GROVE CITY – Derek Brothers was selected for the Tom Tomeo Most Promising Young Wrestler Award after winning the 112-pound title, and Curwensville had five other placewinners to finish fifth among the 24 teams in the 25th Fred Bell Memorial Tournament Friday and Saturday at Grove City High School.
The Golden Tide\’s Justin Johnston suffered a tough overtime loss in the finals at 135, while Brett McCracken placed fourth at 152, Jeff Thomas fifth at 145, Brett Sutika sixth at 125 and Nathan Russell sixth at 215.
\”Anybody who can get on the podium up there has really done something,\” Curwensville coach Duane Wriglesworth II said.
Curwensville amassed 129 points to wind up behind District 10\’s Erie Cathedral Prep (189.5), Commodore Perry (187.5) and Grove City (151) and District 9 rival and defending champion Redbank Valley (135.5).
\”Our goal was to finish in the top five,\” Wriglesworth said. \”With the size of the tournament, with several (Class) AAA teams and some quality AA teams, we thought that would be an accomplishment for where we are right now.
\”Overall, the coaching staff was very pleased how we wrestled this weekend. I really wasn\’t disappointed in anybody.\”
Brothers, one of only eight top seeds to make it to the top of the winner\’s stand, breezed into the finals with falls over Ed Culbertson in 21 seconds and Mercer\’s Tyler Angemeier in 2:34 and a 19-5 major decision over Washington\’s Pat Gouin.
The championship bout proved to be another matter for the Golden Tide sophomore.
Zach Julian of Laurel countered a single-leg shot for a takedown in the first period and still led 2-1 when Brothers engineered a takedown with 30 seconds and added a late tilt for a 5-2 victory and his third tourney gold medal of the season. He reigned at Redbank Valley and Cambria Heights.
\”Brothers had a very challenging match,\” Wriglesworth said. \”Julian was very, very good on his feet, and Brothers had a tough time getting in on his legs. In the third period, Brothers just got a knee snag and was able to bring it in and get an ankle and do a hip tip to score. Once he got behind, he was able to get a tilt for two back points.\”
Johnston, a second seed, also needed four wins to reach the finals.
He pinned Warren\’s Aaron Arnold in 1:44 and Attica\’s Jeremy Dominesey in 2:37 and then edged Sharpsville\’s Josh Shutley 6-4 and Commodore Perry\’s third seed Matt Scheimer 5-3.
The Golden Tide senior seemed on his way to victory against top seed Troy DeClair of Washington, too, with a 6-3 lead in the third period. However, DeClair tied the bout at 8-8 with two takedowns to force overtime and escaped with a 10-8 sudden victory via another takedown off a counter.
\”As far I\’m concerned, JJ really dominated that match,\” Wriglesworth said. \”I was really impressed how he wrestled. He was very quick on his shots and had very good mat awareness. He had the match won. He just made a couple of mental mistakes which cost him several points, but they were aggressive mistakes.
\”In overtime, JJ went to hit a standing dump and slipped off the elbow. I felt bad for him. He\’s really come a long way from two years ago.\”
After advancing to the semifinals with two falls, the fourth-seeded McCracken lost 6-0 to top seed and eventual champion Ben Anderson of Titusville. The Golden Tide senior nipped Franklin\’s Jacob Schevitz 1-0 for a shot at third place, but state-ranked Jordan Easter of Erie Prep beat him 4-2. Easter was the No. 2 seed.
Golden Tide junior Thomas had to wrestle seven times, and he emerged victorious in five bouts, including a 17-2 technical fall against Erie Prep\’s Jeremy Kuhn in the fifth-place match. Thomas went 3-1 in the wrestlebacks after losing to fourth seed Craig Johnson of Oil City 5-2 in the quarterfinals. Three of Thomas\’ wins were pins.
\”Thomas and McCracken had tough brackets,\” Wriglesworth said. \”They wrestled well considering the type of competition they faced.
\”Sutika and Russell were up against quality competition, too.\”
Both of the underclassmen posted 3-3 records.
