CLARION, Pa. – The Brookville Raiders had themselves at day at the District 9 2A tournament Saturday, Feb. 26, at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.
Not only did the Raiders advance 11 of 13 wrestlers to the Northwest Regional Tournament, winning the team title in the process (226 points), but 132-pounder Owen Reinsel was named the event’s Outstanding Wrestler and Dave Klepfer Coach of the Year.
Dave Klepfer (right) of Brookville was the Coach of the Year and Owen Reinsel (left) of Brookville was the Outstanding Wrestler. Photo by Kenn Staub
Watch the Outstanding Wrestler presentation
“It was a pretty incredible weekend for our program. You take 11 out of 13 to regionals that’s a pretty big number,” Klepfer said. “A bunch of guys put in a ton of hard work this year, and we built our schedule to prepare for tournaments like this.
“I felt like our kids performed the way they should have. I felt we had a couple letdowns, a couple missteps, but I felt like our kids performed at a pretty high level. I’m pretty happy.”
Of the Raiders advancing to the next weekend’s regional tournament in Sharon (Mar. 4-5), four will be going as champions.
Foremost among Brookville’s titlist was Reinsel with the senior laying claim to his fourth district championship with a 15-0 technical fall (4:33) over Brockway’s Parker Pisarchick.
Watch Reinsel’s win
Reinsel is now an eight-time district gold medalist, winning four individually and four as a member of Brookville’s dual meet championship teams (the dual meet era didn’t begin until 1999). By so doing, he becomes only the second eight-time District 9 gold medalist, joining Ridgway’s Garet Pisani (2007-2010).
Reinsel talked about his day
Pisani was on hand to witness Reinsel’s feat, having been inducted into the District 9
Hall of Fame earlier in the evening.
Brookville’s other champions were freshman Cole Householder (120 pounds), junior Brayden Kunselman (138 pounds), and senior Bryce Rafferty (215 pounds).
Householder earned his championship with a 5-2 victory over Redbank Valley’s Cole Bish.
Watch Householder’s win
Kunselman decisioned Harley Morris of Kane, 10-5, to secure his gold medal.
Unable to compete last season due to injury, Kunselman previously won a district championship in 2020.
Rafferty ascended to the top step of the podium with a 7-1 decision against Cranberry’s Brayden McFetridge. He also won the 215-pound championship last year.
It was also a good tournament for the Brockway with the Rovers leaving Clarion University with four champions. Brockway also finished in second place as a team with 156.5 points.
Sophomore Weston Pisarchick won the Rovers’ first title of the day, taking a 3-0 decision against Jake Carfley of Curwensville in the 113-pound final. Pisarchick was the district champion in 2021 at 106 pounds.
Two bouts after Pisarchick, it was 126-pounder Mark Palmer’s turn to win in the finals beating Port Allegany’s Chase Weimer, 8-4. A senior, this is Palmer’s first district championship after finishing as the runner-up the previous two seasons.
Seth Stewart, a Rover junior, beat Brookville’s Jackson Zimmerman, 6-2, for his first district title.
Another Brockway junior, Gavin Thompson, made short work of Sheffield’s Danah Campbell, pinning the Wolverine grappler early in the first period (0:42).
Watch Thompson’s pin
Johnsonburg also had multiple champions with Aiden Zimmerman at 160 pounds and Kaden Dennis at 172 pounds.
Zimmerman, a junior, took a 9-1 decision against Luke Ely of Kane. This was Zimmerman’s second district championship having won in 2020.
Dennis edged Brookville’s Easton Belfiore in his finals bout, 3-2. Also a junior, this was Dennis’s first district title after finishing in the runner-up spot the past two years.
Watch the end of Dennis’ victory
Cranberry, Curwensville, and Kane will each be represented by a district champion in Sharon as well.
The Berries’ title came in the first final of the evening; freshman 106-pounder Elijah Brosius shutting out Clarion’s Logan Powell, 6-0.
Curwensville’s Logan Aughenbaugh beat Cranberry’s Devyn Fleeger, 5-0, in the 152-pound final for his gold medal. Aughenbaugh, a sophomore, was third at districts in 2021.
