It is a different atmosphere for sure around the Bison mat room – after years of struggling just to field a full lineup, Clearfield has 24 wrestlers competing for 14 weights. “Quite a sight, isn’t it?” asked Head Coach Jeff Aveni as he surveyed his wrestling room Thursday night.”Crowded room”, assistant coach Brent Lykens commented. “We had FIVE guys wrestle off at 145 lbs!” said Aveni. “We haven’t had that here in a long time.”
The schedule is difficult as usual – “Huntingdon and Bellefonte are probably the best teams on our schedule – and Bald Eagle and PO are always tough too. St. Mary’s looks like the top team in District 9 on paper…but you never really know until teams actually compete”, said Aveni.
I was able to sit down with Coach Aveni Thursday and get some of his thoughts on the lineup, the season, and his expectations. He gave me the lineup as it stands today, which you can read below. He felt certain that there would be a lot of changes in January as wrestlers move down after the 2-lb weight allowance (2013-14 varsity records mentioned where applicable, all quotes are from Coach Aveni):
106 – Matt Ryan (9th grade) Matt hasn’t wrestled since elementary school and is a “project” according to Aveni. “Matt brings toughness and athleticism, but he’s obviously got some catching up to do. If he works hard he could be a real surprise for us.”
113 – Justin Olah (9) another “project”, Olah also hasn’t wrestled in a few years – and in fact, hadn’t been in the wrestling room at all until this week. “Justin was a good wrestler in elementary school, but obviously we don’t know what we have there yet.”
120 – Thayne Morgan (10, 9-18) “Thayne is much improved this year – he looks much smoother and comfortable”, according to Aveni. “We expect a big improvement as a sophomore.”
126 – Josiah McLarren (11, 21-17) “Josiah is such a hard worker, and he’s off to a great start in the room so far.”
132 – Logan Gilbert (11, 19-16) “Logan is just a solid wrestler. The core of our lineup is from about 120 through 152, and we expect Logan to be a big part of that.”
138 – Noah Cline (12, 28-11) “Noah is our top returnee – he has tons of experience and we’re counting on him to become a leader this season.”
145 – Tallin Norris (11, 10-15) “Tallin beat out four other wrestlers to claim this slot, and it was hard-fought all the way around. He’s much stronger this season and it has showed so far.”
152 – Luke McGonigal (9) “Luke was a PJW (junior wrestling champ) and a 4-time PJW placewinner. 152 is a tough weight for a freshman, but we feel he can do some good things for us there – he has the talent.”
160 – Grant Climie (12, 3-20) ”Grant is much improved this year. He took his lumps last season, but I expect to see much more competitive bouts from him this year.”
170 – Levi Wisor (11, 0-2) ”Levi’s a kid who got a couple of matches for us and this is his chance to shine. He could surprise people in 2015.”
182 – Hunter Bumbarger (10) “Hunter got some good experience in Junior High, 182 is a tough weight to step into but the expectation is that he will improve as the season goes on.”
195 – Travis Ogden (11, 29-13) ”Travis was very impressive a year ago, but now teams know he’s coming – he will have to adjust to that. The best thing about Travis is that he never quits, he’s always working and moving. We’re counting on him to anchor the upperweights.”
220 – Brian Thorp (12) ”Brian moved here a year ago and we tried to get him to go out last season, he finally came out this year. He had some wrestling experience before, and he’s a big, strong kid – he’s basically neck-and-neck with Nate Lash. He’s one to keep your eyes on.”
285 – Nate Lash (11, 12-12) ”Nate was the biggest surprise for us a year ago, he went .500 with no prior experience. He’s improved some since last season as well.”
It’s a young group, but as usual Coach Aveni is optimistic: “In all of our wrestle-offs – and we had a lot of them this year – I can’t recall a single kid getting pinned. Now, maybe that means we aren’t pinners, but I think it means that we are getting off our backs MUCH more effectively than last season. If we can stop giving up those killer pins, we can be competitive in every dual meet this season.”
The Bison matmen open this weekend with the top Hat tournament in Williamsport before opening their dual meet schedule Tuesday vs. DuBois. “Top Hat is always a very tough tournament”, said Aveni. “It’s a good place to see where your team stands. I think if we wrestle well everyone should earn at least one win, 2/3 of the team should make it to the second day and we could get half the team on the medal stand.”
Every Bison dual meet (except Tyrone) can be heard on 93.1FM WQYX.
Bison schedule:
| Date | Opponent |
| 12/05&06 | Top Hat Tourney @ Williamsport |
| 12/09 | DUBOIS |
| 12/11 | @ Bald Eagle Area |
| 12/16 | CENTRAL |
| 12/18 | PUNXSUTAWNEY |
| 01/02&03 | Tool City Tourney @ Meadville |
| 01/06 | @ Penns Valley |
| 01/13 | HUNTINGDON |
| 01/15 | ST. MARYS |
| 01/17 | CLEARFIELD BISON DUALS |
| 01/20 | @ Bellefonte |
| 01/23&24 | @ New Oxford Tourney |
| 01/27 | @ Tyrone |
| 02/03 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA |
| 02/20&21 | District 4-9 Championships @ TBD |
| 02/27&28 | Northwest Regionals @ Altoona |
| 03/05-07 | PIAA States @ Hershey |
Dave Glass can be reached at dsglass74@gmail.com. Listen for him as ‘the voice of Bison Wrestling’ starting Tuesday against the Beavers!