CLARION — There were a few bumps along the road during the up-and-down 2014-15 wrestling season for the Clearfield Bisons, but the ending to the District 9 Championships made up for a lot of those bumps.
Clearfield was down six and a half points to St. Marys heading in to the final session at the Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium, but a 6-0 sweep of the finals enabled the Bison to leapfrog the Dutch to claim Clearfield’s first D9 AAA team title since 2010.
Grinning Bison head coach Jeff Aveni remarked afterwards that, “I knew these kids were capable of winning, and I’m just thrilled that they did!”
The evening’s session didn’t begin all that strongly for Clearfield, as they only managed a 2-4 record in the consolation finals; but the induction of two former Bisons, Brad Pataky and Matt Kyler into the D9 Wrestling Hall-of-Fame, and the unblemished finals more than made up for the slow start and gave the Bison 158 team points to St. Marys’ 150.5.
To start the finals for Clearfield, junior 120-pounder Josiah McClarren (21-11) gave up the initial takedown to Bradford’s Tyler Thompson (15-4), but it was all “Si” after that. McClarren picked up a penalty point for interlocking and added a reversal to close out the first period up 3-2. Another reversal in the second period upped his lead to 5-2. McClarren turned it up a notch in the final period by adding two takedowns and a three-point nearfall after a pancake to break open a close match and win 12-3.
What momentum McClarren may have started with his major decision really was amped up at 126 with Logan Gilbert. Gilbert (20-11) faced off with St. Marys’ Cameron Resch (18-13) for the third time this season. Resch had beaten Gilbert 5-2 back in the dual meet and pinned Gilbert in the district duals just three weeks ago. The third time proved to be the charm. The match opened with a mad scramble that saw Resch awarded a takedown, which Gilbert somehow turned in to a reversal and a cradle. Resch was clamped up and pinned at the 1:07 mark, earning Gilbert his second D9 title and a share of the Joseph J. Kata Award, which goes to the tournament’s outstanding wrestler, Clearfield’s first OW since Tommy Barger back in 2006. Gilbert had a 16 second fall over Bradford’s Jeremiah Fitton in the semis.
The lone Bison senior in the finals, Noah Cline (27-5) faced off with Punxsutawney’s Elijah Lambiotti (22-8) at 132. Cline had beaten Lambiotti 4-2 early in the season on a late takedown, so this figured to be another tight battle. And it was. Cline took a 2-0 lead with the opening takedown about 45 seconds in to the bout. He managed to ride out the rest of the first, but was then ridden out himself for almost the entire second period, but escaped with six seconds left to take a 3-0 lead in to the final period. Cline then rode Lambiotti out the entire final two minutes to earn his first district title after 92 wins as a Bison. In the semis, Cline had built up a 10-0 lead over DuBois’ Isaac Kerner before pinning him in 3:18.
At 145 pounds freshman Luke McGonigal (21-10), like Gilbert before him, faced off with an opponent that had beaten him twice this year. St. Marys top-seeded junior Kyle Pecht (25-9) had beaten McGonigal in the pre-season Fall Brawl at Clearfield, then narrowly 2-1 in the regular season dual. McGonigal had earned some measure of revenge with a 6-3 decision during the district dual meet, which was won by St. Marys 33-22. McGonigal got the opening takedown about 45 seconds in to the bout and rode Pecht the rest of the first period for a 2-0 lead. But Pecht rode McGonigal the entire second period, even briefly putting McGonigal on his back to even the score at 2-2 heading in to the final period. That’s when things got interesting. Pecht chose down to start the period, but McGonigal gave up an uncontested escape, so he could start in the neutral position down one, 3-2. Needing a takedown to win, McGonigal was the aggressor from the outset, so much so, he needed a visit to the edge of the mat where a much-needed bucket welcomed his arrival. After using up about 60 seconds of injury-time, McGonigal headed back out for the final minute of action. It didn’t take long as McGonigal hit a tight headlock, pinning Pecht at the 5:11 mark; sending the already fired-up Bison faithful in to a frenzy. McGonigal had also picked up a fall in the semis, needing just 1:07 to dispose of Punxsutawney’s Tristan Herndan.