In the fifth-place consolation finals, Sutika dropped a 6-5 verdict to Slippery Rock\’s Cory Scribal and Russell, the fourth seed, was pinned by Franklin\’s Jarrod Brawley for the second time in the tourney.
The Golden Tide\’s Tyler Peters (119) was 3-2 in the tourney while Greg Koptchak (103), Duane Wriglesworth III (140), Justin Smith (160) and Jarrett Sloppy (171) were 1-2. Wes McGarry (130), Matt Schultz (189) and Walter Koontz (0-2) were 0-2.
The Outstanding Wrestler Award went to Erie Cathedral Prep 160-ponder Nick Milan, who bested defending champion Jonathan Brothers of Redbank Valley 4-3 for his championship.
Redbank Valley did have one champ in 103-ponder Tyler McCauley, who was seeded third.
Curwensville returns to dual meet action Thursday, pitting its 5- 1 record against Marion Center.
Team Standings and Key
1. Erie Cathedral Prep (ECP), 189.5; 2. Commodore Perry (CP), 187.5; 3. Grove City (GC), 151; 4. Redbank Valley (RV), 135.5; 5. Curwensville (Cu), 129; 6. Attica, N.Y. (A), 123.5; 7. Fairview (Fa), 115; 8. Titusville (T), 114; 9. North East (NE), 109.5; 10. Sharpsville (S), 96; 11. Franklin (Fr), 93.5; 12. Midd-West (MW), 85.5; 13. Mercer (M), 83; 14. Cochranton (Co), 76; 15. Eisenhower (E), 63.5; 16. Washington (W), 61.5; 17. Erie McDowell (EM), 70; 18. Slippery Rock (SR), 47; 19. Oil City (OC), 46.5; 20. Laurel (L, 41; 21. Warren (W), 35.5; 22. Lakeview (L), 27.5; 23. Jamestown (J), 21; 24. West Middlesex (WS), 11.
Championships
103 – Tyler McCauley, RV, dec. Ian Abplanalp, GC, 7-2.
112 – Derek Brothers, Cu, dec. Zack Julian, L, 5-2.
119 – Jordan Powell, CP, dec. Lance Compton, A, 3-1.
125 – Rocco Welleck, ECP, dec. Chris Rowe, S, 3-1.
130 – Anthony Blaszcyk, ECP, major Dec. Nick Napierski, A, 12-0.
135 – Troy DeClair, W, dec. Justin Johnston, Cu, 10-8 (sv).
140 – Ty Knepp, MW, dec. Nick Endres, T, 7-4.
145 – Brian Greenlee, Fr, dec. Cody Northcutt, Co, 8-4.
152 – Ben Anderson, T, pinned Tyler Smith, CP, 2:35.
160 – Nick Milano, ECP, dec. Jonathan Brothers, RV, 4-3.
171 – Travis Booth, EM, dec. Logan Shirey, RV, 5-4.
189 – Tim DeFrances, CP, pinned Randall Wagner, ECP, 3:13.
215 – James Buchanan, S, dec. Brian Hooks, CP, 14-9.
285 – Phil Catrucco, S, dec. Mitch Straight, E, 4-3.
Additional results for Curwensville wrestlers:
Consolation Finals (Third Place)
152 – Jordan Easter, ECP, dec. Brett McCracken, Cu, 4-2.
Consolation Finals (Fifth Place)
125 – Cory Schiebel, SR, dec. Brett Sutika, Cu, 6-5.
145 – Jeff Thomas, Cu, won by technical fall over Jeremy Kuhn, EP, 17-2.
215 – Jarrod Frawley, Fr, pinned Nathan Russell, Cu, 4:52.
Consolation Semifinals
125 – Brady Fyffe, GC, dec. Sutika, Cu, 7-3.
145 – Sam Shirey, MW, dec. Thomas, Cu. 4-3.
152 – McCracken, CU, dec. Jacob Shevitz, Fr, 1-0.
215 – Caleb David, GC, dec. Russell, Cu, 4-1.
