"I just feel very blessed and fortunate to have a group of young men to work with like I have this year," Cranberry coach Dustin Wenner said at the end of the day Saturday. He will be taking five of his wrestlers to Hershey to compete in the PIAA AA Championships. Two of them are his own sons.

His younger son Dalton Wenner, the District 9 champion, was the North West AA Regional champion at 107 with a decisive win over Sierra Chiesa, the District 10 champion.

'I'm pretty emotional right now," coach Wenner said following Dalton's victory. "Having my own son win a North West regional title... God has certainly blessed me with a tough young man here and I'm very proud of him."

"It's an honor just to do it, wrestle, be out there and do my best," the champion humbly said.

Dalton Wenner went into the final against the first-ever female District 10 champion and state qualifier having defeated her earlier in the season. He knew she was going to be tough.

​Early in the finals match, he found himself in a position to put her into a cradle and took full advantage of the situation.

​"I had a chance to pin her and I was going to try to capitalize," he said. "It just happened, got into it and just went for it."

Dalton's sparring partner, Elijah Brosius is going to states for the second year in a row. Coach Wenner pointed out how this connection is important for success.

The two wrestlers push each other just makes them both better, Wenner said.
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Cranberry ended up in fourth place out of 39 teams represented at the regionals and has five moving on to states. 

"... When (the) season began, I thought we could possibly send two or three kids to the state tournament but not five," coach Wenner said. "But due to the great work ethic of these kids all season, they proved me wrong."

It will be a return trip for Brosius, who medaled in the 107 bracket last year. He was able to punch his ticket to Hershey in the 121 bracket this year with a 9-1 win over Cole Bish of Redbank Valley in the consolation semifinals and a third-place finish over Sebastian Chiesa of Northwestern with a 9-5 decision. Brosius was 3-1 on the weekend. 

Sophomore Conner Reszkowski was 3-2 on the weekend on the way to a fourth-place finish in the 133 weight class. He beat Parker Pisarchick of Brockway 13-7 in the consolation semifinals before dropping a 7-4 decision to Brody Beck of Cambridge Springs. 

Dane Wenner pinned Cash Morrell of Cochranton in 0:36 to earn a spot in the 139 third-place match against  Ben Reynolds of St. Mary's. Wenner controlled the match from the first period, logging a 10-4 at the end of the match. He was 4-1 on the weekend.

For the Rockets, Brock Covell added two more wins toward his quest for 100. He pinned Gabriel Jordan of Saegertown in 2:57. Then in the quarters pinned Aiden Bliss of Port Allegany in 0:44. He will face Jalon Wagner of Reynolds in the semis. Covell wrestled Wagner last weekend in a low scoring 1-0 match that ended with the Raider winning. 

Titusville's other wrestlers moved to the consolation bracket. Sawyer Wolfkeil lost to Cash Diehl of Clearfield in the 107 weight class. In the 139 division, Nate Stearns pinned Logan McDonald of Youngsville in 3:57 before losing to Brady Collins of Clearfield in a 17-1 technical fall. Gavin Donald suffered a first-round 2-0 loss to Nik Fegert of Curwensville​ at 145. For the 152 class, Landen Wolfkiel 7-5 lost to Caullin Summers of Sharpsville. 

Other Crawford County wrestlers advancing into the semifinal matchups include:

• Carter Beck of Saegertown (114) will wrestle Aiden Beinel of St. Mary’s.
• Hunter Gould of CASH (127) will wrestle Alex Rueberger of Sharpsville.
• Brody Beck of Cambridge Springs (133) will wrestle JoJo Przybcien of Fort LeBoeuf.
• Gunnar Gage of Cambridge Springs (145)  will face Nik Fegert.
• Collin Hearn of CASH (160) will face Mason Suavity.

Damon Curry and his teammates gave the Franklin fans lots to cheer about Friday night as the Knights beat rival Oil City 55-39 in the District 10 3A Championship at Slippery Rock University.

“It’s a three-peat,”  was the chant of the night following the Franklin victory. 

Curry, who had a rather quiet first half, came out like lightning in the third quarter. He scored 12 of his game-high 20 points, including a slam dunk off a fast break that got the fans excited. He was done lighting the field house on fire - three minutes later he banked in a half-court buzzer beater that sent the Franklin fans into a tizzy..

“I put it up there. It looked pretty good. I just waited for it to drop,” Curry said after the game.

The basket secured Franklin a 42-21 lead after three and a huge boost of momentum in a contest that started out slowly.

