DUBOIS — Despite winning their match earlier in the season 43-23 and being the number one seed, the Clearfield Bisons knew that they’d be in for a tough match when they faced the DuBois Beavers on Saturday in the finals of the District 9 AAA Team Wrestling Championships at DuBois Area High School.
They were right. The match wasn’t decided until the final seconds of the second to last bout of the afternoon.
Riding an eight match win streak, the Beavers (10-4) found themselves down 33-24 with two of their top wrestlers left to compete against the Bisons.
A one-loss Joe Morrison needed to knock off Clearfield’s Derek Danver at 171 to give DuBois a chance in the final bout, but instead gave up a late takedown to lose 3-2, clinching the dual meet for the visiting Bisons. Morrison’s (14-2) only two losses this season have been to Danver (23-5).
Despite giving up four first period falls and being shut out twice, the Bisons never trailed and had a lead as large as 18 when they took a 33-15 lead with four matches left to go. The Beavers then won three of four to set the final at 35-30. Clearfield was deducted one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct after the win at 171.
Picking up falls for the Bisons were Cliff Hill (17-3), Shane Peters (22-2), and Andrew Hill (14-10).
The title was Clearfield’s third title in a row and sixth out of the last nine.
Clearfield now advances to the PIAA State Team Wrestling Championships at Hershey. Clearfield will face off with the District 2 champions from Delaware Valley on Thursday at 8:00 p.m.
The Ridgway Elkers (14-7) won their fifth consecutive dual AA title when they upset the top seed Brookville Raiders (12-2) by a score of 32-29.
Before heading off to Hershey, Clearfield (10-2) will have to deal with rival Curwensville (7-10) on Tuesday night. The match will be a “throw back” to the old days as it will be contested in the Clearfield Middle School Gymnasium.
Bout by bout results (Clearfield listed first):
215 Cliff Hill wbf 1:03, over Austin Barr                           6-0
285 Jordan Lancaster lbf 1:43, to Natahn Petitti         6-6
103 Shane Peters wbf 3:29, over Bryce Swauger        12-6
112 Christain Stone wbd 5-0, over Anthony Vizza    15-6
119 Frankie Aveni lbf 1:55, to Garrett Brown              15-12
125 Dylan Graham wbd 12-6, over Matt Busatto       18-12
130 Nolan Barger, forfeit                                                     24-12
135 Troy Danver lbd 5-0, to Tom Sleigh                       24-15
140 Andrew Hill wbf 1:56, over Zane Drum                30-15
145 Shane Harper wbd 6-2, over Chris Powers         33-15
152 Curtis Owens lbf :48, to Geno Morelli                   33-21
160 Cody Lansberry lbd 6-0, to Shane Marshall      33-24
171Â Derek Danver wbd 3-2, over Joe Morrison *Â Â Â Â Â 35-24
189 Jacob Verchick lbf :57, to Landon Hanna          35-30
* – Clearfield had team point deducted after 171 pound match
