CLEARFIELD – After Saturday’s Bison Duals, both Clearfield and DuBois came out a perfect 5-0 on the day. Head coach Jeff Aveni said, then, that the two teams would settle it on the mat Monday night.
With the score even after seven bouts, the Bison wrestlers won six of the last seven, including three falls to blow past DuBois 43-19 for its eighth win in just seven days.
Bison Sean Owen (285), Kodie Lowder (112) and Max VonGunden (125) each showed their DuBois opponents the lights in the second half of the dual meet.
“We knew that we had a favor in the light weights from 103 – 125 pounds. That’s where it opened up for us, and it went as we expected,” Aveni said.
Aveni said that he felt his team wrestled well, as it only gave up bonus points on two occasions.
“I felt that we wrestled well tonight. We wrestled tough in the bouts that we lost. We wrestled tough in the bouts that we won. But you win some, you lose some. We wrestled tight with everybody. I thought we wrestled hard,” he said.
The dual meet got under way at 130 pounds. Bison Andrew Hill put bonus points on the board early with a 19-4 technical fall over Beaver Braden Sallack.
With the score knotted at four, Hill started down in the second period. He notched a reversal and tacked on three back points. He added two more at the buzzer for an 11-4 advantage.
Hill went back to work in the third, scoring a takedown and two sets of three near falls for the tech in 5:38.
“Andrew comes out and gets (bonus points) right off the bat. And, that got us started,” Aveni said.
At 135, Clearfield’s Holden Lowe scored more bonus against Beaver Chris Powers.
Up by two, Lowe used a second period escape and takedown for the 5-0 favor. He picked up one after Powers’ second stall warning, adding another takedown in the third for the 8-0 major decision.
DuBois’ Geno Morelli posted a takedown and reversal for a 4-0 decision over Bison Shane Harper in a match that Aveni considered a toss-up.
“We didn’t expect to give up bonus points there. I came into the match and looked at it as a toss up. We’ve wrestled a lot of the same opponents. If you look at the scores, they were all really close,” he said.
Bison Derek Danver racked up points before earning the fall in his 145-pound bout with Matt Zimmerman.
Danver engineered a 9-2 advantage after the first period with two takedowns and five back points.
Starting down in the second, the Clearfield sophomore escaped but was taken down by Zimmerman. Danver picked up a reversal to increase his lead.
Danver, then, took the Beaver to his back for the fall. The end came in 5:21.
“They clammed up on us at a couple weights. We were more favored and you could tell they’re out there trying not to get pinned. But we still got the major at 135 pounds. And, they pulled all kinds of stunts at 145 pounds trying to stay in the match,” Aveni said.
DuBois would even up the dual meet with two decisions and a fall in the next three bouts.
After a scoreless first, Beaver Grant Smith turned Wil Beauseigneur for three but was called for unnecessary roughness. The Bison used a penalty point and an escape to pull within one at the end of two.
In the third, Smith managed an escape only for Beauseigneur to pick up the tying takedown. Smith, however, would post a reversal and two near fall points at the buzzer for the 8-4 win.
Bison Shawn Hall battled Billy Morrison in the dual meet’s featured match-up.
Down by a 2-1 score, Hall reversed the Beaver to pull ahead by one in the second. Morrison escaped to even the score at three all.
Hall, who worked from the top position in the third, maintained control until the final seconds. Morrison managed a switch for a 5-3 win.
“It was great, and those guys wrestled hard. We came out on the wrong end of a five-second roll,” Aveni said, adding that the two will meet again.
“But we wanted that match for our confidence. And, I think that we did enough in that match to build our confidence. We have a great scouting report to see what opportunities we can create and have.”
Aveni said that Hall is right where he wants to be with the top kid in the region.
“We’re right there with him. It was tied up with a couple seconds to go with the momentum really in our favor there. We just needed to get the match to overtime for an opportunity to win it,” he said.
“We just made a little mistake. We knew that he switches. You got to stay tight, so he can’t switch late.”
After surrendering a fall in the next bout, Clearfield’s Cliff Hill got his team back on track.
With the score 2-1 in the Beavers’ favor, DuBois’ John Rivera sacrificed one on the optional start. He added a takedown, but Hill notched a reversal and knotted the score.
