Clearfield Wrestlers Fall to DuBois, 47-27, at District 4/9 Team Championships

DUBOIS — After losing to DuBois in December 43-24, the District 4/9 Duals afforded an opportunity for the Bison to see how much they had closed the gap. Unfortunately for the Bison, the result was much the same – a very quick 47-27 Beaver win.

“DuBois has a very good team, it was a tough draw”, said Clearfield Head Coach Jeff Aveni. “We knew to have a chance we’d need every break, and probably an upset somewhere that we didn’t end up getting.”

The meet started off with a bang – four straight falls, each in under a minute. Three of the four went to DuBois, with only heavyweight Trae Kitko winning for Clearfield.

Then came the crucial portion of the match – a series of very close bouts from 120 through 145 (with the exception of 132), which decided the outcome. At 120, Bison Matt Ryan pushed the action throughout the first two periods – but DuBois’ Dalton Woodrow made a second-period escape and a late third-period takedown stand up for a 3-0 win. “We hung out in the underhook too long there”, said Aveni. “If you hang out in that position with a kid who can dump, you’re going to get burned…we had Matt take neutral in the third because that’s his best position. It just didn’t work out for him.”

Clearfield finally struck back at 126, as Jude Pallo racked up several takedowns on Tyler Myers before hitting a third-period headlock. The ref slapped the mat at 5:42, bringing the Bison briefly to within nine points at 21-12. “It took Jude awhile to get going, but once he did he really got aggressive and took it to Myers there. Good win for Jude”, said Aveni.

Beaver standout Kolby Ho put on a takedown clinic at 132 versus Quentin Edwards, securing a 22-7 tech fall in 4:00. At 138, Clearfield’s Caleb Freeland built a 9-2 lead after two periods, but lost some steam in the third and had to settle for a 9-5 decision over Austin Fairman. “We’ve got some more things to work through with Caleb”, said Aveni. “He’s gotta understand, we’ve dominated the whole match – we’re in [Fairman’s] head more than he’s in ours. Once he learns how to push through that, he’ll be a much better finisher.”

The last competitive bout was a good scrap between Clearfield’s Hunter Wright and Dubois’ Brock Adams. Adams got the initial takedown in the first period,and built a 5-1 lead after two. A quick escape and takedown for Wright closed the gap to 5-4, and Wright pushed Adams hard for the last minute of the third but was unable to tie the bout, losing 6-4. “Hunter wears kids down, but he’s got to set a little better pace. When he picked up the pace in the third,  Adams got a little frustrated. We want to see that pace a little bit earlier in the bout from him”, said Aveni.

The last five weights were three forfeits and two more sub-60-second falls, one each by Clearfield and DuBois. The dual meet lasted just over 50 minutes in total due to all the quick falls and forfeits. “Hats off to DuBois, they wrestled hard, and they will represent the district well if they beat St. Mary’s in the finals”, said Aveni. “We now have three weeks to get ready for districts, so we’ll be ready to see those guys again there.”

DuBois went on to defeat St. Marys 35-29 in the final and will now represent Districts 4 and 9 in Hershey at the PIAA  AAA Team Wrestling Championships. They will face Erie Cathedral Prep, the District 10 champion, on Thursday.

In AA action, Brookville won the final by a score of 67-6 over Coudersport. Both teams are entered in the PIAA AA Team Wrestling Championship.

With their dual meet season complete at 7-9, the Bison will be off until the District 9 individual championships on February 25 at Clearfield High School. 

Bison Scoreboard: