NEW BETHLEHEM – Two quick pins by top seed Derek Brothers, a pair of falls by second seed Jeff Thomas and an upset by sixth seed Justin Johnston highlighted a strong performance by the Curwensville Area High School wrestling team in the marathon first session of the Redbank Valley Invitational Holiday Tournament Friday night.
Fourth seeds Tyler Peters and Brett McCracken will join Brothers, Thomas and Johnston in the semifinals Saturday morning, while seven other Golden Tide matmen will try to contribute team points in the wrestlebacks and hopefully earn high finishes.
\”We\’re very happy where we\’re at (with five in the semis),\” Curwensville coach Duane Wriglesworth II said. \”Our goal is to place eight, and we\’ve got some kids in the consolation brackets we\’re hoping will place.\”
The Golden Tide was atop the standings in the 19-team tourney after the pigtail and preliminary rounds and is right in the thick of the chase with a dozen survivors of the first day.
Johnston, who pinned Grove City\’s Kirby Buchanan at 2:44 in his first match at 135 pounds, gave Curwensville a big boost with his sudden victory over third seed Marquise Norris of Sharon in the quarterfinals. Johnston engineered a takedown in the first overtime period for the 6-4 win.
Brothers was on the mats less than a minute, pinning Coudersport\’s Justin Barentine in 21 seconds and Keystone\’s Janett Book in 30 seconds at 112.
Thomas was almost as impressive at 145 with falls against North East\’s Justin Elchynski in 4:40 and West Middlesex\’s Cody Sutton in 38 seconds.
Peters advance at 119 by decking Cranberry\’s Dan Kahle in 2:34 and beating Elderton\’s Domingo Smith 7-3.
McCracken upheld his seed at 152 with a 10-2 major decision against Clarion\’s Joel Matticks and a 6-3 decision against Redbank Valley\’s fifth seed A.J. Magagnotti.
Five Golden Tide matmen won in the preliminary round and then lost in the quarterfinals.
At 103, Greg Koptchak pinned Duncan Wingard of West Middlesex in 1:19 before being pinned by Tyler McCauley of Redbank Valley in 3:45.
At 125, Brett Sutika got by Clarion\’s Ricky Elliot 9-6 but then was pinned by Indiana\’s second seed Martin Blashock in 3:33.
At 160, Justin Smith pinned Cochranton\’s Shane Hites in 4:44 but ran into top seed Jonathan Brothers of Redbank Valley and was pinned in 20 seconds.
At 171, Jarrett Sloppy pinned North East\’s Scott Cooney in 4:47 before losing 11-5 to Sharon\’s Eric King.
At 215, sixth seed Nathan Russell blanked Redbank Valley\’s Cody Buchleitner 12-0 before falling to Grove City\’s third seed Caleb David 6-0.
Two of Curwensville\’s three first-round loser are still alive in the wrestlebacks, 130-pounder Wes McGarry getting a bye after losing by technical fall to top seed Kyle Eisaman of North East, and 140-pounder Duane Wriglesworth III rebounding from a 6-3 loss to Aaron Arbogust of Lakeview with a wild 14-12 decision over Josh Klenz of North East.
Heavyweight Walter Koontz was eliminated when he was pinned in 41 seconds by Jordan Kucinski of Indiana and in 2:09 by Seth Updegraff of Oil City.
