Meadville — Heavyweight Sean Owen is the only Bison left in the championship bracket, but nine members of the herd remain alive in consolation action at Meadville‘s Tool City Tournament.
Owen recorded falls over John Trazyck (St. Ignatius, OH, 5:49) and Cory Shields (Reynolds, 1:25) en route his semi-finals spot where he’ll face Tyler Lanciotti (Greenville).
Interestingly, Lanciotti posted falls in both of his bouts; his season record stands at 17-1.
Owen is 16-3 on the season.
Also winning in the first round were Bison Jeff Smallwood (119), Richie Queen (145) and Nick Redden (215), but all three fell in quarter-final action.
At 119, Smallwood notched a 11-9 decision victory over Rusty Woodrow (Meadville), before coming up short in a 9-3 loss to Devin Miller (Iroquois).
Queen had a rematch with Kyle Crum (Saegertown) at 145 pounds. The two wrestlers met last week at the Brockway Big Dog Tournament.
At Brockway, Crum defeated Queen by a 6-4 score. Queen got revenge, defeating Crum 4-2.
However, Nikko Leitzel (Ridgway) needed only fifty-eight seconds to get the fall, dropping Queen to the consolation bracket.
At 215, Redden had an impressive 15-3 win over John Wagner (Howland, OH).
In the quarter-finals, Redden lost by fall in 3:31 to Troy Betts (Ridgway).
Six Bisons lost in the opening round but have since picked up wins to remain in action.
After losing by major decision, Andrew Spicer and Anthony Schultz posted falls to keep their tournament hopes alive at 112 and 130, respectively.
Spicer wasted no time, pinning Steve Knapp (Conneaut Lake) in 28 seconds, while Schultz battled Matt Zimmerman (DuBois), before getting the pin early in the third.
At 135 and 140, Bison grapplers Anthony Moore and Shawn Hall lost by fall. However, the duo bounced back, earning falls of their own.
Moore pinned Marcus Valentinetti (Meadville) in 2:12 at 135. Hall followed with a fall in 3:13 over Beau Norton (Corry).
Bison Doug Gisewhite also fell in the opening round at 152 pounds, but managed to pull out a 9-8 win over Tyler Stufflebeam to avoid elimination.
At 160, Lee Zalno dropped to the consolation bracket after a 12-4 loss. Like his teammates, Zalno battled for a victory and to live another day.
And, like the other eight Bisons, Zalno survived with a fall in 2:53 over Cory Bartlett.
Clearfield managed to keep 10 Bisons alive in tournament action. The semi-final and consolation rounds begin at 9 a.m.
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Editor\’s Note: Sean Owen won his semi-final match and will face undefeated #1 seed Gabe Murtorff of Boiling Springs.