Hill went up by one after Rivera’s second stall warning. He then tacked on a takedown and three back points for the 10-4 win.
“I told Cliff that it was his night to shine and to go get it. He wrestled tough, stayed in the match and in the third, he came on strong,” Aveni said.
Bison Andre Buck put up a decision of his own at 215 pounds. He took down Ken Dixon three times and added an escape for the 7-1 win, setting up teammate Sean Owen at heavyweight.
Owen converted a double-leg takedown to start the first but was unable to turn DuBois’ Josh Yohe.
Owen opted to start down in the second and quickly earned an escape, taking the Beaver to his back in 2:23. He extended the Bison lead to 27-15 with the fall.
“It was the same thing at heavyweight. They were clamming up, but we still got the bonus points,” Aveni said. He said that his wrestlers did a nice job by not becoming frustrated and simply taking care of business.
Clearfield would give up a 14-4 major decision to DuBois’ TJ Stanton at 103 pounds. But Kodie Lowder and Max VonGunden sealed the deal with a pair of falls at 112 and 119 pounds, respectively.
At 112, Lowder escaped for a takedown and three back points in the second. He added a takedown before putting Nick Bogacki on his back for the pin at the final buzzer.
“They wrestled up at Big Dog, and Kodie majored him. He had a major, when he pinned him (here tonight). I think he remembers last year, all the talk and the stuff that went on,” Aveni said.
“Bogacki came out and wrestled hard. But if you stay in position and don’t buy into all the dancing, you can weather the storm there and come out on top.”
VonGunden built a four-point edge with a takedown and reversal, needing only 3:26 to deck Beaver Josh Platt.
VonGunden, who started the season 1-5, has now improved his record to 6-5.
“He just had to believe in himself. When he does that, he wrestles well and gets good match-ups and helps us out,” Aveni said.
Up 3-2 heading into the second, Clearfield’s Andrew Spicer reversed Danny Robinson and titled him twice for four near fall points.
Robinson took the Bison down in the third and then went with an optional start. But Spicer picked up a takedown and turned Robinson for three back points. Robinson escaped to set the 15-5 final.
Aveni said his team was aggressive, and that was the difference in the match.
“That’s the biggest difference between us and them. Our kids are more aggressive, and that is tough to overcome,” he said, adding that DuBois is a young team and still growing.
“We have some young guys that have experience, and you’re seeing that experience pay off
Aveni said that they also knew the Beavers had a strong team heading into the dual meet.
“Those are the teams that you want to wrestle to build confidence and make you better. We came out of here by 24 points. That’s a good win for us,” he said.
Clearfield returns to action Thursday night at home against Brookville. Alumni night ceremonies will be held before the match that’s slated for 7 p.m.
Clearfield 43 DuBois 19
130 – Andrew Hill (C) WBTF Braden Sallack (D), 19-4, 5:38, (5-0)
135 – Holden Lowe (C) WBMD Chris Powers (D), 8-0, (9-0)
140 – Shane Harper (C) LBD Geno Morelli (D), 0-4, (9-3)
145 – Derek Danver (C) WBF Matt Zimmerman (D), 5:21, (15-3)
152 – Wil Beauseigneur (C) LBD Grant Smith (D), 4-8, (15-6)
160 – Shawn Hall (C) LBD Billy Morrison (D), 3-5, (15-9)
171 – Logan Shadeck (C) LBF Justin McAninch (D), 1:45, (15-15)
189 – Cliff Hill (C) WBD John Rivera (D), 10-4, (18-15)
215 – Andre Buck (C) WBD Ken Dixon (D), 7-1 (21-15)
285 – Sean Owen (C) WBF Josh Yohe (D), 2:23 (27-15)
103 – Shane Peters (C) LBMD TJ Stanton (D), 4-14 (27-19)
112 – Kodie Lowder (C) WBF Nick Bogacki (D), 6:00, (33-19)
119 – Max VonGunden (C) WBF Josh Platt (D), 3:26, (39-19)
125 – Andrew Spicer (C) WBMD Danny Robinson (D), 15-5, (43-19)