Sophomore Reece Bechakas of Kane took a 6-1 decision against Clarion’s Mason Gourley for the 145-pound title.
In addition to the district champion and runner-up at each weight, the third- and fourth-place finishers also qualify for regionals. Results of the consolation semifinals follow.
Watch the parade of champions
106 pounds: Andrew Coriaty of Oswayo Valley won third with a 6-1 decision over Damien Brady of Curwensville.
113 pounds: Brookville’s Jared Popson secured a third-place finish with a 6-0 decision against Kai Stauffer of Port Allegany.
120 pounds: Colton Ross of Brockway pinned Port Allegany’s Christian Rothermel in the second period (2:15) of their third-place bout.
126 pounds: Ridge Cook of Redbank Valley took third, edging out Cranberry’s Conner Reszkowski, 4-3.
132 pounds: Curwensville’s Nik Fegert finished third with a 9-3 decision against Danny Delong of Cranberry.
138 pounds: Cranberry’s Dane Wenner pinned Port Allegany’s Peyton Styles in the third period (4:03) of their consolation semifinal.
145 pounds: Brecken Cieleski of Brookville posted a 12-0 major decision over Zach Shaffer of Curwensville to earn the third step of the podium.
152 pounds: Brookville’s Carson Weaver beat Ridgway’s Tyler Merritt, 7-4, for the third-place medal.
160 pounds: Coyha Brown of Brookville was leading Coudersport’s John Wright, 5-0, when he stuck the Falcons’ grappler in the second period (2:18) to take third.
172 pounds: Brockway’s Jack Smith won a close 2-1 decision for third place against Gavin Burgess of Port Allegany.
189 pounds: Alex Shaffer of Curwensville will head to Sharon as the third-place finisher courtesy of a first-period fall (0:54) against Port Allegany’s Juuso Young.
215 pounds: Coudersport’s Gavyn Ayers won a 5-3 victory over Miska Young of Port Allegany for third place.
285 pounds: Shawn Nystrom of Kane finished third by beating Porter Kahle of Brookville 7-6
Regional Qualifiers by School
Brookville (11): 1st place-4 2nd place-2 3rd place-4 4th place-1
Brockway (7): 1st place-4 2nd place-1 3rd place-2
Port Allegany (7): 2nd place-1 3rd place-1 4th place-5
Cranberry (6): 1st place-1 2nd place-2 3rd place-1 4th place-2
Curwensville (6): 1st place-1 2nd place-1 3rd place-2 4th place-2
Kane (4): 1st place-1 2nd place-2 3rd place-1
Johnsonburg (2): 1st place-2
Clarion (2): 2nd place-2
Coudersport (2): 4th place-2
Redbank Valley (2): 2nd place-1 3rd place-1
Sheffield (1): 2nd place-1
Oswayo Valley (1): 3rd place-1
Ridgway (1): 4th place-1
Rounding out the top five in the team race after Brookville and Brockway were Port Allegany (128.5 points), Cranberry (111 points), and Curwensville (110 points).
SIX D9 WRESTLERS WIN TITLES IN 3A
HYDE, Pa. – Six District 9 wrestlers took home championships at the District 4/9 Class 3A championships at Clearfield High School.
Clearfield had four of those champions – Brady Collins at 126 pounds, Nolan Barr at 138 pounds, Carter Chamberlain at 189 pounds, and Hayden Kovalick at 215 pounds – while St. Marys had two – Aiden Beimel at 106 pounds and Waylon Wehler at 172 pounds.
Williamsport took home the other seven individual titles and won the team championship with a score of 212.5 over Clearfield, which scored 201.5 thanks to three second-place finishers and three third-place finishers. Williamsport had two seconds and no third.
Here is a look at all 13 championship bouts starting with the six won by District 9 wrestlers.
The top four wrestlers advance to next week’s Northwest Regional in Altoona.
106 Pounds
Beimel took out Landyn Lukens of Selinsgrove High School, 3-0, in the finals.
The Dutch wrestler got a takedown with 30 seconds left in the first period and then an escape in the second for his scoring.
Xavier Lutz of Clearfield won the third-place bout with a 16-0 technical fall at 3:14 over Aubree Donahue of DuBois.
