​Last stop before states

Six Berries and five Rockets will travel to Sharon today with the hopes of finding regional gold and congratulatory chocolate at the end of the trip. 

District 9 champs Dalton Wenner and Brayden McFetridge lead the local contingent at the North West Wrestling Regional competition. ​

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.