ALTOONA – Of the eight Bison wrestlers who made it to the Northwest Regional AAA Wrestling Championships, two made it to the semi-finals on Saturday.
Bison Seniors Matt Ryan (26-7) and Luke McGonigal (30-0) each will wrestle Saturday afternoon at 12:30 PM.
Ryan made it to the semi-finals by avenging an earlier loss in the season to Bellefonte’s Cole Stewart (25-8) in the first round. Ryan won with a first period takedown and a reversal in the third period.
In the quarter finals, Ryan defeated Mifflin County’s Derek Burk by a 7-3 decision. Ryan displayed his heart and drive to make it to states by obtaining two third period takedowns.
Ryan will meet up against General McLane freshman Matt Leehan (26-7). These two have never wrestled against each other.
McGonigal wrestled a whole of 45 seconds in his only bout of the night, putting Bald Eagle’s David Close on his back and getting the fall immediately in the first period.
McGonigal will wrestle Philipsburg’s Brandon Anderson (27-7) in the semi-finals. The last time these two wrestlers met was at the Ultimate Warrior Tournament in West Branch a month ago. In that match, McGonigal pinned Anderson in 4:17. They also met in 2016, where McGonigal won by fall in the second period.
The remaining six Bison will all begin wrestling at 11:15 AM Saturday morning for the second round of consolation wrestling. Three of five made it to the quarter finals before losing, and the other two wrestlers who lost in the first round received byes in the first round of consolations.
Sophomore Peyton Smay (11-14) received a forfeit at 113 in the first round before being tech falled by Erie Cathedral Prep’s Ben Tirpak (19-11), 18-2. Smay will receive a forfeit in the first round of consolations as well.
At 126, junior Jude Pallo (17-15) was edged 4-3 by Bellefonte junior Ryan Smith (21-12) in the opening round of wrestling.
Sophomore Nate Barr (10-12) was tech falled by Erie Cathedral Prep’s sophomore Marques McClorin (22-14) in the preliminary round of wrestling at 138. Barr will not wrestle until the second round of consolations, where he will meet Hollidaysburg senior Nathan Swartz (25-7).
Moving up to 152, junior Caleb Freeland (18-11) picked up a 14-4 major decision against Central Mountain’s Alonzo Henry (6-11) in his preliminary round match. In the quarter finals, Freeland fell to Mifflin County freshman Trey Kibe by an 8-2 score, despite scored the opening takedown.
Senior Hunter Wright (24-11) pinned Bellefonte freshman Ethan Rossman (17-14) in 1:00 in his preliminary bout, but he was handily defeated 20-5 by State College senior Ian Barr (19-6) in the quarter finals.
Finally, junior Avry Gisewhite (18-15) was pinned by Mifflin County senior Kross Todaro (25-10) in just 1:33. Gisewhite will wrestle in the second round of consolation against Philipsburg’s Josh Hubler (18-11).
Overall, Clearfield currently sits in 10th place out of 28 teams with 21.0 points. Leading the tournament is Erie Cathedral Prep with 55.0 points, followed by Central Mountain, Philipsburg-Osceola, Bald Eagle, and DuBois to round out the top five.
Wrestling will resume at 10:00 AM on Saturday for the first round of consolation. There will be four rounds of consolation wrestling before the Parade of Champions is set to begin at 6:15 on Saturday night. The top three wrestlers at each weight class will qualify to wrestle in the PIAA AAA Wrestling State Championships. Full brackets, courtesy of PA-Wrestling.com, can be viewed here.