District IX
 

Redbank takes team title with a ten-point margin over Greenville.

51st year of wrestling at Redbank
32nd year for the Christmas Tournament.
21st team title for Redbank.

Bryan Henry OW Award is shared by:

Keith Pavlekovky - Redbank
Adam Brochetti - Kittanning
Archives of Past Placewinners.
Bulldogs capture Redbank tourney
By CRAIG PHILLIPS
courtesy of The Derrick

NEW BETHLEHEM - Redbank Valley's Keith Pavlekovsky electrified a packed house Saturday by pinning returning state placewinner Tim Gadsy of Lakeview in the 112-pound finals to clinch the team title for the Bulldogs in the 32nd Annual Redbank Valley Christmas Tournament.

Pavlekovsky, a two-time state placewinner, shared the Outstanding Wrestling Award with Adam Brochetti of Kittanning. Brochetti claimed his third Redbank Valley crown with a 6-2 victory over defending PIAA Class AA state champion Francis Iorfido at 152 pounds.

Pavlekovsky's pin, which came in 3:32 on a whipover counter, gave the Bulldogs a total of 149 points. Runner-up Greenville, which finished with 139, could manage only a maximum of 148.

"(Keith) had a great match against a quality kid," Redbank coach Mike Kundick said. "It was a great tournament. I was a little worried after the semifinals because we were flat, but the kids came alive in the wrestlebacks and that's where tournaments are won."

Kundick's 'Dogs finished with a tournament-high eight placewinners.

Dustin Huffman - who upset the second and third seeds to reach the 160-pound finals - was pinned in 5:01 by defending champion Jimmy Gibson of Kennedy Catholic, but drew praise from Kundick.

"(Dustin) did a fantastic job," Kundick said, adding, "I was proud of all the kids, but we still have some work to do."

Delivering third-place finishes for the 'Dogs were Frank Magagnotti at 103, Joe Garrison at 119 and Greg Nolf at 130. Seth Hammond (125) and Rob Geist (171) were fifth while heavyweight Charles Boozer placed sixth.

Defending champion Kyle Cathcart, repeated his title at 189 pounds to lead Clarion to a ninth-place finish in the 18-team event with 851/2 points.

Cathcart, who remained unbeaten and has pinned all of his opponents this season, needed just 2:41 in the finals before using a chin-drop and reverse half to flatten Kittanning's Bill Bellas.

Bryan Kiskadden also reached the finals for the Bobcats, but dropped a 4-3 decision to Greenville's Chris Peterson at 125 pounds.

Peterson's winning points, ironically, came on a Peterson Roll reversal with :02 left in the second period.

"The competition was very keen," Clarion coach Randy Cathcart said. "This tournament has given us a lot of things to take back to the practice room to work on. We didn't have a great tournament, but this is the type of competition we need to get ready for the dual meet season."

Rounding out the Clarion placewinners was Matt Watterson, a returning state qualifier, with a fifth at 140 pounds.

Oil City, who along with Greenville and Lakeview had the second-most placewinners with six, did an admirable job in the wrestlebacks to place 10th with 82 points.

Max Koszalka led the Oilers with a third-place finish at 135 when he threw Cranberry's David Ruth for a five-point takedown in the first period of a 6-3 win in the consolation finals.

Jonah Davis, who posted a 5-0 win over Watterson in the consolation semifinals, placed fourth at 140 while Jacob Spuck was fourth at 103. Matt McClellan (112) and Matt Braun (119) earns fifths with Andy Ausel placing sixth at 189.

"I thought we did a nice job, everyone we started with (Saturday) went the whole way," Oiler coach Dan King said. "Everyone, except for McClellan, placed higher than their seeds so I would say the tournament was a success.

"(Davis) injured the MCL in his knee on Friday, so that hampered his performance."

Cranberry, which had five placewinners to finish 12th with 801/2 points, was led by Jerry Stralko's third-place finish at 125 pounds. Stralko earned a takedown with :01 left in overtime to post a 6-4 win over Moshannon Valley's Aaron Reifer in the consolation finals.

Joining him as Berry medalists with fourths were Ruth, Kory Slye (5th, 103), Cody Biddle (5th, 160) and Tyler Bell (6th, 119).

"We lost most of our overtime and one-point bouts or we could have done better," Cranberry coach Steve Rood said. "Stralko's third-place finish was good and Bell wrestled well and I feel he has a bright future."

Coudy wrestlers take tough stance
By TOM ROOF, The Times Herald January 03, 2002
When Clay Gooch took over the Coudersport High School wrestling program
three years ago, one of his goals was to get the Falcons exposed to tougher
wrestling on the state level.

Last week, the Falcons got a good look at what to expect for those who make
it the Northwest Regionals.

Competing for the first time in the Redbank Valley Tournament, Coudy placed
14th among 19 teams. The tourney included a number of District 10 schools in
addition to some of D-9's top teams in host Redbank, Brockway, and Clarion.

Redbank won the team title, followed by Greenville and Lakeview.

"We only took eight kids because we had a few others out for disciplinary
reasons, who might have placed," said Gooch. "Still, I thought for what we
had we did OK."

Coudy came away with three placewinners with freshman Brock Frederick
placing second at 103, junior Jeremiah Frederick 3rd at 145, and junior
Tyler Wagner fourth at 130.  Brock, seeded fourth, lost 8-2 in the finals to
Lakeview's second-seeded John Fleming after beating No. 1 seed Frank
Maganotti, of Greenville, 6-0, in the semifinals.

Wagner lost 4-0 in the consolation finals to RBV's Greg Nuff. Jeremiah
Frederick lost in the semis, 6-0, to Brockway's Scott Rendos, then edged
Elderton's Todd Cessna, 3-2, in the consi-finals.

Gooch, meanwhile, was glad to see his wrestlers get some tough competition.
"I think these kids learned a lot about where they are and where they need
to be," said Gooch.  "There was no letup in the two days there. It was one
tough match after another ... and I don't think these kids were prepared for
that. This was the first time they've been to a two-day tournament with that
type of constant competition ... but it was something we needed to see."

Among the winners were Rendos, Redbank's Keith Pavlekovsky (112),
Johnsonburg's Keith Miller (119), Brockway's John Gilbert (130), and
Clarion's two-time state titlist Kyle Cathcart (189).

Losing in the finals was returning state Class AA champion Francis Iorfido,
of Johnsonburg, who fell 6-2 to Kittaning's Adam Brochetti.

top       District IX