HYDE – More than three dozen wrestlers pulled on their high school singlets for one last time in the third annual District 9 Senior All-Star Match on the Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium mats Thursday night, with the Gray/South winning 13 of the 20 bouts and getting draws in two others for a 59-22 victory.
The most important numbers, though, were the dollars raised for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, at least $1,200 according to an announcement near the end of the fun night of wrestling.
Prior to the action, special recognition was given to the two honorary coaches, legendary Arthur J. Weiss Sr. for the Gray/South and Gene Abplanalp for the Blue/North.
Weiss, who turned 100 on Jan. 12, launched the sport in the district back in 1934 and coached the first 25 Clearfield High School teams, 14 of them finishing undefeated, to a 184-37-3 record. Many of his records, including coaching 24 Bisons to 31 PIAA individual titles, still stand 50 years after he stepped down in 1959.
Abplanalp was the founder of the highly-successful Ridgway High School program in 1961, putting his first Elker team on the mats in the 1963-64 season.
Clearfield Bisons Mike Hill, Andrew Spicer, Shawn Hall, Sean Owen and Holden Lowe and Curwensville Golden Tide matmen Justin Smith and Jeff Smallwood accounted for 32 points for the Gray/South.
Hill, Hall and Owen registered falls. Spicer, Smith and Smallwood posted major decisions. And Lowe was involved in one of the draws, 1-1 with Smethport standout Tim Hubbard.
Smith majored Ben Capatch of Smethport 10-2 with takedowns and near falls in the first and third period in the opening bout, and Hill followed by pressing Jake Long of Punxsutawney to the mat in just 1:13.
Two bouts later, Spicer made it an 18-0 start for the South/Gray when he countered an arm-drag attempt by Tyler Peters of Curwensville for the takedown and then worked a tilt for three points. Another takedown in the middle period and an escape in the third period gave him an 8-0 win.
Smallwood, Hall and Owen were part of a seven-bout sweep that made the outcome so one-sided.
Four takedowns, the last one with two seconds left in the four-minute bout, keyed Smallwood\’s 13-3 victory over Derek Burkett of Punxsutawney.
Hall was trailing Shane Claar of St. Marys 3-2 when he bear-hugged the Flying Dutchman for the winning points with 22 seconds remaining, then turned him with a half for three more points at the buzzer and a 7-3 decision.
Owen, a 2008 PIAA Class AAA champ with two other medals, took down Shane Bowser of Redbank Valley three times in the first period and then pinned him 18 seconds into the second period, hitting a cement mixer and turning the Bulldog with a half-nelson.
Peters was one of three wrestlers who agreed to a second bout, and he ignited the Blue/North\’s sweep of the last three matches by reversing James Bullers of Punxsutawney with 12 ticks on the clock to pull out a 7-5 win. He had fallen behind 4-0 at the outset before reversing Bullers to his back for five points. A Bullers escape created the tie that last through most of the next two one-minute periods.
The Blue/South\’s Jeff Thomas of Curwensville came out on the short end of a 6-2 duel with Jaron Licatovich of Brockway. An escape one second before the second-period buzzer gave Licatovich a 3-0 edge, but Thomas reversed in the third period to make it interesting. However, Licatovich broke free and added a late takedown.
The fans who stuck around until the end were treated to an unscheduled grand finale when former Curwensville standout Nick Sipes, one of the five referees who donated their time, agreed to square off against Owen.
Sipes, a four-time District 9 champ and three-time PIAA Class AA 189-pound placewinner who will be working on his third football letter at Clarion University in the fall, held his own in regulation, trading escapes with the heavier Owen for a 1-1 stalemate.
In the one-minute overtime of his first bout since his senior season for the Golden Tide, 2007, Sipes shot in for on a single-leg and was awarded a controversial takedown at the edge of the mat as the buzzer sounded to win 3-1.
Curwensville grad Dr. Terry Hoover (1964) of Bradford also refereed. The longtime Northern Tier coach and official was a three-sport Golden Tide athlete who wrestled and played football at the University of Pittsburgh in the late 1960s.
Coaches were Brookville\’s Dave Kelpfer, seated beside Weiss, for the Gray/South and Terry Schwab of Smethport for the Blue/North.
Gray/South 59, Blue/North 22
160 – Justin Smith, Curwensville, major dec. Ben Capatch, Coudersport, 10-2. (4-0)
285 – Mike Hill, Clearfield, pinned Jake Long, Punxsutawney, 1:13. (10-0)
189 – Cody Sheasley, Ridgway, major dec. Kirk Girosky, Punxsutawney, 11-0. (14-0)
125 – Andrew Spicer, Clearfield, major dec. Tyler Peters, 8-0. (18-0)
171 – Logan Shirey, Redbank Valley, dec, Billy Morrison, DuBois, 7-2. (18-3)
145 – Jaron Licatovich, Brockway, dec. Jeff Thomas, Curwensville, 6-2. (18-6)
171 – Justin Brem, St. Marys, major dec. Kyle Jones, Keystone, 12-1. (22-6)
189 – Justin McAninch, DuBois, and Colt Puhala, Brockway, drew, 2-2. (24-8)
171 – Aaron Kornhauser, Brookville, dec. Steve Terwilliger, Brockway, 2-0. (27-8)
135 – Jeff Smallwood, Curwensville, major dec. Derek Burkett, Punxsutawney, 13-3. (31-8)
160 – Patrick Mahan, Punxsutawney, technical fall Chris Rushmore, Coudersport, 17-2 in 3:31. (36-8)
160 – Shawn Hall, Clearfield, dec. Shane Claar, St. Marys, 7-3. (39-8)
285 – Sean Owen, Clearfield, pinned Shane Bowser, Redbank Valley, 2:18. (45-8)
215 – Shane Krise, St. Marys, dec. Jake Thompson, Ridgway, 4-2. (48-8)
Hwt. – Dwayne Schaberl, St. Marys, pinned Ethan Hannold, Keystone, 3:48. (54-8)
130 – Holden Lowe, Clearfield, and Tim Hubbard, Smethport, drew, 1-1. (56-10)
140 – Kyle Bish, St. Marys, dec. Dustin Brewer, Punxsutawney, 4-0. (59-10)
125 – Peters, Curwensville, dec. James Bullers, Punxsutawney, 7-5. (59-13)
160 – Cody Freer, Smethport, pinned Kornhauser, Brookville, 3:27. (59-19)
189 – Derek Kritzer, Smethport, dec. Sheasley, Ridgway, 7-3. (59-22)