Consolation Quarterfinals
119 – Scott Spragle, ECP, dec. Tyler Peters, Cu, 11-6.
125 – Sutika, Cu, dec. Nic McCauley, RV, 6-4.
145 – Thomas, Cu, dec. Herbie Hennegan, M, 9-4.
215 – Russell, Cu, dec. Cody Buchleitner, RV, 12-5.
Championship Semifinals
112 – Brothers, Cu, won by forfeit over Pat Gouin, W.
135 – Johnston, Cu, dec. Matt Scheimer, CP, 5-3.
145 – Anderson, T, dec. McCracken, Cu, 6-0.
Consolation Third Round
103 – Chris Capitos, ECP, pinned Greg Koptchak, Cu, 3:42.
119 – Peters, Cu, won by injury default over Mitch Wilson, E.
125 – Sutika, Cu, dec. Tim Sandrock, OC, 7-3.
140 – Jordan Riel, E, major dec. Duane Wriglesworth III, Cu, 12-0.
145 – Thomas, Cu, pinned Linwood Thome, CP, 4:33.
160 – Keith Burns, T, pinned Justin Smith, Cu, 2:18.
171 – Nick Lohrer, Fa, pinned Jarrett Sloppy, Cu, 1:17.
215 – Russell, Cu, dec. Ross Runstedler, ECP, 7-3.
Championship Quarterfinals
112 – Brothers, Cu, major dec. Levi Morton, NE, 19-5.
119 – Powell, CP, dec. Peters, Cu, 7-5.
125 – Matt Gregory, ECP, pinned Sutika, Cu, 5:15.
135 – Johnston, Cu, dec. John Sutley, S, 6-4.
145 – Craig Johnson, GC, dec. Thomas, Cu, 5-2.
152 – McCracken, Cu, pinned Adam Kummer, SR, 4:44.
215 – Frawley, Fr, pinned Russell, Cu, 3:38.
Consolation Second Round
103- Koptchak, Cu, pinned Chris Braustein, F, :32.
130 – Aric Weber, Fa, pinned Wes McGarry, Cu, :24.
140 – Wriglesworth, Cu, dec. Aaron Hutchinson, OC, 7-6.
160 – Smith, Cu, pinned Dan Marlowe, Fr, 3:44.
171 – Sloppy, Cu, dec. Justin Spencer, GC, 9-2.
Consolation First Round
189 – Peter Jackson, Fa, pinned Matt Schultz, Cu, :46.
285 – Aaron Andre, EM, pinned Walter Koontz, Cu, 2:28.
Championship Second Round
103 – Ryan Gossett, SR, pinned Koptchak, Cu, 3:58.
112 – Brothers, Cu, pinned Tyler Angemeier, M, 2:34.
119 – Peters, Cu, major dec. Allen Schley, T, 9-1.
125 – Sutika, Cu, major dec. Kreig Spahn, Co, 11-2.
130 – Brandon Collins, CP, pinned McGarry, Cu, 1:46.
135 – Johnston, Cu, pinned Jeremy Dominesey, A, 2:37.
140 – Josh Eckendorf, Fa, pinned Wriglesworth, 2:39.
145 – Thomas, Cu, pinned Justin Eichynski, NE, 4:27.
152 – McCracken, Cu, pinned Jake Wurst, W, :52.
160 – Brothers, RV, pinned Smith, Cu, 2:50.
171 – Luke Pariso, A, major dec Sloppy, Cu, 11-3.
215 – Russell, Cu, dec. Tyler McGrath, NE, 7-1.
Championship Pigtail Round
112 – Brothers, Cu, pinned Ed Culbertson, OC, 2:34.
119 – Peters, Cu, won by technical fall over Josh Beatty, W, 18-3.
135 – Johnston, Cu, pinned Aaron Arnold, W, 1:44.
145 – Thomas, Cu, pinned Josh Nutty, A, 2:50.
189 – Dave Jennings, A, pinned Schultz, Cu, :35.
285 – Mitch Straight, E, pinned Koontz, Cu, :32.