The heavy favorite at 195, Bison junior Travis Ogden (26-3) didn’t disappoint as he made short work of a game Dave Henninger (13-10). Ogden and DuBois’ Henninger tussled back and forth for the first 40 seconds or so, but Ogden then clamped a headlock that Henninger fought off for about 20 more seconds before the fall at the 1:03 mark. In the semis, Odgen played a game of “take him down and let him up”, building up a 14-3 lead over St. Marys’ Mitchell Cashmer before pinning him in 3:05. Ogden’s falls were a team-leading 16th and 17th for the season.
Now clinging to a slim lead in the team race, Clearfield needed a win from junior heavyweight Nate Lash (17-12) to seal the deal. Like Gilbert and McGonigal before him, Lash would also be facing an opponent that had beaten him twice during the season. Actually, St. Mary’s much heavier (like 50-60 pounds heavier!) Ray Kline (12-17) had pinned Lash in both previous matches. The Clearfield coaches had a game plan that Lash executed to perfection. The first period ended scoreless. Lash chose down to start the second; and after a few close calls finally escaped 50 seconds in to the period. Once again, no takedowns and the period ended with Lash up 1-0. Kline chose neutral to start the third, hoping he could repeat his former successes against Lash with a big move and a fall. It was not to be for Kline, as Lash picked up a takedown at the 1:04 mark and just let Kline go with a few seconds to go to win 3-1 to earn his sweet revenge and a team title for the Bison. Lash had picked up his 13th fall in the semis over Garrett Bennett from Punxsutawney in 1:28.
Joining the six champions in Altoona next weekend for the Northwest Region Championships are the three Bisons who picked up bronze medals.
Sophomore 138-pounder Zane Morgan was on the injured list most of the year, only to make his season debut at these championships. The second seed, Morgan (1-1) was pinned in the semis when Punxsy’s Stone Smith picked up a defensive fall in the midst of a high-scoring affair. Morgan then earned his trip to the regionals with a first period fall over Matt Ashley from Bradford in the consolation finals.
At 152, junior Tallin Norris (17-15) won 8-3 in his third place match over Zach Becker of St .Marys to advance to next week as well. In the semis, Norris was in a one-point match in the third period, but DuBois’ Carson Hanna had two big moves to win 15-7.
The third Bison third-place finisher was freshman 106-pounder Matt Ryan (11-17). Ryan had no consolation match after being pinned in 5:27, after being down 6-0, of the semis by St. Marys’ Hayden Tettis.
Four Bison fell one win short by losing in the finals of wrestlebacks.
Jaret McCracken (0-2) saw his fist varsity action of the season at 160 and was pinned twice. First by eventual champ Perry Arrington in the semis, then by DuBois’ Noah Schneider in 4:14 of the consy finals.
Senior 170-pounder Grant Climie closed out his career in fourth place.
At 182, Levi Wisor was decisioned twice to finish the season at 13-17. He was beaten 5-2 in the semis by Punxsy’s Travis Perry, and then beaten 3-1 by DuBois’ Josh Wayland.
The second senior to close out his career for the Bison was 220-pounder Brian Thorp, who wrestled the best he has all season, but came up a point short of advancing.
In the semis, Thorp was down 1-0 with 10 seconds left in the match to the top seed Robert Zilhaver of DuBois, but gave up a late takedown to lose 3-0. In the consy finals, Thorp (7-22) took Daniel Salinas (15-9) of St. Marys all the way to the ultimate rideout tie-breaker before losing 3-2. Thorp had picked up a fall in 2:42 in his preliminary bout over Shaun Herndon of Punxsutawney.
The team final team scores behind Clearfield and St. Marys were Punxsuatwney at 127, DuBois at 114, and Bradford with 46.
The other champions, beside Clearfield’s, were Kolby Ho (16-9) at 106 from DuBois, Ray Dent (17-11) at 113 from St. Marys, William McGonnell (9-8) at 138 from St. Marys, Kaleb Young (12-0), who won his third district title and a share of the OW with Gilbert, at 152, Perry Arrington (23-7) at 160 from Punxsutawney, Keegan Fischer (20-7) at 170 from Punxsutawney, Michael Wolfel (12-7) at 182 from St. Marys, and Kyle Langdon (21-6) at 220 from Bradford.
Complete results can be found here, courtesy Escape Sports.