Both the Oilers and the Knights struggled to find successful shots in the first quarter. Franklin scored first on a field goal from Curry, but Oil City’s Jake Hornbeck quickly responded. This started a back-and-forth battle of missed buckets and defensive rebounds that made the game feel more like tennis and less like basketball. 

At the end of the first quarter, Franklin had a slim lead of 9-5.

The second quarter opened much the same with a quick bucket from Franklin’s Dreyden Payne that was answered by Hornbeck again. 

Then the Knights seemed to find a rhythm that the Oil City defense had disrupted in the first eight minutes.

Franklin went on a 10-point run with baskets from Johnathan Leccia, Cole Buckley, Ethan Owens and Curry. It was Hornbeck who finally moved the Oil City score forward again. But the damage was done; the Oilers would not be able to recover from the 21-9 deficit. 

The Knights would add five more points and the Oilers would get four more before the half ended with a score of 26-13. 

The third quarter belonged to Payne and Curry. Payne played strong defense and was able to convert one of his two steals into a fast break bucket. Curry closed out the period with a nine-point run for the Knights. Oil City’s Cameron VanWormer finally pitched in two points to go along with six from Hornbeck to try to keep the Oilers in the game.

It was Oil City's senior duo who pulled together the team’s strongest quarter to finish out the game. VanWormer had nine of his 11 that quarter and Hornbeck recorded four more. But Franklin used a balanced attack to stay out of striking distance. 

With 30 seconds remaining, both teams cleared their bench to give additional players a chance to experience time in the big game. Oil City senior Matt Ames made the most of the opportunity and sank a three-pointer with only two seconds remaining.

The Knights won 55-39 to earn the team’s third consecutive district championship. Oil City had to settle for second place again after losing to Fairview last year in the 4A finals. 

Curry had a game-high 20 points. Wood contributed 11, including three treys. Payne had eight. Leccia had six, including two notable reverse layups. Owens and Buckley each had five.

Hornbeck worked hard for the Oilers, putting up 17 points to lead the team. VanWormer had 11, Ethen Knox had six, Ames had three and Sayyid Donald had two. 

Having a Venango-only championship game was quite the feat, according to Franklin coach Jason Fulmer. He was excited about his team’s victory, but also what a Route 8 rivalry championship contest meant about the state of basketball in Venango County.

“It speaks more of what Bundy’s done and what we’ve done with Venango County basketball than anything else,” Fulmer said about his squad and his brother’s Oilers. He predicted back in the summer that the two squads would likely meet in the District 10 finals. “It’s exciting.”

For many of the players on Fulmer’s team, it is their third time standing in the victor’s line of the championship game. "It speaks volumes of the guys,” he said. “The more and more we do it… we get better at it.”

He complimented Curry’s shooting throughout the game, Payne’s play off the bench as well as the remainder of the team’s work and drive to win. It is something that helped them overcome a slow start to the season that was affected by injuries.  

“I said it back then, don’t judge us in December. Judge us in January and February and now we are into March,” Fulmer added. 

Curry was among those making his third appearance in a championship game, having played off the bench as a freshman and a starter the last two years. After a strong showing, the junior spent time bragging about his teammates.

“He played a hell of a game,” Curry said about Payne. 

“He’s a great teammate to have,” he added about Wood, who he has played alongside since the third grade.  

Payne echoed the team focus needed to win year after year. “It’s not just me,” he answered when asked about his impressive game stats. “It’s the rest of the team that helped me.”

Curry, Payne and the rest of the squad will take a few days to rest and get back to work polishing up their play for the opening round of the PIAA tournament. Getting passed the first game has been a struggle for the Knights the last two years, but Curry and his teammate seem up for the challenge. 
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“I’m ready to see what happens,” Payne said. ​

Wenner (28-3) will start the competition with a first-round bye in the 107 bracket. When the freshman steps onto the mat in the second round, he will face either Hunter Chew of Harbor Creek (27-11) or Adika Fiscus of Warren (26-9). It will be his first time facing either opponent this season. Wenner's had a good season only losing one contested match when he moved up a weight in order to wrestle a top opponent in Franklin’s Cael Dailey at 114. His other two losses were injury defaults at the tournament late last year.

Titusville’s freshman Sawyer Wolfkeil (27-18) will also compete at 107 and opens the competition with a match against Cash Diehl of Clearfield (26-10). 
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Cranberry’s Elijah Brosius (27-9) will look to repeat his medal-winning performance at the 2022 regionals, but this year in the 121 weight class. Last year Brosius came in third in the region on his way to an eighth-place finish at states. As a sophomore, he enters this year’s competition with a first-round bye and will face either Jacob Rodgers of North East (23-8) or Sebastian Chiesa of Northwestern (29-7)

Fellow Berry sophomore Conner Reszkowski comes into the 133 bracket also the a record of  27-9 and a first-round bye. Reszkowski will be building on his experience from last year’s regionals, where he placed fifth. He will open his competition with a match against either Blake Foulk of Cochranton (27-16) or Brody Beck of Cambridge Springs (30-8). Earlier this year Reszkowski defeated Foulk with a 12-1 major decision. 

