ALTOONA – Heavyweight Sean Owen (39-0) capped a very successful second day of wrestling for the Clearfield Bisons by winning his second North West AAA Regional title. Owen recorded the fastest pin of the finals by disposing of Central Mountain’s Zach Corl in 1:49. Up 4-2 after two takedowns and two escapes, Owen took Corl down straight to his back, locked up a cradle and ended it.
Joining Owen in “Chocolatetown “ will be fellow seniors Andrew Spicer (26-14), who finished third at 119, and Holden Lowe (36-6), the silver medalist at 130.
Spicer led several Bisons through a consolation round that moved Clearfield steadily up the team standings. At one point Clearfield had risen to third place, but ended the two day tourney in fourth place behind Central Mountain, Erie Prep, and Bellefonte. Clearfield’s 11-man contingent went 20-18 for the tourney.
Spicer was knocked in to the consies after a semi final loss to Bellefonte’s Mitchell Port, who went on to win the regional title. Spicer injured his nose in the match against Port, and eventually had to injury default in the third period. Wrestling with a protective mask through his last two matches, Spicer beat the District 10 champ, Kevin Kerr of Corry, 8-7 and defeated John Agnello of Erie Prep 1-0 to reach Hershey.
Holden Lowe took a slightly easier route to Hershey by earning the silver medal. Lowe beat District 6 champion Kyle Miller of Indian Valley 3-2 in the semi finals to reach the title match against District 10 champion Rocco Wellek from Erie Prep. There Wellek won by major decision over Lowe 11-2.
145 pound sophomore Derek Danver (36-8) ended up one spot on the podium short of heading to states by placing fourth. Danver ran off three solid victories the the consy bracket after being beaten by Bellefonte’s Shane Alterio 4-2 in the quarter finals Friday night. Danver’s consy final opponent was once again District 6 champ Alterio. And once again Danver fell short to Alterio, this time 8-4.
Clearfield’s Saturday Results:
Semi Finals
119 – Andrew Spicer injury default Mitchell Port, Bellefonte 5:28
130 – Holden Lowe dec Kyle Miller, Indian Valley 3-2
285 – Sean Owen fall Stephen King, Lewistown 2:45
Consolation Quarter Finals
103 – Shane Peters lbd Seth Spack, Punxsuatwney 6-3
112 – Kodie Lowder fall Wendell Myers, Altoona 2:05
145 – Derek Danver dec Jesse Priesler, Corry 8-2
160 – Shawn Hall maj dec Dennis Diodati, Conneaut Lake 10-1
215 – Andre Buck fall Michael Ellwood, Schenley 3:49
Consolation Semi Finals
112 – Lowder lbd Austin Gillihan, Corry 6-4 OT
119 – Spicer dec Kevin Kerr, Corry 8-7
145 – Danver dec Jimmy Shirley, Punxsutawney 7-0
160 – Hall lbd Billy Morrison, DuBois 5-2
215 – Buck lbd Kevin Thompson, Meadville 6-4
Consolation Finals
119 – Spicer dec John Agnello, Erie Prep 1-0
145 – Danver lbd Shane Alterio, Bellefonte 8-4
Championship Finals
130 – Lowe lbmd Rocco Wellek, Erie Prep 11-2
285 – Owen fall Zach Corl, Central Mountain 1:49
Complete Championship Final Results
103 – Kaleb Loht, Indian Valley dec TJ Stanton, DuBois 7-2
112 – Shelton Mack, Meadville dec Tom Traxler, Bellefonte 3-2
119 – Mitchell Port, Bellefonte fall Nick Gurol, P-O 1:53
125 – Steve Spearman, Erie McDowell dec Jordan Rich, Central Mountain 6-4
135 – Tyler Parsons, Erie Prep fall Dylan Caprio, Central Mountain 2:24
140 – Andrew Alton, Central Mountain forfeit Tye Boyer, Indian Valley
145 – Dylan Alton, Central Mountain dec Jamal Lyons, Erie Prep 9-3
152 – Mark Havers, Bradford dec Colton Spade, Lewistown 8-2
160 – Jermaine Easter, Erie Prep maj dec Nick Zimmerman, Altoona 16-5
171 – Nick Milano, Erie Prep dec Mike Pollard, Corry 6-2
189 – Jacob Bachman, Central Mountain dec Keith Walters, Altoona 2-1 OT RO
215 – Glenn Barnes, Central Mountain dec Sean Sadosky, St. Marys 5-2
Team Scores
1. Central Mountain – 176.5
2. Erie Prep – 130
3. Bellefonte – 94
4. Clearfield – 81.5
5. Meadville – 65
6. Corry – 59
7. General McLane – 57
8. St. Marys – 53
9. Indian Valley – 52
10. DuBois – 50.5
Final Records for Clearfield
Shane Peters, sophomore (103): 29-10
Kodie Lowder, junior (112): 30-13
Andrew Hill, sophomore (125): 16-18
Shane Harper, sophomore (140): 14-22
Derek Danver, sophomore (145): 36-8
Shawn Hall, senior (160): 27-11
Cliff Hill, sophomore (189): 11-24
Andre Buck, junior (215): 24-18
District 9 as a whole ended the tournament with a 64-74 record, good enough for third out of the four districts competing. Eight “D9ers” qualified for the state tournament. District 6 led in wins with 104.
The PIAA state tournament gets under way at The Giant Center in Hershey on Thursday March 5.
