Oh what a difference a month makes. In January’s dual meet win against DuBois, Clearfield easily handed their District IX foe a convincing 49-17 thrashing. Saturday’s rematch for the District IX Team Championship was a whole other story as the Bisons did just enough to come away with a narrow 28-27 victory over the Beavers.
“I would have liked to go after them a bit more, but we wrestled real conservatively and did what we needed to do,” commented head coach Jeff Aveni.
The championship started at 160lbs where Joe Morrison gave DuBois an early 6-0 lead by pinning Curtis Owens in 1:28.
The next two bouts featured rematches of January’s dual meet with Logan Shadeck taking on Landon Hanna at 171 and Cliff Hill facing off against John Rivera at 189.
Shadeck, who won by major decision last month, made a takedown and escape hold up in a 3-2 win over Hanna to raise his record to 22-7.
Hill repeated his major decision over Rivera, but this time needed all six minutes to do so in a 12-4 win. He used a big five point throw in the second period and three takedowns in the third, the last coming at the buzzer, to improve to 25-7 on the year and give the Bisons their first lead of the match at 7-6.
Andre Buck increased the Bison lead to 10-6 with a 5-1 victory over Ken Dixon at 215.
At 285, DuBois went back out in front, 12-10, when Jon Sunealitis turned and decked Ryan Renaud in 2:37.
The team score seesaw continued at 103 when Bison freshman Christian Stone used a brutal cross body ride to edge Nick Bogacki 3-2. Trailing 2-0 after the first period, Stone escaped and took Bogacki down in the second for the lead and then rode him out the entire third period for his 26th win of the year and a 13-12 Bison lead.
At 112, T.J. Stanton took Shane Peters down four times en route to a 9-3 victory, giving the Beavers the lead 15-13.
Clearfield jumped right back in the lead, 16-15, when Nolan Barger downed fellow freshman Garrett Brown 5-3 at 119 for his 25th win.
At 125, senior Kodie Lowder kept it going for the Bisons with a 9-3 decision over Matt Busatto. Lowder improved to 22-8 on the year.
Clearfield would enjoy its biggest lead of the match, 22-15, when Troy Danver tilted Danny Robinson for two nearfall points late in the third period at 130 to break a 2-2 tie and garner the 4-2 win.
That lead would be short-lived, however, as the Beavers stormed right back with two victories. Chris Powers defeated Andrew Hill, 6-2, at 135 and then Geno Morelli made short work of Shane Harper at 140, pinning the Bison in 1:28 and putting DuBois in front 24-22.
Clearfield’s only pin on the evening was a big one as Derek Danver took Shane Marshall down to his back and flattened the Beaver in thirty nine seconds at 145.
“Derek guaranteed me six points, then went out and delivered,” said Aveni. The win was Danver’s 25th of the year and gave the Bisons a 28-24 lead.
The match came down to the final bout at 152 pounds with Clearfield’s Wil Beaseigneur taking on Matt Zimmerman of the Beavers. Wrestling intelligently and defensively, Beauseigneur was able to fend off numerous big moves by Zimmerman, ultimately losing 5-0 but clinching the team championship for the Bisons, 28-27.
“DuBois is a good team and wrestled a great match,” admitted Aveni “We were able to come out of here with a hard-fought win.”
With the win, the Bisons advance into the first round of the Team Wrestling State Championships. They will wrestle Tuesday night in Clarion against the District VII (WPIAL) third place team, either Connellsville or Penn Trafford.
(editor’s note: The Connellsville/Penn Trafford match is postponed until Monday night)
In the District IX AA Championships, Ridgway beat Port Allegany, 53-12. Clearfield will wrestle Ridgway in its final dual meet of the year, February 18.
Box Score
160 Curtis Owens, LBF 1:28, Joe Morrison D 6-0
171 Logan Shadeck, WBD, 3-2, Landon Hanna D 6-3
189 Cliff Hill, WBMD, 12-4, John Rivera C 7-6
215 Andre Buck, WBD 5-1, Ken Dixon C 10-6
285 Ryan Renaud, LBF 2:37, Jon Sunealitis D 12-10
103 Christian Stone, WBD, 3-2, Nick Bogacki C 13-12
112 Shane Peters, LBD, 9-3, T.J. Stanton D 15-13
119 Nolan Barger, WBD, 5-3, Garrett Brown C 16-15
125 Kodie Lowder, WBD, 9-3, Matt Busatto C 19-15
130 Troy Danver, WBD, 4-2, Danny Robinson C 22-15
135 Andrew Hill, LBD, 6-2, Chris Powers C 22-18
140 Shane Harper, LBF, 1:28, Geno Morelli D 24-22
145 Derek Danver, WBF, :39, Shane Marshall C 28-24
152 Wil Beaseigneur, LBD, 5-0 Matt Zimmerman C 28-27