Beavers Topple Bison Wrestlers to Reclaim Morelli Trophy

HYDE — The DuBois Beaver wrestling team regained control of the Pete Morelli Memorial Trophy with a 43-24 dual meet victory over the host Clearfield Bison Thursday evening at the Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium. In its third year, the travelling trophy goes to the dual meet winner between these two District IX teams in memory of the Beavers’ long time coach.

With a traditional start for the meet at 106 pounds, DuBois jumped out to an early 6-0 lead when Trenton Donahue defeated Clearfield’s Peyton Smay by a first period fall. The Bison tied the match the easy way as Kyler Rosinsky received a forfeit at 113.

That’s as close as the hosts would come on the scoreboard as DuBois rattled off five straight wins to take control of the match. The Beavers’ Ed Scott made it 12-6 when he decked Cole Smay in 1:22 of the first period.

In the best bout of the evening, Clearfield’s Matt Ryan and DuBois’ Dalton Woodrow locked horns in an epic battle at 120.  Scoreless entering the third period, Ryan chose to give Woodrow, a returning NW regional champ, an awarded escape then pressured the Beaver for two minutes looking for a takedown. As time expired, Ryan appeared to hit a successful double leg, but much to the dismay of the home crowd, referee Jeff Lindemuth ruled that there was no control, which gave Woodrow the 1-0 decision.

Kolby Ho received a forfeit win at 132 lbs and then the Beavers added six more team points when Austin Fairman caught Jude Pallo for a second period pin at 138.

At 145 pounds, DuBois was the recipient of another one point decision as Brock Adams had all he could handle from Clearfield’s Caleb Freeland, escaping with a 5-4 victory to set the team score in the Beavers’ favor at 30-6 halfway through the match.

Jacob Carter notched a win for the Bison with a 5-3 overtime decision over Lance Henninger at 152 but DuBois bested that with a major decision by Carson Hanna against Clearfield’s Hunter Wright at 160.

Clearfield’s hope of dual meet victory remained alive after the Bison strung together three wins in a row. Thayne Morgan notched his first win of the season by pinning Dom Dilullo in the first period at 170, followed by Steven Sawyer’s 6-3 decision over Izsak Kerner at 182.

Luke McGonigal remained undefeated on the year by making quick work of Blaise Carney at 195. The Bison junior hit a cement mixer, flattening the Beaver in just 22 seconds. Clearfield was within 10 points, 34-24, with two bouts remaining.

But things wouldn’t go the Bison way as DuBois’s upper weights proved to be the difference, winning both bouts to lock up the Morelli Trophy for the visitors. Dave Henninger recorded a first period fall of Hunter Bumbarger at 220 and Matt Starr ended the evening with a 9-3 decision over Avery Gisewhite at 285 to set the final score at 43-24.

The Bison, now 0-2 in dual meets, next host Central Tuesday night at home.

The Clearfield Junior High team defeated the Beavers, 65-27, in a contest prior to varsity action.

Bison Scoreboard: