As a junior in 2023, Giovanni Tarantella won a District 6 Class AAA title and placed fourth at regionals, making an impact both individually and in dual competition through his final two seasons with the team. Patrick Tarantella was named a starter as a freshman in 2023-24, earned a district title in 2025 and has compiled over 60 wins so far. And now, his younger brother, Angelo, will also start as a freshman at 114.

It wasn’t entirely clear how quickly Angelo would adjust to high school competition. But one tournament in, he’s certainly hit the ground running.

On Saturday at Williamsport’s Tom Best Memorial Top Hat tournament, the Tarantella brothers each suffered tough losses, with Angelo falling by one point in his opening bout and Patrick dropping in quarters, before bouncing back in a big way. By tournament’s end, both had medaled, with the former placing sixth and latter running his remaining table to claim bronze.

It was an exciting first tournament together, as both secured hardware, Patrick earned his highest placement at Top Hat and Angelo placed in his first ever high school tournament. When asked what it’s been like practicing and now competing alongside his brother, Patrick discussed their parallel desire for improvement.

RALPH WILSON/For the Express Central Mountain's Patrick Tarantelli wrestles Halifax's Jacksin Smith in the 133 third place match during the Tom Best Memorial Top Hat tournament at Williamsport on Saturday.

“We’re just pushing each other and making sure we do everything right,” said Tarantella. “Just becoming better every day.”

In Patrick’s case, luck wasn’t on his side to start his Saturday.

Drawing Clearfield’s Bo Aveni in the 133-pound quarterfinals, a wrestler state-ranked No. 18 in Class AA and coming off a state tournament appearance, Tarantella kicked things off strong with an early takedown before the situation turned sideways. Aveni escaped shortly after, secured a takedown of his own and got Tarantella in a head lock, which caused Tarantella to briefly pass out and resulted in a pin.

“I got unlucky in the quarterfinals because I passed out. Just a headlock that was tight and didn’t realize what was happening,” laughed Tarantella on the moment.

However, despite the shortcoming, Tarantella didn’t let his halted chances of a title faze him. Instead, he dominated his next match, tech falling Williamsport’s Steven Bott to clinch a Top Hat placement. And when the next dicey situations presented themselves, the Wildcat kept finding ways to advance.

RALPH WILSON/For the Express Central Mountain's Patrick Tarantelli wrestles Halifax's Jacksin Smith in the 133 third place match during the Tom Best Memorial Top Hat tournament at Williamsport on Saturday.

Facing an 8-5 deficit in the waning seconds of consolation quarters, Tarantella threw the kitchen sink at South Western’s Nathaniel Handy trying to extend the bout, eventually landing an emphatic, lateral-drop takedown one second before the final buzzer sounded. Soon after, he’d secure his first of back-to-back victories in sudden victory with another takedown, winning the match, 11-8.

“I was just trying to get in somewhere,” said Tarantella on that late sequence. “I went for a duck, couldn’t get it, and just kind of fell into the lat drop and scored the takedown. Just chain wrestling.”

With a 5-2 lead in the following match, he’d surrender a last-second takedown of his own before once again clutching things out with another sudden-victory takedown. The turbulence ended there, as he turned a 4-0 lead at the start of the third-place bout’s third period into a major decision by the end of it, posting back-to-back takedowns to run away with bronze.

Overall, it wasn’t the most seamless tournament performance, but it displayed plenty of instances of the 2025 district champ operating well with his back against the wall, a clutch factor that could continue proving impactful. With more eyes on him following a breakout sophomore campaign, Tarantella still managed to one-up his previous Top Hat run, winning the third place match the same way he lost it in 2024.

“My offense on my feet is probably my strong point,” said Tarantella when discussing what worked for him throughout the tournament. “I wrestled well on top, tired my opponents out and then beat them up with hands, got to my shots and scored on my feet. That’s where I really shined when I wrestled.”

“Just keep wrestling, just get those gritty wins. You’ve just got to keep wrestling because you never know what could happen,” he added on the grittier, sudden-victory wins.

In Angelo’s case, inexperience showed early, as he couldn’t fully extinguish an early 5-0 deficit against South Western’s Cole Franks. But following that bout, the freshman would find his groove.

Tarantella earned bonus-point wins in his next three matches, including a first-period pin in the following bout and a third-period pin against Franks himself. That rematch against Franks saw him rack up three takedowns, post a five-point play and ultimately, advance where it counted, giving him a chance at getting to the consolation final with another win.

His final two matches would end in losses. But in terms of debuts, Tarantella showed off a lot of promise. It remains to be seen how strong of a freshman campaign he’ll produce but so far, so good.

“He wrestles really well, and he’s learning,” said Tarantella when discussing his younger brother. “He’ll get there someday.”

With the Wildcats coming into the season without their strong 2025 class, opening performances like that could be a good sign when it comes to Central Mountain’s depth remaining intact. Obviously, it’s incredibly early, but expect the Tarantellas to leave their mark.