Both the Berries and the Rockets have wrestlers in the 139 class. Cranberry’s Dane Wenner (31-8) will kick off the tournament with a match against Blake Glass of Fort LeBoeuf (20-18). While Titusville’s Nate Stearns (26-9) will wrestle Logan McDonald of Youngsville (26-13). It will be a first-time meeting between Wenner and Glass, but the fifth time for Stearns and McDoanld. Earlier this season Stearns beat McDonald 5-1, 10-7 and 1-0. McDonald won one of the matchups in January by a margin of 2-1. 

Gavin Donaldson of Titusville (29-16) will meet Nik Fegert of Curwensville (26-11) when the action starts for the 145 bracket. The pair wrestled early in the season with Fegert recording a pin in 5:58. Donaldson will be looking to avenge that loss and improve on his regional experience from last year, when he did not place. 

Devyn Fleeger Cranberry (25-13) will take on Mitchell Tingley of Commodore Perry (19-15) in the first round of the 152 weight class. Fleeger, a junior, was one of the six Berries to qualify for regionals in 2022, but did not place. 

A last-minute spot in the 152 bracket opened up for Titusville’s Landen Wolfkiel (21-12) after the District 10 fifth-place finisher, Christian Hacker of Sharon, apparently dropped out of the regional competition. Wolfkiel will come in as the eighth seed out of District 10 and will face Andrew Wolfanger of St. Mary's (34-9).

Titusville senior Brock Covell (32-6) will look to add one more win toward his career goal of 100 when he meets Gabriel Jordan of Saegertown (17-19) in the opening round of the 172 bracket. The Rocket senior, pinned the Panther sophomore in the district tournament last week. Covell will be looking to get back on top, where he finished last season in the section, district and regional tournaments. This year, he comes into regionals as the third place finisher from District 10 and needing four wins to reach 100 career wins. 

McFetridge (32-4) is the Berries’ other District 9 champ. He will have a first-round bye and will face the winner between Porter Brooks of Saegertown (28-10) and Drew Dygert of Conneaut Area (23-17). The senior spent most of the first half of the season in the 189 class. He has not recorded a loss since moving up to the 215 bracket and dominated last week’s District 9 championship, winning his first three matches by pin and the finals by technical fall. 

In all these years of Oil City vs. Franklin showdowns one thing that has never happened - until now. Route 8 Rivalry guru Penny Weichel posted they have never met for a district championship. Franklin has hoisted a bunch of hardware over head at center court, but Oil City hasn't won a title since 1921.

So to mark this historic meeting of two schools that have met hundreds of times, the principals at each school decided to wager a little fun on the outcome. The losing school's principal(s) will have to show up to their school Monday morning wearing the winning school's jersey.

The Knights and Oilers are expected to tip-off at 7:45 Friday at Slippery Rock University. The winner will also top a whole new list of Route 8 Rivalry record keeping District 10 championships against one another.

They both played in a D-10 final last year, but Oil City was 4A losing to Fairview in the finals, while Franklin got by Seneca to repeat as 3A champions.

Franklin junior Damon Curry sunk a three-pointer just a little over a minute into Tuesday night’s playoff game at Slippery Rock University to go over 1,000 points on his career. He and his Knights teammates took care of business defeating Fairview 52-40 in the District 10 semifinals to set up a third meeting this year with Route 8 rival Oil City. This time with a championship on the line.

Earlier in the night the Oilers had a low scoring back and forth win over Seneca. If the Oilers had to grind the gears to get their 38-36 victory, the Knights were set on cruise control for most of their night.

The Oilers had to work hard at it but found a way to grind out a win over the Bobcats 38-36 Tuesday night in the District 10 semifinals basketball game at Slippery Rock University.

Despite snagging the tip-off Oil City couldn't capitalize and found themselves down quickly when Seneca's Logan Kibbe struck first with a trey at the 7:15 mark. 
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Sayyid Donald quickly responded with a 3-pointer of his own to even up the score. The back-and-forth battle was underway on the scoreboard. The Bobcat defense seemed to frustrate the Oilers at times, stripping the ball, forcing bad passes and rushed decisions.

Neither team was finding much success getting the ball through the hoop as the first quarter ended with Oil City up by one at 9-8.