HYDE — The Curwensville wrestling team may have only won two of its five matches Saturday at the Clearfield Bison Duals, but the Golden Tide showed plenty of fight and improvement at the rugged tournament featuring several state ranked teams and individuals.
The Golden Tide opened the dual tournament against one of those ranked teams — the host Bison — and dropped a 54-15 decision, losing 10 of the 13 bouts. Austin Gilliland (107) and Heath Hawkins (189) won by fall, while Caleb Hendershot (215) notched a decision against the eventual tournament runners-up.
Curwensville went from the frying pan into the fire as it took on Port Allegany, which ended up as the third-place team, and fell by a score of 58-15. Gilliland was a repeat winner by pin, while Alex Murawski (172) notched a decision and Brooks Hendershot (285) won by forfeit.

But after two lopsided wins, the Golden Tide were able to go 2-1 over their final three matchups, dropping a 38-35 decision to Ridgway before ending with victories over Brockway (51-20) and Benton (40-33).
“This was a roller coaster,” Curwensville head coach Dean Swatsworth said. “We had our good matches and our bad matches. Against the first two teams, Clearfield and Port, those are two really good teams. Our kids did battle and we won the matches we pretty much thought that we would. And I’m proud of them for going out and giving it their all.”
Curwensville’s match against Ridgway was a rematch from the Redbank Valley Duals that saw the Tide come away with a 36-32 victory. In the first meeting, the Elkers gave up four forfeits, but only surrendered three Saturday, which helped them turn the result around. Ridgway was 6-3 in head-to-head bouts in the December dual and went 7-3 Saturday.
“We beat them earlier, It could have gone either way,” Swatsworth said. “We had a couple matches go the way we wanted it to and a couple that flipped and we ended up on the losing end. But that dropped us down and we had to wrestle Brockway and Benton and I think those were two good matches for us. Some of our kids got some wins they needed to get. It’s all about getting that confidence back and to trust in yourself and in your ability. These kids work hard in the room every day. They just need to go out and wrestle, create scrambles, make things happen and just win. Some of these kids went out there and did that.”
The Tide picked up four forfeits in their win over Brockway, but also went 5-3 on the mat. That included pins from Gilliland (107), Dylan Deluccia (139), Reed Hawkins (160) and Heath Hawkins (189) and a 4-2 decision from Murawski at 172 in a rematch of a bout from the Midwinter Mayhem Tournament last weekend against Blake Pisarchick. Murawski dropped that bout 8-4. Gilliland’s pin was his third of the day and helped him to a 5-0 record at the duals and a 19-3 mark for the season.
“Austin wrestled great,” Swatsworth said. “He had some really good matches. I was proud of him. And Alex turned around and beat a kid he lost to last weekend. Some of our kids took some steps forward that we needed and some stayed the same or took a step back. To be a great team, everyone needs to be moving forward together.”
The Tide ended the day with a 40-33 win over Benton, which did win six of the 10 contested bouts, but three forfeits along with pins from Deluccia, Reed Hawkins and Murawski as well as a major decision by Gilliland put the Tide on the right side of the scoreboard.

In addition to Gilliland’s 5-0 performance, the Tide also got 3-2 days from Reed Hawkins (17-8), Murawski (15-9), Caleb Hendershot (15-9) and Brooks Hendershot (15-6). All three of Hawkins’ wins were pins, while all three of Brooks Hendershot’s came via forfeit. Murawski had a pair of decisions and the fall, while Caleb Hendershot had a pin, forfeit and decision. Cooper Haag (11-6) added a 2-2 day at 145 with a pin and a forfeit.
“There were matches that we were in and we just turned the wrong way once and that was the difference in the match,” Swatsworth said. “There are still a lot of things we need to work on, just wrestling knowledge. There are things these kids still need to understand. We’re young, but we’re getting there. But this is what we want to see. This is why we come to tournaments like this.”
The Golden Tide, who are 10-5 in dual meets this season, are back in action Jan. 24 and 25 at the Fred Bell Tournament at Grove City.
