids they were bringing tonight and we just told the kids to be prepared to wrestle,” Curwensville head coach Dean Swatsworth said. “They only weighed in three kids, but they’re three good kids. We wanted to see matchups.
“But once we weighed in and we saw what was going on, I told the kids, ‘I know over half of you have forfeits, but you still have to get ready. Get into the groove of getting ready before a match. Get in the groove of getting your teammates ready.’ And I thought they did that. And we had a lot going on tonight, so it was tough for me to actually make sure they were doing what they needed to do because I was out there getting ready for the banner ceremony.”
That ceremony happened pre match and was the unveiling of a banner that has all nine wrestlers in Curwensville program history to hit the 100-win mark featured. Five of the nine wrestlers were either present or had family members at Patton Hall on their behalf.
Jason Clark (101-17-2) was the first Golden Tide wrestler to hit 100 wins, doing it in 1991. His stepmother Danna Clark was there on his behalf. Jody Clark (100-17-1, class of ’92), Blake Passarelli (115-36, class of 2019) and Logan Aughenbaugh (101-34, class of 2024) were all able to attend, while the late Shae Bloom (140-21, class of 2016) was represented by his parents Missy and Shawn Bloom.
Nate Sipes (110-18, class of 2005), Nick Sipes (122-13, class of 2007), Derek Brothers (131-24, class of 2010) and Jake Keller (117-17, class of 2012) are the other four members of the exclusive 100-win club at Curwensville.
“For years, I’ve wanted to honor the people that have represented Curwensville very well, and I was able to talk to the booster club and they were willing to buy it (banner),” Swatsworth said. “And the school was willing to let us hang it up in the gym. I wish we could have had a little better turnout for it, but it is what it is. People have to work. It is a Tuesday night and people have to travel from all over the place.”
Following the banner ceremony, the match began with Bunce (3-3 record), Haag (8-3), Pierce (3-3), Reed Hawkins (12-1) and Murawski (10-3) all getting forfeits to put the Tide on top 30-0.
Heath Hawkins (8-3) was the first Tide wrestler to get a match and he was tasked with facing Masood (21-1), who bumped up from 172. Masood, who is ranked 14th in the state at 172, built a 12-4 lead after one thanks to four takedowns, upped the advantage to 18-4 after two with an escape, takedown and two sets of backpoints and then secured the technical fall with a takedown 15 seconds into the third period. Masood, who has a career mark of 95-25, has pinned or teched 18 of his 22 opponents so far this season.
“Heath went out there and wrestled hard,” Swatsworth said. “I’m not sure I understood them bumping up, but Ezra is a really tough wrestler.”
Caleb Hendershot (8-3), Brooks Hendershot (10-2) and Russell Bloom (9-4) followed with forfeit wins to make the dual score 48-5 and set up a 114-pound bout between a pair of state-ranked wrestlers.
The Tide’s Gilliland, ranked seventh at 107, bumped to 114 to face Santamaria, who is ranked ninth at 114.
Santamaria recorded two takedowns and a 4-point tilt to go up 10-1 after one, then added a second-period takedown and another tilt to end it at 2:35 with a 16-1 technical fall, putting the first blemish on Gilliland’s (8-1) record this season.
“We talked to Austin and said, ‘you know this kid is heavier than you but he’s ranked in the state and you’re ranked in the state and you need to see where you’re at,” Swatsworth said. “Austin didn’t wrestle his best. But Dakota is a tough wrestler.”
Swatsworth Jr. (3-6) and Queen (4-5) picked up the final two forfeit wins for the Tide to up the advantage to 60-10 and lead into the final bout of the dual.
Deluccia (9-1) led Tanger 9-6 after a wild first period that featured reversals into nearfalls by both wrestlers. Deluccia scored the only points of the second from the top position with a 3-count on a cradle to make it 12-6 before notching a reversal in the third to go up 14-6. Tanger eventually escaped and scored a late takedown to set the final.
“That kid fought a lot harder this time,” Swatsworth said. “We pinned him at ICCs. But Dylan was still good enough to win and did what he needed to do.”
With the win, the Golden Tide upped their dual meet record to 7-0. Curwensville hosts Moshannon Valley Thursday, January 9. The Knights moved to 8-1 after defeating Mount Union on Tuesday.
“Thursday is going to be a big test for us,” Swatsworth said. “Mo Valley is going to come in here prepared and ready to go. Our matches against them are always good. So that will be a big test for us.”
Curwensville 63, Tussey Mountain 10
139 – Javon Bunce won by forfeit. (6-0).
145 – Cooper Haag won by forfeit. (12-0).
152 – Braxten Pierce won by forfeit. (18-0).
160 – Reed Hawkins won by forfeit. (24-0).
172 – Alex Murawski won by forfeit. (30-0).
189 – Ezra Masood won by tech. fall over Heath Hawkins, 21-4, 4:16. (30-5).
215 – Caleb Hendershot won by forfeit. (36-5).
285 – Brooks Hendershot won by forfeit. (42-5).
107 – Russell Bloom won by forfeit. (48-5).
114 – Dakota Santamaria won by tech. fall over Austin Gilliland, 17-1, 4:01. (48-10).
121 – Dean Swatsworth Jr. won by forfeit. (54-10).
127 – Hayden Queen won by forfeit. (60-10).
133 – Dylan Deluccia dec. Cole Tanger, 14-10. (63-10).
GOLDEN TIDE SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/07 @ ICC Tourney – Claysburg-Kimmel 145 pts. 1st place
12/10 @ West Branch 49 – 18 1 – 0
12/21 @ Redbank Duals
vs. Northwestern 60 – 18 2 – 0
vs. Sharon 48 – 29 3 – 0
vs. Ridgway 36 – 32 4 – 0
vs. Youngsville 64 – 6 5 – 0
vs. Kane 66 – 12 6 – 0
01/07 TUSSEY MOUNTAIN 63 – 10 7 – 0
01/09 MOSHANNON VALLEY
01/10 & 11 @ Mid-Winter Mayhem – IUP
01/14 MT. UNION
01/16 @ Juniata Valley
01/18 @ Bison Duals
01/24 & 25 @ Fred Bell Tourney – Grove City
01/28 @ Glendale
01/30 CLAYSBURG KIMMEL
02/01 @ District 9 AA Duals
02/04 REDBANK VALLEY
02/06 @ Brookville
02/13 BROCKWAY
02/21 & 22 @ District 9 Championship
02/28 & 3/1 @ Nortwest Regionals
03/06 – 08 @ PIAA Championships – Hershey
