CLEARFIELD — In college sports, teams usually pad their early season schedules with “cupcakes” but for the Clearfield Bison wrestling team that was definitely not the case as they opened their dual meet season Tuesday night against District IX foe and regional power DuBois.
Clearfield’s senior laden team proved to be too powerful as they toppled the Beavers 43-23. “We wrestled OK, but have a lot of room for improvement,” said Bison head coach Jeff Aveni.
Derek Danver got the Bisons rolling at 171 pounds with a solid 7-2 win over Joe Morrison. Leading 2-1 after two periods, Danver reversed Morrison right to his back in the third period to pull away and grab the win.
Freshman Jacob Verchick and junior Jordan Lancaster weren’t able to keep the Bison momentum going as Vechick was pinned in the first period and Lancaster lost a tough 3-1 decision to provide the Beavers with their only lead of the night at 9-3.
At 285, Clearfield’s Cliff Hill tied the team score at nine with a first period flattening of Kyle Dixon.
The Bisons started to flex their muscles in the lightweights as Shane Peters made quick work of Bryce Swauger, pinning him in 1:06. Christian Stone followed that up with a 9-2 decision over Anthony Vizza at 112.
Sophomore Dylan Graham, in his Bison dual meet debut, dominated Mark Marshall, scoring three different sets of nearfall points to cruise to a 13-0 major decision.
The Beavers pulled as close as they were going to get when Garrett Brown pinned Bison Frankie Aveni at 125, then Clearfield’s Nolan Barger matched that fete with his own first period fall, sticking Matt Busatto in 1:47 at 130.
At 135, Troy Danver lost a close 4-2 decision to Tom Sleigh, but Max Von Gunden picked his teammate up at 140 with an aggressive pin against Joe Maleski in just 38 seconds.
Andrew Hill put another six on the board for the Bisons at 145 when he decked Zane Drum in 3:14. At 152, Clearfield’s Garrett Timko saved the Bisons a team point as he fought valiantly against Geno Morrelli, finally losing 18-3 in 2:27.
Shane Harper ended the evening on a winning note for the Bisons, posting a 6-0 shutout over Mike Kennelly to set the final dual meet score in the Bisons’ favor at 43-23.
It doesn’t get any easier for Clearfield (1-0) as they travel to Wingate Friday night to take on perennial powerhouse Bald Eagle Area. “BEA has a solid team this year and we expect a real tough fight in their gym,” added Aveni.
Bout Recap Team Score
171 Derek Danver, WBD, 7-2, over Joe Morrison 3-0
189 Jacob Verchick, LBF, :33, to Landon Hannah 3-6
215 Jordan Lancaster, LBD, 3-1, to Ray Titler 3-9
285 Cliff Hill WBF, 1:23, over Kyle Dixon 9-9
103 Shane Peters, WBF, 1:06, over Bryce Swauger 15-9
112 Christian Stone, WBD, 9-2, over Anthony Vizza 8-9
119 Dylan Graham, WBMD, 13-0, over Mark Marshall 22-9
125 Frankie Aveni, LBF, 1:04, to Garrett Brown 22-15
130 Nolan Barger, WBF, 1:47, over Matt Busatto 28-15
135 Troy Danver, LBD, 4-2, to Tom Sleigh 28-18
140 Max Von Gunden, WBF, :38, over Joe Maleski 34-18
145 Andrew Hill, WBF, 3:14, over Zane Drum 40-18
152 Garrett Timko, LBTF, 18-3, 2:27, to Geno Morrelli 40-23
160 Shane Harper, WBD, 6-0, over Mike Kennelly 43-23