Hyde – The Clearfield Bison Wrestling team took to the mat in the Art Weiss Gymnasium for the last home match of season tonight, and the seniors left the home crowd with much to applaud. Five Bison Seniors took to the mats on Tuesday night: Johnathan Thomas, Jude Pallo, Caleb Freeland, Cole Smay and Avry Gisewhite. All five seniors put points on the board for their home town.
Clearfield met against Central HS, and for another year they slayed the Dragons in a 60-12 match in which the Bison did not surrender a single bonus point. The Bison won seven of the nine bouts wrestled on the evening while also accruing five forfeits.
The match started at 195 pounds where the Bison forfeited to the Dragons, and the first match wrestled was at 220. Bison Matt Bush (2-2) wrestled Central’s Jarod Webb. The Clearfield sophomore used a half nelson after scoring a second period takedown to pin Webb in 2:55. That tied the match at 6-6..
Then Bison senior Gisewhite (10-9) received a forfeit at 285. Another forfeit came from Bison senior Johnathan Thomas (1-0). Though Thomas wrestled on the varsity for most of his junior year, he was bumped out of the lineup late last season when other wrestlers dropped weight and beat him out. This year, Thomas sacrificed and remained disciplined and finally weighed in at 106 pounds. Coach Jeff Aveni noted that while he may not have had a match tonight, his match has been with the scale all season and he’s proud of him.
At 113 pounds, freshman Nolan Barr looked impressive in his bout with the Dragon’s Alex Bowman. Though Barr was taken down in the first period, he worked two reversals and a takedown before barring Bowman to his back and getting the fall with 19 seconds left in the second period, improving his record to 10-6 overall and extending the Bison lead to 24-6.
After that, freshmen Karson Kline (13-7) and Luke Freeland (11-8) both received forfeits at 120 and 126, respectively. This put the match score at 36-6, Clearfield.
The Dragons would score their first wrestled points of the night at 132 pounds, though. Junior Peyton Smay (3-11) utilized a first period takedown to lead the match 2-1 after one period against Brandon Holsinger of Central. However, he would give up nearfall points in both the second and third periods to force a 4-4 overtime period, where he was taken down with a single leg early on. Smay lost the match 6-4.
The 138 pound match may have been the most entertaining match of the night, as sophomore Justin Hand (5-6) found himself in a high scoring affair against the Dragon’s Mason Daniels. Hand was taken down early in the first period, but he got a reversal, three back points and a late period takedown to lead 7-3 after one. In the second period, Daniels used a cradle to nearly pin Hand, but Hand was able to break the cradle and then he scored four more points after getting an escape, a penalty point for an interlock, and another takedown. And in the third period, Hand used a reversal and another takedown to win his match 15-9. This made the score 39-9, Clearfield.
Senior Jude Pallo then went out and took care of business as usual. Pallo, leading 4-0 going into the second period in his 145 pound bout, reversed Central’s Tanner Hall to his back and got the fall in 2:30, elevating Pallo’s record to 9-3.
Then senior Bison Caleb Freeland won his team-high 16th match of the year by defeating Central’s Logan Marko by a 7-5 mark at 152 pounds. Freeland (16-4) used two first period takedowns, an escape in the third period, and then a final takedown to post his seven points. Other than a second period takedown, Marko was unable to score any offensive points. Aveni said that Freeland wrestled well, but he took his foot off the gas different times through the match. Aveni believes that if Freeland would constantly continue to improve his position, he’d be real tough for anybody to beat.
Freshman standout Mark McGonigal (14-4) then took to the mat and wrestled for 57 seconds at 160 pounds. That’s all the longer it took for him to increase Clearfield’s lead to 54-9 by pinning Central’s Lane Kocher.
In the next to last match of the night, senior Cole Smay (4-10) left his mark in the Art Weiss Gymnasium by scoring a first period fall over the Dragon’s Zach Parks in his 170 pound bout. Aveni highlighted the character of Smay in his interview after the match, noting that Smay is a standout character who recently received his Eagle Scout Award. He said that he doesn’t care what Smay’s record is, he’s a Clearfield Wrestler and he’s proud to have him on his team.
The final bout of the night was another close match, as junior Brett Zattoni (4-11) lost in the final 14 seconds of the match. Tied 1-1, Zattoni was taken down at the edge of the mat by Michael Fowkes. Zattoni was able to get a last second escape but was unable to take down Fowkes. This made the final score of the night 60-12 in favor of the Clearfield Bison.
The Bison have now improved their record to 4-5 overall. Coach Aveni said that while his team had a good win, they also are working on shaking off the “hang-on” mentality that seems to plague them from match to match. Aveni felt the Bison had a chance to win every match wrestled tonight, and they only lost a match in overtime and a one-point decision.
Clearfield is now preparing to wrestle in the Ultimate Warrior Tournament this weekend, which is held at the West Branch Area High School and has become one of the toughest wrestling tournaments in the state in recent years.
