CURWENSVILLE — The three Curwensville Area High School wrestlers will take to the Sharon High School mats needing a win in their only action Friday evening to advance to the Northwest Region Class AA semifinals.
“That’s our goal,” Golden Tide coach Dean Swatsworth said. “They all have byes in the pigtail round, and we’re hoping they make it through the quarters and then see what happens Saturday.”
Advancing to the semifinals would enhance their prospects of placing in the top three Saturday night for a free pass to the PIAA Championships in the Hershey Giant Center next week.
Senior 152-pounder Shae Bloom (29-1) will be seeking his fourth trip to Chocolatetown, having qualified for the Class AAA tourney twice while at DuBois before becoming Curwensville’s first placewinner since 2012 by claiming fifth at 138 last March.
Freshman 106-pounder Blake Passarelli (25-7) and sophomore 220-pounder Steven McClure (6-3) will be making their debuts at the regional level after finishing second and third respectively, in the District 9 Tournament last weekend.
Bloom, a four-time district gold medalist working on a 21-bout winning streak, is one of 21 finalists returning from last year, eight of whom climbed to the top of the winner’s stand.
That’s where the Golden Tide middleweight wants to be after losing to Saegertown’s Tyler Vath in the 138 championship bout a year ago.
Bloom’s first opponent will be a District 10 qualifier, either fourth-placer Nick Enos (24-8) of Sharpsville or sixth-placer Adam Fish (17-7) of Seneca. Fish has placed second and fourth twice in his previous region appearances.
District 10 champ Nick Monico (34-4) of Saegertown is in the top half of the bracket along with District 9 runner-up Caleb Hetrick, who lost 7-1 to Bloom last week.
Swatsworth noted Monico won 3-1 in overtime when they met at Brookville’s Ultimate Duals this season.
“If you’re looking at it on paper, that looks good for Shae, but sometimes wrestling styles can make a difference,” Swatsworth said.
Monico is a three-time state placewinner but has yet to win a region crown. He and Bloom are ranked sixth and seventh by Off The Mat.
Swatsworth liked Passarelli’s draw when he saw it, for the Golden Tide bantam draws District 10 bronze medalist Devan Davis (29-7) of Cochranton, whom he pinned in 3:34 at the Fred Bell Tournament at Grove City in late January.
District 10 champ Beau Bayless (32-7), a Reynolds freshman, also is at the top of the bracket and has split two matches with District 9 titlist Keelan Kunselman (25-10) of Brookville.
Also in the bottom half with Kunselman are Ridgway’s Kyle Bush (25-7), whom Passarelli edged 6-4 in the district semifinals, and Grove City’s Cory Bable (21-11), who defeated Passarelli 7-3 at the Fred Bell tourney.
“We told Blake he just needs to show up on Friday and Saturday and be ready to wrestle,” Swatsworth said.
McClure, who missed most of the season because of an injury, will go against District 10 runner-up Bryce Laughlin (30-3) of Sharon with the winner most likely challenging District 9 champ Ethan Budd (27-2) in the semis.
Last week, McClure lost 10-2 to Budd, who beat Laughlin 15-2 at the season-opening Hickory Invitational, according to Swatsworth.
The returning champs are Brookville’s Gavin Park at 113, up from 106; Jamestown’s Faris Messai at 120, up from 113; Brookville’s Taylor Ortz at 132, up from 120; Reynolds’ Seth Hogue at 145, up from 126; Fort LeBoeuf’s Jarret Carter at 138, up from 132; Smethport’s James Duffy back at 145; Franklin’s Dakota Geer back at 182 and Reynolds’ Cole Rickert back at 220.
Brockway 120-pounder Ryan Carlson was the champion at 106 two years ago.
All won district titles last week except Rickert, who placed third.
Ortz, Carter and Rickert are two-time region champions.
Geer is a defending PIAA gold medalist.
Reynolds 126-pounder Cole Matthews won the 120 crown after losing 4-2 to Ortz in the region finals.
Friday’s session begins at 5:30 with the pigtail round, followed by the quarterfinals and the consolation pigtails.
The Saturday morning session will feature the championship semifinals, then the consolation quarterfinals and semifinals.
The consolation finals will begin at 3 p.m. with the Parade of Champions slated for 5:15 and the championship finals at 5:30.
Click here to see the complete brackets courtesy Bob Omhof’s Ridgway Wrestling.