St. Marys 9 & 10 year olds place first as a team at Area V Tournament

The St. Marys 9 & 10 year olds earned the top spot out of the 20 teams competing at the 2023 Area V Youth & JH Tournament in Clearfield over the weekend. St. Marys had five wrestlers finish on the podium, including four champions and one third place finisher.

St. Marys finished first as a team with 100 points. Port Allegany was second with 78.5 points, and was followed by Bradford in third with 57 points, Brookville in fourth with 56 points, Kane in fifth with 55 points, Curwensville in sixth with 53 points, Punxsutawney in seventh with 48 points, Johnsonburg in eighth with 40.5 points, Ridgway in ninth with 39 points, Clearfield in 10th with 27 points, West Branch in 11th with 25 points, DuBois in 12th with 21 points, Clarion in 13th with 16 points, Clarion Area in 14th with 15.5 points. Smethport in 15th with 14 points, Union in 16th with 12 points, Cameron County in 1th with 11 points, Marion Center in 18th with seven points, and Keystone and Redbank Valley tied for 19th with zero points.

55 pounds

Cash Cunningham was listed as being in action for St. Marys in the 55-pound weight class. Cunningham entered the tournament as the eighth seed but was listed as forfeiting both his quarterfinal and consi of 4 bouts.

65 pounds

A pair of wrestlers were in action for St. Marys in the 65-pound weight class.

Rocco Ruffner entered as the third seed and Max Keebler entered as the 16th seed. Both had byes in the round of 16 and had to face off against each other in the quarterfinals. Ruffner won the matchup by a 10-2 major decision to advance to the semifinals, while Keebler dropped into the consolation bracket.

In the semifinals, Ruffner lost an 8-6 decision to second seeded Trey Jackson of Bradford.

In the consolation bracket, Keebler had a bye in consi of 8 #2 and then took on seventh seeded Zeke Whitenak of Johnsonburg in the consi of 4, winning by a 5-4 decision.

Both Keebler and Ruffner were in action in the consi semis, with Keebler losing a 4-2 decision in sudden victory to fifth seeded Vincent Ferraro of Brookville and Ruffner pinning ninth seeded Cael Norlin of Ridgway in 3:25 after building an 8-2 lead.

Ruffner and Ferraro faced off in the third place bout, with Ruffner winning by a 12-0 decision to finish third in the weight class.

85 pounds

Eli Meyer entered the 85-pound weight class as the top seed and had a bye in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Meyer took on fourth seeded Evan Fitzsimmons of Port Allegany, winning by fall in 30 seconds.

In the championship bout, Meyer took on third seeded Greyson Yingling of Port Allegany, winning by fall in 28 seconds to finish first in the weight class.

90 pounds

Vincent Penn was the top seed in the 90-pound weight class and opened the competition with a bye in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Penn took on fourth seeded Rylan Yingling of Port Allegany, winning by a 7-0 decision.

In the championship bout, Penn faced off against second seeded Dylan Putt of Clearfield. Penn built an 8-3 lead in the match before winning by fall in 3:36 to finish first in the weight class.

95 pounds

Brayden Steinbach was the top seed in the 95-pound weight class and took on fourth seeded Cael Potter of Clearfield in the semifinals. Steinbach went up 14-0 in the first period before winning by fall in 1:52.

In the championship bout, Steinbach took on second seeded Nolan Aughenbaugh of Clearfield and won by fall in 27 seconds to finish first in the weight class.

105 pounds

Jayden Lang entered the competition as the top seed in the 105-pound weight class. Facing off against fourth seeded Michael Sutter of Punxsutawney in the semifinals, Lang won by fall in 1:01.

In the championship bout, Lang took on second seeded Devin Klink of Ridgway, coming up with the pin in 35 seconds to finish first in the weight class.

120 pounds

Nicholas Frey was in action for St. Marys at 120 pounds.

Frey entered the competition as the seventh seed and faced off against second seeded Nick Neeper of Curwensville in the quarterfinals. Neeper went up 5-0 in the bout before coming up with the pin in 30 seconds.

Dropping into the consolation bracket, Frey faced third seeded Blayze Bumbarger of Clearfield in the consi of 4. Bumbarger won by fall in 13 seconds.