WILLIAMSPORT — The Clearfield Bison wrestling team made the first night of the season a successful one as they sit in third place at the 17-team Top Hat Tournament in Williamsport.
With 60.5 points, Clearfield is only behind early leader Central Mountain with 85 points and Schuykill Valley with 69.5 points. Close behind Clearfield is BEA with 59.5, Elizabethtown with 57, and Penfield (NY) with 55 points.
Five Bisons remain in the championship hunt by advancing to Saturday morning’s semifinals.
Top seeded senior Shane Peters at 103 received a bye, then majored Brenden Hicks, Mifflinburg, 12-4 in the quarterfinal round.
At 112, sophomore Christian Stone also received a bye and earned a major over Marty Lobiondo, Penfield (NY), 11-0.
Fellow sophomore Nolan Barger at 130 picked up two falls on the night, in 5:09 over Hughesville’s Eric Miller and in 4:33 over Red Lion’s Ryan Schaeberle.
145 pound senior Andrew Hill picked up two major decisions on his way to the semifinals, 10-1 over Joey Waack, Schuykill Valley, and 11-4 over Montoursville’s William Page.
The last semifinalist is 171 pound senior Derek Danver. Danver also picked up some bonus points by earning a tech fall 18-3 over Conner Cosentine from Hughesville and then a fall in 3:18 over Schuykill Valley’s Dustin Davis.
Also still alive in the consolation brackets are Dylan Graham at 119, Troy Danver at 135, Max VonGunden at 140, Shane Harper at 152, and Jordan Lancaster at 215.
Eliminated on the night were 160 ponder Curtis Owens and 189 pounder Jacob Verchick. Clearfield did not enter a 125 or 285 pounder.
Semifinal matchups: (with seeds)
103 – #1 Peters vs. #5 Travis Giedroc, BEA
112 – #2 Stone vs. #3 Ryan Griffiths, Schuykill Valley
130 – #3 Barger vs. #2 Cameron Throckmorton, South Western
145 – #6 Hill vs. #2 Matt Hoover, Elizabethtown
171 – #2 Danver vs. #3 Jake Taylor, BEA
Only one of the 14 top seeded wrestlers did not advance to the semifinals – 135 pound Troy Ernest, Elizabethtown lost to #8 seed Max Good from South West 5-1 in the quarterfinals.