HYDE — After suffering its first dual meet loss of the season last Thursday at St. Marys, the Clearfield Bison wrestling team bounced back Tuesday evening with a 45-24 pasting of the Bellefonte Red Raiders. The near capacity crowd in the friendly confines of the Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium saw the home team rack up six falls on its way to the convincing victory.
In the opening bout of the evening at 285, Nate Lash (12-7) staked the Bison to an early lead with a hard-fought, 4-2 victory over Bellefonte’s Sean Irvin. Cole Stewart gave the Red Raiders their only lead of the night, 6-3, with a first period fall over Cole Smay at 106 pounds.
That was short-lived however as Clearfield’s Matt Ryan (13-5) decked Zack Taylor in 2:47 to put the Bison back in the lead after 113 pounds. Bellefonte tied the match, 9-9, when Shafiq Blake bested Jude Pallo at 120, 12-5.
At 126, Hunter Blake regained the Bison lead for good with a first period fall in 1:12 over Jon Berently. Aaron Witherite kept the Red Raiders close nearing the halfway mark of the match as he defeated Josiah McClarren, 4-2, at 132 pounds.
That’s when the Bison took control of the match. Senior Logan Gilbert made quick work of Tim Lucas at 138, pinning him in 56 seconds. Classmate Tallin Norris followed at 145 with a quicker pin, hitting a cement mixer and flattening Matt Jacobs in just 34 seconds.
Bellefonte tried to mount a comeback by winning the next two bouts.
Brock Port pinned Clearfield’s Jacob Carter at 152 and Dakota Parson notched a 6-2 victory over Zane Morgan at 160 to pull the Raiders within six at 27-21.
At 170, sophomore Luke McGonigal (16-1) locked up the dual meet win for the Bison as he recorded his own first period fall, pinning Brien McChesney in 55 seconds.
Dillion Kephart shut out Clearfield’s Levi Wisor, 4-0, at 182 pounds before Bison Travis Ogden improved his record to 15-1, with a second period fall over Maximilion Mondy at 195.
Clearfield’s Hunter Bumbarger received a forfeit win at 220, to set the final at 45-24.
Clearfield (6-1) will see its next action this Saturday as it plays host for the 8th Annual Bison Duals.
Bellefonte won the Junior High match 65-30.
Bout Recaps Team Score
285 Nate Lash, C, dec. Sean Irvin, B; 4-2 3-0 Clfd
106 Cole Stewart, B, fall Cole Smay, C; :16 6-3 Bellefonte
113 Matt Ryan, C, fall Zack Taylor, B; 2:47 9-6 Clfd
120 Shafiq Blake, B, dec. Jude Pallo, C; 12-5 9-9
126 Hunter Blake, C, fall Jon Berently, B; 1:12 15-9 Clfd
132 Aaron Witherite, B, dec. Josiah McClarren, C; 4-2 15-12 Clfd
138 Logan Gilbert, C, fall Tim Lucas, B; :56 21-12 Clfd
145 Tallin Norris, C, fall Matt Jacobs, B; :34 27-12 Clfd
152 Brock Port, B, fall Jacob Carter, C; 1:19 27-18 Clfd
160 Dakota Parson, B, dec. Zane Morgan, C; 6-2 27-21 Clfd
170 Luke McGonigal, C, fall Brien McChesney, B; :55 33-21 Clfd
182 Dillion Kephart, B, dec. Levi Wisor, C; 4-0 33-24 Clfd
195 Travis Ogden, C, fall Maximilian Mondy, B; 3:11 39-24 Clfd
220 Hunter Bumbarger, C, forfeit 45-24 Clfd
Bison Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/04 & 05 Top Hat Tourney @ Williamsport 150.5 pts 4th Place
12/08 BALD EAGLE AREA 46 – 26 1 – 0
12/15 @ Central 54 – 18 2 – 0
12/17 @ Punxsutawney 69 – 9 3 – 0
12/22 @ DuBois 51 – 20 4 – 0
01/05 PENNS VALLEY 58 – 20 5 – 0
01/08 & 09 Tool City Tourney @ Meadville 162.5 pts 2nd place
01/12 @ Huntingdon ppd. 5 – 0
01/14 @ St. Marys 15 – 49 5 – 1
01/19 BELLEFONTE 45 – 24 6 – 1
01/23 CLEARFIELD BISON DUALS
01/26 TYRONE
01/29 & 30 @ West Branch Tourney
02/02 @ Philipsburg-Osceola
02/04 @ Huntingdon
02/06 District 9 Team Duals
02/26 & 27 District 9 Champs @ Clfd HS
03/04 & 05 Northwest Regionals @ Altoona
03/10-03/12 PIAA States @ Hershey