HYDE – Clearfield 182-pound wrestler Jake Verchick moved up to 195 on Tuesday night and became a Bison hero when the junior grappler picked up a decision over a heavier Daniel Salinas of St. Marys, 3-1, locking up the win in a two-part high school wrestling meet, 38-33.
The Bison won part one part of the intense match, from 106 to 145, jumping out to a 35-0 margin over the visiting Flying Dutch.
St. Marys won part two, almost, from 152 through 285, with Verchick stopping the comeback by the Dutch, who left with a record of now 5-3 in dual meet action.
Clearfield wasted no time putting points on the board in a dual meet that started at 106, as freshman Logan Gilbert recorded a fall over Flying Dutch Raymond Dent in just 44 seconds.
Two more quick pins for Clearfield, at 113 and 120, gave the Bison an 18-0 lead as another freshman Josiah McClarren pinned Ethan Fox in 1:18 followed by Noah Cline of Clearfield decking William McGonnel in 1:44.
St. Marys had yet to score a bout point as the Bison came out quick, strong and determined.
Tyler Pike picked up the lone forfeit of the evening for Clearfield at 126 pounds and when Bison Dylan Graham won a 7-2 decision over freshman Kyle Pecht it pushed the Clearfield margin to 27-0.
Two major decisions followed for Clearfield, with Christian Stone winning 12-3 at 138 over Tyler Yetzer and Nolan Barger shutting out Alex Coudriet 9-0 at 145 pounds.
Many in the crowd perhaps thought with Clearfield ahead 35-0 excitement would not be part of the evening’s atmosphere. Wrong.
The Dutch came flying back with pins at 152 and 170, a forfeit at 182 and 6-2 decision at 160.
After the dust settled it was still Clearfield out in front 35-21.
The only problem was that the Bison were going to forfeit the final two weight classes, 220 and 285, giving up 12 points which in turn put the match into the two 195 pound combatants hands.
Verchick weighed in at 182, and instead of wrestling 17-7 senior Joey McLaughlin at that weight, was moved up to meet the freshman Salinas, who was 6-9 before Verchick pulled out two wins. One for himself and one for his team.
Verchick had an escape in the second period with Salinas picking up an escape early in the third to knot the score at 1-1. What looked like a potential overtime bout was ended when Verchick got the only takedown of the bout late in the third period to pull out the victory.
Clearfield coach Jeff Aveni said afterwards, “Our lightweights did a great job getting us a big lead and Verchick came through to seal the match for us tonight.”
Then Aveni added, “We did have a good effort this evening, but we must stay off of our backs and not give up bonus points, especially Saturday when we are in the District 9 Duals in DuBois.”
Stone is now 24-0, Barger 23-1 and Graham 22-3 for Clearfield. All three are seniors.
The junior high match went down to the wire with St. Marys pulling out a 40-39 victory in the last bout, 80 pounds, over Clearfield.
Clearfield, 5-7 on the 2012-13 season, travel to Tyrone on Thursday to meet the Golden Eagles before that Saturday trip to DuBois and a rematch with St. Marys.
BOUT BY RESULTS
106 Logan Gilbert, C pinned Raymond Dent, SM :44 6 0
113 Josiah McClarren, C pinned Ethan Fox, SM 1:18 12 0
120 Noah Cline, C pinned William McGonnel, SM 1:44 18 0
126 Tyler Pike, C won by forfeit 24 0
132 Dylan Graham, C dec. Kyle Pecht, SM 7-2 27 0
138 Christian Stone, C major dec. Alex Coudriet, SM 12-3 31 0
145 Nolan Barger, C major dec. Tyler Yetzer, SM 9-0 35 0
152 Alex Feldbauer, SM pinned Grant Climie, C :26 35 6
160 William Gabor, SM dec. Mike Beck, C 6-2 35 9
170 Joshua Cameroni, SM pinned Josh Kennedy, C 3:50 35 15
182 Joey McLaughlin, SM won by forfeit 35 21
195 Jake Verchick, C dec. Daniel Salinas, SM 3-1 38 21
220 Gary Fledderman, SM won by forfeit 38 27
285 Michael Wolfel, SM won by forfeit 38 33
OFFICIAL: Nick Sidorick
Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/07,08 | @ Top Hat Tourney | 11th | 0 – 0 |
| 12/11 | DUBOIS | 21 – 56 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/13 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 28 – 37 | 0 – 2 |
| 12/18 | CENTRAL | 42 – 37 | 1 – 2 |
| 12/20 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 63 – 12 | 2 – 2 |
| 01/04,05 | @ Tool City Tourney | 10th | 2 – 2 |
| 01/08 | @ Penns Valley | 31 – 42 | 2 – 3 |
| 01/19 | CLFD BISON DUALS | ||
| vs. Valley | 53 – 19 | 3 – 3 | |
| vs. Pleasant Valley | 38 – 42 | 3 – 4 | |
| vs. West Branch | 18 – 60 | 3 – 5 | |
| vs. Montoursville | 33 – 35 | 3 – 6 | |
| vs. Sharpsville | 50 – 27 | 4 – 6 | |
| 01/22 | @ Bellefonte | 30 – 41 | 4 – 7 |
| 01/25,26 | @ New Oxford Tourney | 3rd | 4 – 7 |
| 01/29 | ST.MARYS | 38 – 33 | 5 – 7 |
| 01/31 | @ Tyrone | ||
| 02/02 | D9 Team Wrestling Champs. | ||
| vs. St. Marys |