Clearfield 54, Curwensville 15
114 – Bo Aveni pinned Russell Bloom, 4:21 (6-0)
121 – Dakota Shugarts pinned Dean Swatsworth, 0:14 (12-0)
127 – Jackson Shugarts won by tech. fall over Hayden Queen, 21-4 1:49 (17-0)
133 – Bryndin Chamberlain dec. Dylan Deluccia, 4-0 (20-0)
139 – Cash Diehl pinned Javon Bunce, 0:48 (26-0)
145 – Colton Bumbarger won by tech. fall over Cooper Haag, 15-0 1:33 (31-0)
152 – Colton Ryan pinned Braxten Pierce, 0:50 (37-0)
160 – Ty Aveni pinned Reed Hawkins, 3:04 (43-0)
172 – Brady Collins won by tech. fall over Alex Murawski, 20-2 3:09 (48-0)
189 – Heath Hawkins pinned Hunter Ressler, 4:23 (48-6)
215 – Caleb Hendershot dec. Ryan Ludwig, 9-6 (48-9)
285 – Nick Bailor pinned Brooks Hendershot, 2:32 (54-9)
107 – Austin Gilliland pinned Xavier Lutz, 4:47 (54-15)
Port Allegany 58, Curwensville 15
127 – Ian Fitzsimmons pinned Hayden Queen, 1:48 (6-0)
133 – Ian O’Shea won by tech. fall over Dylan Deluccia, 15-0 5:37 (11-0)
139 – Isaac Postlewait pinned Javon Bunce, 1:02 (17-0)
145 – Brandon Furgeson pinned Cooper Haag, 1:45 (23-0)
152 – James Nichols pinned Braxten Pierce, 0:26 (29-0)
160 – Mason Gordon pinned Reed Hawkins, 2:48 (35-0)
172 – Alex Murawski dec. Zach Hungiville, 4-0 (35-3)
189 – Aiden Bliss pinned Heath Hawkins, 1:29 (41-3)
215 – Juuso Young pinned Caleb Hendershot, 1:09 (47-3)
285 – Brooks Hendershot won by forfeit (47-9)
107 – Austin Gilliland pinned Holden Nance, 2:14 (47-15)
114 – Collin Furgeson pinned Russell Bloom, 0:53 (53-15)
121 – Brennan Fillhart won by tech. fall over Dean Swatsworth, 19-4 1:59 (58-15)
Ridgway 38, Curwensville 35
133 – Nathan Steger pinned Javon Bunce, 0:38 (6-0)
139 – Owen Steger pinned Dylan Deluccia, 5:12 (12-0)
145 – Cooper Haag pinned Connor Baloga, 4:55 (12-6)
152 – Austin Young pinned Braxten Pierce, 0:54 (18-6)
160 – Reed Hawkins pinned Kaiden Garris, 1:20 (18-12)
172 – Benji Truchan maj. dec. Alex Murawski, 11-2 (22-12)
189 – Marcus Gerg maj. dec. Heath Hawkins, 13-3 (26-12)
215 – Caleb Hendershot pinned Beau Viglione, 1:59 (26-18)
285 – Brooks Hendershot won by forfeit (26-24)
107 – Austin Gilliland won by forfeit (26-30)
114 – Russell Bloom won by forfeit (26-36)
121 – Michael Copello pinned Dean Swatsworth, 1:14 (32-36)
127 – Eli Potts pinned Hayden Queen, 0:19 (38-36)
Curwensville 51, Brockway 20
139 – Colton Ross pinned Thomas Norris, 2:31 (0-6)
145 – Cooper Haag won by forfeit (6-6)
152 – Parker Pisarchick won by forfeit (6-12)
160 – Reed Hawkins pinned Collin Weir, 3:25 (12-12)
172 – Alex Murawski dec. Blake Pisarchick, 4-2 (15-12)
189 – Heath Hawkins pinned Ashden Bearfield, 3:39 (21-12)
215 – Madox Decker won by tech. fall over Caleb Hendershot, 18-2 3:03 (21-17)
285 – Jon Winnings dec. Brooks Hendershot, 2-1 TB (21-20)
107 – Austin Gilliland pinned Gage Park, 3:31 (27-20)
114 – Russell Bloom won by forfeit (33-20)
121 – Dean Swatsworth won by forfeit (39-20)
127 – Hayden Queen won by forfeit (45-20)
133 – Dylan Deluccia pinned Channing Kline, 0:52 (51-20)
Curwensville 40, Benton 33
152 – Cole Rooker pinned Braxten Pierce, 0:51 (0-6)
160 – Reed Hawkins pinned Khush Prajapati, 0:43 (6-6)
172 – Alex Murawski pinned Brady Thomas, 1:12 (12-6)
189 – Zachary Wolfe dec. Heath Hawkins, 7-0 (12-9)
215 – Caleb Hendershot won by forfeit (18-9)
285 – Brooks Hendershot won by forfeit (24-9)
107 – Austin Gilliland maj. dec. Sam Cumberland, 12-2 (28-9)
114 – Russell Bloom won by forfeit (34-9)
121 – Seth Kolb pinned Dean Swatsworth, 0:46 (34-15)
127 – Gunner Sternhagen pinned Hayden Queen, 1:29 (34-21)
133 – Daniel Sleiman pinned Javon Bunce, 0:44 (34-27)
139 – Dylan Deluccia pinned Nate Benedict, 0:50 (40-27)
145 – Nick Dautel pinned Thomas Norris, 0:46 (40-33)