WEST BRANCH — Several local high school wrestling teams were in action over the weekend at the Ultimate Warrior Tournament in West Branch, one of the biggest competitions of the season.
Bradford finished 18th out of 31 competing schools, with several members of the team placing high in their respective classes.
“All the kids did really well,” Owls coach Jamie Miller said. “None of us can complain with the way any of them wrestled this weekend. It’s an extremely tough tournament, a lot of really tough AAA teams, a lot of really tough AA teams.”
Dillon Keane went 4-1 to finish second at 145 pounds for Bradford, while Tyler Thompson finished third at 132 pounds after going 5-1.
“Dillon Keane and Tyler Thompson both wrestled extremely well,” Miller said. “Unfortunately, both of them came up short of getting that top spot. Dillon finished second in an extremely hard-fought match. Tyler lost a tough one earlier in the rounds and ended up coming back and taking third.”
Derek Sunafrank finished sixth at 160 pounds with a record of 5-3.
“I think he had every stud in the state in his bracket at 160 (pounds),” Miller said of Sunafrank’s tough draw.
Miller wants to keep expectations high, and believes his team will only improve in the future.
“We fell short of our goal; our goal was to be in the top 50 percent, but a couple little mistakes cost us,” he said. “But for our first outing in that tournament, it’s not that big a deal to us. We’ll just get back to work, get ready for the postseason, and hopefully next year when we go to West Branch, we’ll meet our goal.”
Earning a spot in the top 10 were the Ridgway Elkers, who finished tied for seventh with Greater Latrobe.
Bryce Barclay came in second at 132 pounds, while Lucas McClain (138) and Logan McClain (145) both finished in third in their respective classes.
Other local wrestlers who performed well included Jake Zimmerman (fifth, 152), Isaac Zimmerman (fifth, 170), and Devon Norlin (sixth, 132) of Johnsonburg, and Dylan Pesock (sixth, 113) of Oswayo Valley.
Bald Eagle Area won the team competition, with Mifflin County (second) and St. Joe’s Catholic (third) rounding out the top three.
