Punxsutawney – On the hands of four falls and five forfeits, the Clearfield Bison wrestling team notched their first victory in the 2018-19 season with a blowout 57-14 victory over the Punxsutawney Chucks.
Freshmen Nolan Barr (4-2), Luke Freeland (5-4), sophomore Justin Hand (3-5), and senior Caleb Freeland (8-1) all pinned their opponents to put up 24 combined points for Clearfield, bringing the teams yearly pin count to 20, and they all did it in a slightly different fashion.
Barr went out, got a takedown over Punxsutawney’s Jacob Good at 113, put him on his back and got the fall. Then at 132 pounds, Luke Freeland dominated his match, getting a takedown and a set of back points. In the second period, he turned the Chuck’s Dan Smith to his back with a reversal and got the pin in 2:45.
Perhaps the most hard-fought pin of the night came from Justin Hand. Hand found himself down 4-1 in the first period in his 138 pound bout after giving up two takedowns to Punxy’s Garrett Fischer, but was able to get a reversal with a sit-out to cut the lead to 4-3 heading into the second period. There, Hand was reversed by Fischer and was eventually able to get his own escape. Being down 6-4, Hand elected to take bottom, where he reversed Fischer to his back and got the come-from-behind fall.
The final pin of the night came from senior Caleb Freeland, who stayed patient and got an opportunity to pin the Chuck’s Jake Skarbek in the second period at 152, after holding a 2-0 lead from an early takedown in the first period.
Freshman Karson Kline also won by decision, improving his record to 7-2. Kline came from behind from an early takedown to handle Punxsutawney’s Ben Skarbek 6-2 at 120 pounds.
Brett Zattoni found himself at the other end of a buzz saw, giving up five sets of backpoints in the second period to Punxsutawney’s Garrett Eddy and losing by tech fall 17-1.
Then in the last wrestled match of the night, sophomore Nick Domico (5-4) found himself in yet another high scoring affair. Unlike other nights, Domico was unable to use his funk style to pin his opponent, as Punxsutawney’s Josh Miller proved too strong for the young wrestler as the final score ended 13-8 in Millers favor.
In Coach Jeff Aveni’s interview after the match, he noted he was pleased with come from behind victories from Hand and Kline, and said losing the first 30 seconds is fine as long as you don’t lose the whole six minutes.  Aveni was also pleased with his wrestlers that lost, noting that they wrestled hard and can now learn from that when they go look at the tapes.
The Bison have finished their December 1-3 overall, with 52 wins and 49 losses. Coach Aveni is pleased with the young team and ready to move into the meat of the season in January. They’ll take the holiday to bolster their conditioning and technique and return to the mat in Philipsburg for the Annual Takedown Cancer Match on Thursday, January 3.
Bout by Bout Recap:
Records as of 12/20/2018:
Scoreboard
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/07 & 08 | Top Hat Tourney | Â 86 Points | 12th Place |
| 12/11 | Bald Eagle | Â 20-49 | 0-1 |
| 12/14 | @ DuBois | Â 36-37 | 0-2 |
| 12/18 | Huntingdon | Â 33-38 | 0-3 |
| 12/20 | @ Punxsutawney | Â 54-17 | 1-3 |
| 01/03 | @ Philipsburg | ||
| 01/04 & 05 | Tool City Tourney | ||
| 01/08 | Tyrone | ||
| 01/10 | St. Marys | ||
| 01/15 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 01/19 | Bison Duals 2019 | ||
| 01/22 | Central High School | ||
| 01/25 & 26 | Ultimate Warrior Tourney | ||
| 02/05 | @ Bellefonte |
