District IX wrestling fans have had the date circled on their calendars since the schedule was released last fall, and Thursday night’s dual meet between Clearfield and Ridgway lived up to all the hype.
Unfortunately for Clearfield, the Elkers had a little too much in spoiling Senior Recognition Night with a 30-27 victory over the host Bisons.
“The match was full of hard fought bouts and raw emotion,” commented head coach Jeff Aveni. “I’m proud of the way our kids wrestled.”
The exciting dual meet began at 119 pounds with Bison senior Kodie Lowder taking on Slade Horner. With Lowder leading 4-2 in the third period, Horner was able to register a takedown and send the bout into overtime tied at four. Lowder wasted no time and scored the winning takedown just ten seconds into the extra frame. It was Lowder’s 23rd win of the season.
Freshman Nolan Barger gave the Bisons a 6-0 lead with a 3-0 shutout over Kyle Caggiano. The bout was scoreless after two periods, but Barger was able to come up with an escape and takedown in the third to raise his season record to 27-7.
“Kodie and Nolan had big wins to put us in the driver’s seat,” said Aveni.
Ridgway would cut the lead in half at 130 when Jeff Slattery registered a 6-4 overtime win over Andrew Hill. Just like the contest at 119, this bout was tied at four after six minutes of wrestling before Slattery sealed the win with a takedown in overtime.
At 135, Clearfield’s Troy Danver fell behind 8-0 after the first period to Steven Mitchell, but continued to wrestle hard throughout the bout, losing 13-1. The loss was only by a major decision giving four team points to Ridgway, who had their first lead of the evening, 7-6.
Ridgway kept the pressure on at 140 as Garet Pisani locked up a tight cradle and pinned Cody Lansberry in just 24 seconds.
Perhaps the most exciting bout of the evening took place at 145 where Clearfield’s Shane Harper and Ridgway’s Nate Dornisch hooked up in an old-fashioned donnybrook. Dornisch built an impressive 10-5 lead halfway through the bout before Harper headlocked the Elker for a big five point move and a 10-10 tie after two periods.
Dornisch was clinging to a 14-13 lead with ten seconds left when Harper charged him off a restart and successfully took him down as time expired for an unbelievable 15-14 win. “Hats off to Shane. He believed in himself and believed he could win,” praised Aveni.
Clearfield regained the lead, 15-13, when Derek Danver flattened Jake Himes at 152 in 4:46. The pin raised Danver’s season mark to 28-5.
In another hard fought battle at 160, Clearfield senior Wil Beaseigneur lost a tough 4-2 decision to Ridgway’s D.J. Skraba.
The Bisons returned the favor at 171 when fellow senior Logan Shadeck outwrestled Sam Skraba 4-2, snatching the dual meet lead back, 18-16. The close decision was Shadeck’s 24th victory of the year.
Ridgway stormed right back into the lead at 189 when Zack Zelcs proved to be too much for Clearfield’s Cliff Hill, majoring the Bison 16-5.
The excitement continued at 215 with Bison senior Andre Buck and Ridgway junior Jesse Sheasley letting it all hang out for six full minutes. Buck led 1-0 going into the third period before surrendering an early reversal to Sheasley. The Bison escaped to tie the bout, then scored the winning takedown with just two seconds remaining on the clock.
The Bisons were back in the lead, 21-20, with Buck’s 22nd win of the season.
State ranked and undefeated Joe Chittester of Ridgway needed one more second than his teammate Pisani did in registering a first period fall in 25 seconds over Ryan Renaud. It was Chittester’s 31st straight victory on the year and put the Elkers in the lead, 26-21.
Clearfield took the lead back for the final time, 27-26, at 103 when Christian Stone ran his record to 28-7 by cradling Ricky Javier and pinning him in 3:06.
The match came down to the last bout of the evening, featuring Clearfield’s Shane Peters, 29-3, and Ridgway’s Corey Bush, 27-3. Peters jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first period, but couldn’t hold off the hard charging Bush, who scored twelve unanswered points. The 12-4 major decision gave the Elkers the 30-27 hard earned dual meet victory.
“It was a great match but a shame that we couldn’t come out of it with a win,” conceded Aveni.
Clearfield ended the season with a record of 15-2 while Ridgway upped their record to 20-3.
Next up for the Bison wrestlers will be the District IX Championships next Saturday at Clarion University. The top three place winners in each weight class will advance to the Northwest Regional Tournament the following weekend in Altoona.
Box Score
119 Kodie Lowder, WBD, 6-4 OT, Slade Horner C 3-0
125 Nolan Barger, WBD, 3-0, Kyle Caggiano C 6-0
130 Andrew Hill, LBD, 6-4 OT, Jeff Slattery C 6-3
135 Troy Danver, LBMD, 13-1, Steven Mitchell R 7-6
140 Cody Lansberry, LBF, :24, Garet Pisani R 13-6
145 Shane Harper, WBD, 15-14, Nate Dornisch R 13-9
152 Derek Danver, WBF, 4:46, Jake Himes C 15-13
160 Wil Beaseigneur, LBD, 4-2, D.J. Skraba R 16-15
171 Logan Shadeck, WBD, 4-2, Sam Skraba C 18-16
189 Cliff Hill, LBMD, 16-5, Zack Zelcs R 20-18
215 Andre Buck, WBD 4-2, Jesse Sheasley C 21-20
285 Ryan Renaud, LBF :25, Joe Chittester R 26-21
103 Christian Stone, WBF, 3:06, Ricky Javier C 27-26
112 Shane Peters, LBMD, 12-4, Corey Bush R 30-27
