DUBOIS — The competition at Saturday’s District 9 Wrestling Class AA Team Championships was closer than in recent years, with both Johnsonburg and Port Allegany, the two Allegheny Mountain League squads in the field, testing perennial frontrunner Brookville. Once again, though, it was the Raiders wearing the gold medals and posing for pictures with the championship plaque when the day’s action was complete.
After outlasting the Rams, 40-30, in a semifinal that came down to the last bout, the six-time defending Double-A champs built a substantial lead against the Gators in the final before fending off a Port comeback to win by a 39-33 score, wrapping up the school’s seventh consecutive team title and 11th overall.
Brookville (21-2), whose only losses this season came to fellow PIAA powerhouses Reynolds and Chestnut Ridge in last month’s Ultimate Duals, will face District 2 champion Tunkhannock in Thursday’s first round of the Class AA state tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Johnsonburg (16-5) started the tournament with nine pins in a convincing 54-24 quarterfinal rout over No. 5 seed Curwensville (8-9), setting up the third match of the season between the fourth-seeded Rams and the top-ranked Raiders.
Brookville eked out close wins in the first two meetings, 39-31 and 42-37, and this time was no different. Johnsonburg won seven of the 10 contested weight classes, getting pins from Cole Casilio and decisions from Aiden Zimmerman, Tyler Watts, and Wyatt Shaffer to take an early lead, but four forfeits and bonus-point wins by Elliott Park (pin) and Brayden Kunselman (major decision) helped Brookville craft a 34-15 cushion heading into the final four bouts.
The Rams’ Nolan Shaffer and Dalton Stalhi notched back-to-back falls and teammate Cole Haight followed with a 5-0 decision to close the gap to 34-30, sending the Elk County contingent in the crowd into a frenzy, but Brookville 152-pound senior Wyatt Kulik closed out the match with a third-period fall to put the Raiders in the finals for the tenth year in a row.
The other semifinal was a rematch from last year’s tournament, with third-seeded Port Allegany (11-3) once again springing the mild upset on No. 2 Redbank Valley (15-3), this time by a 36-22 score.
With the match beginning at 160 pounds, the two teams traded wins through the upper weight classes, with Taro Tanaka, Isaak Baumgarner, and Justin Young earning decisions for the Gators and the state-ranked trio of Hudson Martz, Aidan Gardner, and Kobe Bonanno (pin) countering for the Bulldogs.
Port’s strength all season has been in its lightweights, and the Gators wasted little time proving it against RV, winning six bouts in a row to build a commanding lead. Following Chase Weimer’s 7-0 decision over Cole Bish in a matchup of state-ranked 106-pounders, the Bulldogs chose to forfeit to Bryent Johnson, slotted fifth at 113 in the latest PA Power Wrestling Class AA poll, and bump 23-match winner Ridge Cook up to 120. The move backfired when Port’s Scott Fuller scored the only two takedowns of the match and added a reversal in a 6-1 decision over Cook, and wins from Braedon Johnson (pin), Isaiah Caden (decision), and Eli Petruzzi (forfeit) locked up the team victory.
“I kind of figured it could either be really close or one-sided, just the way a lot of the matchups went. Probably our lowest-scoring match of the year. I think it’s a testament to (the fact that) they have a good team and we have a good team,” Port coach B.J. Greenman said. “Today, our kids just wrestled well. A lot of the swing matches went our way, and that’s what turned the match.”
That result set up a Port Allegany-Brookville final for the second year in a row, with the Gators seeking a reversal of last season’s 45-21 setback. A Baumgarner pin gave Port the early lead, but the Raiders, led by their six-pack of state-ranked wrestlers, responded with seven consecutive wins — six by either fall or major decision — to pile up a 33-6 margin.
The Gators clawed their way back into the match via pins by Braedon Johnson and Petruzzi, a forfeit to Caden, and a third-period reversal for a gritty 6-5 win by Montgomery Tanner, making it 33-27 Raiders with two weights remaining. But as he did against Johnsonburg, Kulik slammed the door shut with a pin, kicking off the celebration from the Brookville wrestlers and fans.
“We gave up bonus points in seven matches. That’s the difference in the match. Frustrating…just because that’s just a ‘will’ type of thing, and we missed out on that. I think our kids are still a little gun shy when it gets onto a big stage. A couple of our guys are getting past that, but the team as a whole, we’re not there yet,” Greenman said. “Hopefully we can get there for the postseason. And we have most of these kids back next year, so hopefully we can capitalize on that and do better next year.”
Port is back on the mat tonight, hosting Ridgway in a non-league match before closing out the regular season with AML contests against Kane and Oswayo Valley, while Johnsonburg has AML matches at Bradford and Kane remaining on the schedule.
District 9 Class AA Team Championship
BROOKVILLE 39, PORT ALLEGANY 33
106 – Cayden Walter (B) pinned Chase Weimer (PA), 1:37
113 – Owen Reinsel (B) major decisioned Bryent Johnson (PA), 10-0
120 – Brayden Kunselman (B) decisioned Scott Fuller (PA), 6-1
126 – Braedon Johnson (PA) pinned Josh Popson (B), 1:12
132 – Isaiah Caden (PA) won by forfeit
138 – Eli Petruzzi (PA) pinned Coyha Brown (B), 1:55
145 – Montgomery Tanner (PA) decisioned Parker Fleming (B), 6-5
152 – Wyatt Kulik (B) pinned Ethan DeBockler (PA), 1:38
160 – Taro Tanaka (PA) won by forfeit
170 – Isaak Baumgarner (PA) pinned Hayden Kramer (B), 3:42
182 – Elliot Park (B) major decisioned Dalton Distrola (PA), 10-1
195 – Cole LaBenne (B) major decisioned Derek Kallenborn (PA), 12-3
220 – Nathan Taylor (B) pinned Justin Young (PA), 3:03
HWT – Colby Whitehill (B) pinned Owen Roboski (PA), 0:23