126 Pounds
Collins pinned Williamsport’s Devon Harris at 3:36 after dominating the Millionaire wrestler from the get-go.
Harris had two takedowns and two nearfalls in the first period alone to take an 8-1 lead after one period and then added another takedown and another nearfall in the second period (as well as an escape) and was leading 13-1 at the time of the pin.
Third-place went to Leo Martinez of Selinsgrove, whole beat Gabby Bradigan of Shikellamy with a pin 31 seconds in.
138 Pounds
Barr didn’t have to wrestle to get his title at 138 pounds, as DuBois’ Davey Augenabaugh wasn’t able to go and took the medical forfeit loss.
Barr had beaten Charles Keener of Shikellamy, 5-2, in the semifinals while Augenbaugh took down Brett Thompson of Bradford, 2-1 in double overtime.
Keener won the third-place match, 7-2.
172 Pounds
Wehler beat Clearfield’s Mark McGonigal, 7-2, in a bout that saw all the scoring from the second period on.
Wehler got an escape and a takedown at 1:46 to go up 3-0.
In the third period, both wrestlers got stall warnings before McGonigal got an escape to make it 3-1.
Wehler, though, put together two takedowns surrounded by a McGonigal escape, to open up a big lead.
Gage Wolfe of Shikellamy won the third-place bout by fall at 4:24.
189 Pounds
Chamberlain won, 6-4, over Sebastian Robinson of Williamsport.
A first-period takedown by Chamberlain gave him a 2-0 lead going to the second. He then got an escape in the third period to go ahead 3-0.
A takedown at 1:26 of the third period gave Chamberlain a seemingly comfortable 5-0 lead.
But Robinson got an escape with 41 seconds to go and then a takedown with 20 seconds left to make it 5-3 before Chamberlain earned an escape with 11 seconds left to seal the victory.
Tucker Teats of Selinsgrove won the third-place bout by fall (4:30) over DuBois’ Ryan White.
215 Pounds
Kovalick won by medical over Selingrove’s Steven Miller.
Kovalick won by fall at 56 seconds over Williamsport’s Charlie Lundy in the semifinals, while Miller beat Mason Rebuck of Shikellamy by fall at 59 seconds.
113 Pounds
Cael Nasdeo of Williamsport beat Evan Davis of Clearfield for the title by technical fall (16-1 at 5:20).
Punxsutawney’s Dysen Gould took third with a big-time fall at 1:55 over Shikellamy. Gould was trailing 6-2 at the time of the fall.
120 Pounds
Luke Seagraves of Williamsport beat Cole Neil of St. Marys by fall at 4:27.
Clearfield’s Adam Rougeaux took third with a 9-2 decision over Bradford’s Devan Poe.
132 Pounds
Braden Bower of Williamsport took home the title with a 9-1 major decision over Shikellamy’s Isaac McGregor.
DuBois’ Brendan Orr won the third-place match with a 3-1 win over Clearfield’s Ty Aveni.
145 Pounds
Williamsport’s Riley Bower beat Austin Mitchell of DuBois, 17-1 technical fall (4:24), for the title.
Connor Wetzel of Shikellamy beat St. Marys’ Andrew Wolfanger, 2-1. Wetzel’s first-period takedown was the difference.
152 Pounds
Carter Weaver of Williamsport beat Selinsgrove’s Aiden Gaugler, 7-4, for the title.
Karson Kline of Clearfield won the third-place match with a 4-2 overtime decision over Lane Dellaquilla of St. Marys. Kline got a sudden victory takedown with just eight seconds left in the overtime period.
160 Pounds
Roman Morrone of Williamsport won the title with a 5-2 decision over Coltyn Sempko of Shikellamy, 5-2.
Lukas Laktash of Bradford won the third-place match with a 5-0 decision over Isaac Dellaquilla.
285 Pounds
Charles Crewes of Williamsport rallied to beat Oliver Billotte, 4-3, for the title.
Billotte led 3-0 in the middle of the second and was up 3-1 at the end of the second.
Crewes then got an escape nine seconds into the third period to make it 3-2 before getting a takedown with just 29 seconds left in the third period.
Chris Rossetti contributed to this story
