Bellefonte Defeats Bison Wrestling 35-30

CLEARFIELD – When Bison senior Matt Ryan (11-5) took the mat Wednesday night, most in the crowd believed Clearfield had the match cinched. Ryan faced off against Bellefonte junior Cole Stewart (9-6). The match was close halfway through the second period, but no one expected Ryan to make a deadly error, ending up on his back and getting pinned with one second remaining in the period. The final bout of the night shook the audience, and the Bison fell to .500 (4-4) once again on the season.

For much of the night, the Bison truly looked to be in their best form, however. Big wins came from juniors Jude Pallo (7-8), Caleb Freeland (8-6), Avry Gisewhite (9-7), and John Thomas (5-8), while seniors Hunter Wright (10-7), and Luke McGonigal (15-0) took care of business as usual, and freshman Angelo Maines (6-9) looked to be positioning himself for the Dennis Killion most improved wrestler award with a brilliant overtime victory.

The match started at 132 where Bison senior Quentin Edwards (4-10) fell to junior Ryan Smith (8-5).  Bison Jude Pallo  then bumped up to 138 and won a commanding victory over Raider senior Zach Taylor (5-5), using three takedowns to win 7-1.

Then the most controversial match of the night occurred when Bison sophomore Nate Barr (3-4) appeared to have forced an overtime period against junior Raider Ken Simpson (6-5) with seconds remaining in their 145 bout. Barr hit a headlock with five full seconds remaining, but the referee wouldn’t give him the takedown with enough time to award back points, and Barr fell to Simpson 8-6. The team score at this point was 7-3, Bellefonte.

Following a forfeit at 152, Caleb Freeland looked outstanding in his 160 pound bout, using a takedown and putting Bellefonte’s Jaden Lucas (3-8) on his back for the fall in 1:37, and then teammate Hunter Wright took a commanding 6-1 lead before giving Raider Ethan Rossman (8-6) three points at the end of his 170-pound match to win 6-4. This put the team score at 13-12, Clearfield.

Bison sophomore Brandon Daubs (2-7) battled with Raider Andrew Howe for most of the first two periods of the 182-pound bout, even leading through the first period, but he was eventually worn down and pinned quickly in the third period.

Then team captain Luke McGonigal decided to yet again not wrestle a full match. McGonigal used an arm bar and a chin-back to pin Austin Smith in 1:01, putting the team score at 19-18 Bellefonte.

Then Bellefonte’s senior Max Mondy (13-5) made short work of Bison Josh Coulter (0-1) before Avry Gisewhite won a deciding victory over Raider senior Andrew Davidson (6-7). Gisewhite was leading 3-2 with 30 seconds left when much of the Bellefonte crowd began complaining that he was stalling. Gisewhite may have heard the complaints, as he turned on his high gear and blasted Davidson to his back at the end of the match as time expired, giving him a 7-2 victory, and keeping the Bison alive, down only 25-21.

In one of the best matches of the night, freshman Angelo Maines (6-9) showed just how much he has grown as a wrestler with a 5-3 overtime victory over the Red Raiders’ Aaron Little (5-8). Maines was taken down early in the first period and was ridden out hard almost through the entire second period. However, Maines never quit wrestling and on a restart with six seconds left, he reversed Little and even put him on his back as time expired. Going into the third period, Maines continued to look tough, and he even improved on his feet as the match went on. He finally figured out Little’s style, and in a wild overtime finish, he was able to spin behind a bad shot and get the victory.

Right after that, John Thomas had a big night when he went out and took care of business at 113. He quickly took down Raider sophomore Alec Bossert (1-2) before he turned and pinned him in 1:51. Clearfield finally took the lead over the Raiders, 30-25.

But Peyton Smay ran into a tough opponent in Bellefonte’s Alex Coppolo at 120, getting beat down and losing 10-0, and with Matt Ryan being shockingly pinned, the Raiders left feeling good, and Clearfield again has to deal with a loss, even when many of Clearfield’s wrestlers had outstanding, mostly very complete nights.

Clearfield will have to move past this match quickly, as they host the 10^th Annual Bison Duals in the Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium all day, Saturday. Wrestling starts at 8:15 in the morning, but the Bison won’t wrestle until 9:30.

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