CLARION — Three Curwensville Area High School wrestlers received high seeds for the 2017 District 9 Class AA Tournament during the seedings and pairings meetings of the 17 head coaches at Clarion University Sunday.
Sophomore Blake Passarelli was selected No. 2 at 113 pounds behind returning champion Keelan Kunselman of Brookville that could set up a rematch of their title bout at 106 last year when the Raider bantam registered a shutout.
No. 3 seeds were accorded to Golden Tide senior Kaleb Witherite at 182 and junior Steven McClure at 285.
Another trio of Golden Tide hopefuls drew lower seeds, freshman Zach Holland sixth in a very tough 106 bracket, sophomore Mason Gasper seventh at 120 and junior Dylan Myers seventh at 126.
Coach Dean Swatsworth had sought higher evaluations for Holland, Witherite and McClure, who was ranked No. 9 in the state by Off The Mat last week.
“I thought Steven would get a two seed, but there’s not much of a difference between two and three,” he said. “Kaleb’s could have gone either way, too.
“We wanted to try to get Zach a two or three, and it just didn’t happen because of the voting, so we’re okay where he is. The records in that class are amazing. One kid has more than 30 wins. Three have at least 20. And four are in the high teens.”
Curwensville will also have senior Ethan Collins at 132, sophomore Cole Bressler at 138 and senior Mason Lancaster at 170 entered in the tournament.
Clearfield Area High School will host the district tourneys for the second year in a row, with Class AA action getting under way Friday at 4 p.m. in Bison Gymnasium. The opening session will have two championship and two consolation rounds.
Saturday’s sessions will begin at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. with the top four finishers advancing to the Northwest Region Tournament at Sharon High School March 3-4.
In addition to Kunselman, Brookville boasts the other three returning champs.
Senior 120-pounder Gavin Park is seeking his third gold medal after reigning at 106 in 2015 and 113 last year.
Also hoping to repeat are senior Noah Cieleski at 182 and junior Xavier Molnar at 195, up from 170.
All are seeded No. 1, as are Anthony Glasl of Brockway at 106, Kai Sorbin of Brookville at 126, Tyler Thompson of Bradford at 138, Dillon Keane of Bradford at 145, Caleb Hetrick of Brookville at 152, Gage Arnold of Coudersport at 160, Garrett McClintick of Brockway at 170, Noah Cieleski of Brookville at 182, Xavier Molnar of Brookville at 195, Tyler Cook of Brookville at 220 and Colton McClain of Ridgway at 285.
Click here for the complete AA bracket courtesy Bob Imhof and the Ridgway Wrestling website, http://ridgwaypawrestling.com
