HYDE — Although the Clearfield Wrestling team entered last night’s dual meet against Curwensville with a 2-9 record, the Bisons still believed in their potential to win.
\”We came into the match believing we could win,\” said head wrestling coach Jeff Aveni. \”I told the kids this is a match that if we wrestle the way we’re capable of, this match won’t be close. I thought it might be a little closer than that, but I knew we had the potential to win a lot of bouts. We won all the close ones and that really makes a difference in the final score. We stayed tight and won the close bouts.\”
The dual meet started at 152 pounds with the Bisons taking the first three bouts and an early 12-0 advantage.
Kasey Casher and Lee Zalno scored decision wins at 152 and 160 pounds, respectively, while senior, 171-pounder Jake Riglin pinned Robert Ciamacco in 2:43.
\”The first two wins were key,\” said Aveni. \”We knew those were tough bouts, and we went out there and got wins out of Kasey Casher and Lee Zalno. Those got the momentum going. Those were both hard-fought bouts and tightly contested. We got the wins there and a fall out of Riglin, which really put us where we needed to be.\”
Curwensville would get six of those points back in the 189-pound bout, as Nick Sipes earned a fall of his own.
The 215-pound bout got heated and showed it was Clearfield and Curwensville on the mat.
Bison Nick Redden took a 2-0 lead into the final period, where he turned Nathan Russell for three near fall points. Russell escaped to avoid the pin, but was later disqualified for being aggressive off the mat.
\”The match got heated,\” said Aveni. \”Nick Redden did a great job of maintaining his composure. Those guys knew each other. They were buddies growing up. It was more like they were in the backyard than on the wrestling mat. We did a great job of maintaining composure and coming out of there with another win. On top of that, we were winning the match and doing a great job.\”
At heavyweight, Sean Owen wasted no time, as he needed only 53 seconds to pin Nick Caldwell.
Clearfield owned a 24-4 lead, heading into the 112-pound bout, where Andrew Spicer overcame a six-point deficit to upend Derek Brothers.
Down by six, Spicer went to work in the second, using a reversal and three near fall points to pull within one.
Spicer reversed Brothers again in the third to post a 7-6 win.
\”We got a big fall out of Sean and a huge win out of Andrew Spicer,\” said Aveni. \”They moved some kids up. Kudos to Curwensville down low, where I don’t know, maybe if they won all those, they did have a chance there. They put their best wrestlers on the mat there, so kudos to Curwensville for that.\”
At 119, Holden Lowe returned to the Bison line-up. Lowe used two takedowns and an escape to score a 5-0 decision over Brett Sutika.
With five bouts remaining, the scoreboard read 30-4.
Curwensville’s Tyler Peters (125) won by a 9-1 major decision, while teammate Jeff Thomas (130) notched an 8-4 decision.
The Bisons finished strong, taking the final three bouts.
Shawn Hall pulled out a 4-1 win over Justin Johnston at 135, before Andrew Haney and senior Anthony Moore posted falls at 140 and 145 pounds, respectively.
\”It was a huge win for us,\” said Aveni. \”We’ve been fighting, scrapping and closing gaps with teams. We lost some tight bouts and tight matches. Finally, we came together and wrestled a little bit closer to our potential. I’ve been telling these guys all year that they’re a lot better team than their showing. We finally came together and had 13 guys wrestle as hard as they could and go to battle.\”
Clearfield is back in action Saturday night when the Bisons host Cedar Cliff. The meet is set for 6:30 p.m.
Clearfield 45 Curwensville 11
152 – Kasey Casher (C) WBD Matt Holland (CU), 6-4, 3-0
160 – Lee Zalno (C) WBD Jesse Hoover (CU), 14-11, 6-0
171 – Jake Riglin (C) WBF Robert Ciamacco (CU), 2:43, 12-0
189 – Andre Buck (C) LBF Nick Sipes (CU), 3:55, 12-6
215 – Nick Redden (C) WBDQ Nathan Russell (CU), 18-4
285 – Sean Owen (C) WBF Nick Caldwell (CU), :53, 24-4
103 – No Match, 24-4
112 – Andrew Spicer (C) WBD Derek Brothers (CU), 7-6, 27-4
119 – Holden Lowe (C) WBD Brett Sutika (CU), 5-0, 30-4
125 – Cody Billotte (C) LBMD Tyler Peters (CU), 1-9, 30-8
130 – Anthony Schultz (C) LBD Jeff Thomas (CU), 4-8, 30-11
135 – Shawn Hall (C) WBD Justin Johnston (CU), 4-1, 33-11
140 – Andrew Haney (C) WBF Justin Smith (CU), 5:42, 39-11
145 – Anthony Moore (C) WBF Brett McCracken (CU), 5:01, 45-11
*Curwensville penalized two team points for unsportsmanlike conduct
.