Pine Grove's Chase Nagle, left, finishes a takedown against Mahanoy Area's Victor Hanley during their 121-pound bout Thursday night. Nagle won by technical fall. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)

PINE GROVE — Zach Kurtz won 25 bouts as a Pine Grove freshman last season.

Eager to see what he could do at the District 11 Class AA Championships, Kurtz lost that opportunity when a knee injury put him out of action and ended his season.

Soon after states, Kurtz had ACL knee surgery and began the long, grueling rehabilitation process that comes with it.

All of Kurtz’s hard work paid off Thursday night when the 189-pounder knocked off Mahanoy Area state qualifier Kyler Quick to lead the Cardinals to a 41-27 victory over the Golden Bears in a Schuylkill League Division II dual meet. Late in a scoreless first period, Kurtz won a flurry from his feet, took Quick right to his back and pinned him in 1:54. That tied the dual 6-6 after two matches and turned the momentum the Cardinals’ way. Quick defeated Kurtz three times last season.

With the win, Pine Grove (3-0, 2-0 D-II) will enter the Christmas break with the division lead, a half-game ahead of both Schuylkill Haven and Tri-Valley.

“I thought tonight was a great back-and-forth battle like a heavyweight fight,” Pine Grove co-head coach Paul Frantz said. “Our guys coming up did a great job always staying focused and getting right back up swing when we went down. We came out with high energy and did a great job maintaining that the entire dual.”

Mahanoy Area (6-4, 0-2) suffered its second league loss in as many nights. Like in Wednesday’s 40-26 defeat to Tri-Valley, the Bears competed hard, won their share of bouts, yet gave up too many costly bonus points.

Pine Grove built a 29-9 lead after seven bouts, but Mahanoy Area took four of the next five matches to cut the deficit to 35-27. Nick Manley (127) started the run with a 5-4 decision over Gage Cleary. A first-period takedown made the difference. Sonny Seritti (133) led Kendrick Wolfgram 11-8 when he turned him for a fall in 3:45.

Aaron Osatchuck (139) gave Pine Grove a key win when he pinned Gordon Slater in 41 seconds to extend his team’s lead to 35-18.

Back came the Bears. Matt Spino (145) scored a defensive pin over Isaiah Miller in 2:59, and Jah Bushati (152) notched three takedowns in a 12-9 decision over Austin Frantz.

In a featured bout at 160, Pine Grove’s Austin Martin pinned Rory Dixon in 1:35 with a tight cradle. Seconds earlier, Dixon had suffered an apparent knee injury. After taking injury time, Dixon tried to go, but Martin proved too tough and capped the night with the fall.

Lenny Zack (172) started the night with a fall for the Bears, and Kyle Pollack (285) edged Scout Frantz 9-8 on the strength of three takedowns.

Pine Grove finished with a 7-6 edge in bouts and scored bonus points in all of them — six pins and a technical fall. Both teams were aggressive on their feet; the Cardinals finished with a 22-10 edge in takedowns.

Robbie Schaeffer (215), Cameron Waite (107) and Quintyn Wolak (114) notched pins, and Chase Nagle (121) added a technical fall for Pine Grove. Nagle scored seven takedowns in a 21-5 win in 2:17 over Victor Hanley.

The Cards have 10 starters back from last season, including five sophomores.

“The win we had showed what we could do. It was a statement that we’re coming this year. We’re improved. We’re older. Our freshmen are now sophomores, our juniors are now seniors. We’ve got a pretty good team this year.

“I think we’re just one big family out there on the mat,” Schaeffer added. “We wrestle as a group. We wrestle for each other. There’s no selfishness on the mat. We’re all one team, and we fight for each other.”

Pine Grove 41, Mahanoy Area 27

172 — Zack (MA) pinned Lengle, 2:48

189 — Kurtz (PG) pinned Quick, 1:54

215— Schaeffer (PG) pinned Herman, 3:45

285 — Pollack (MA) dec. S. Frantz, 9-8

107 — Waite (PG) pinned Gregory, :13

114 — Wolak (PG) pinned Timko, 1:21

121 — Nagle (PG) tech. fall Hanley, 21-5, 2:17

127 — Manley (MA) dec. Cleary, 5-4

133 — Seritti (MA) pinned Wolfgram, 3:45

139 — Osatchuck (PG) pinned Slater, :41

145 — Spino (MA) pinned Miller, 2:59

152 — Bushati (MA) dec. A. Frantz, 12-9

160 — Martin (PG) pinned Dixon, 1:35

JV Score: Pine Grove 18-10

Jr. High Score: Pine Grove 43-30

PIAA revamps team duals

MECHANICSBURG — The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association on Thursday announced sweeping changes to the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships, most notably moving the site of the event.

Held for years at the Giant Center in Hershey, the state team duals will be held Feb. 7-8 at the Altoona Area High School Field House.

With the change in location, the PIAA Wrestling Steering Committee unanimously recommended a change in format. Twenty teams will still qualify in each class, but preliminary and round-of-16 competition will take place regionally Feb. 4. The eight regional winners in both Class AA and 3A will advance to Altoona.

Championship quarterfinals will be held Feb. 7, with Class AA at 5 p.m. and Class 3A at 7 p.m. On Feb. 8, the schedule has first-round consolations at 9 a.m., championship semifinals at 11 a.m., second-round consolations at 1 p.m., and first- and third-place duals at 3 p.m.

District 11 has two state team berths in both Class AA and 3A.

Schuylkill League Wrestling

Through matches of Dec. 19

Division I

Team (overall)                      W     L       Pct.   GB

Blue Mtn. (7-1)                     2       0     1.000  —

North Sch. (4-0)                    2       0     1.000  —

Pottsville (3-5)                      0       1       .000  1 ½

Tamaqua (1-7)                      0       1       .000  1 ½

Panther Val. (0-3)                 0       2       .000  2

Division II

Pine Grove (3-0)                   2       0       1.000  —

Sch. Haven (1-3)                   1       0       1.000  ½

Tri-Valley (5-2)                    1       0       1.000  ½

Mahanoy Area (6-4)             0       2       .000   2

Williams Val. (0-9)              0       2       .000   2