HYDE — The 2021-22 dual meet season began with a bang Tuesday night as the Clearfield Bison hosted the rival Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties inside of a packed Artur J. Weis Gymnasium. The Bison were coming off of their fifth place finish at the Tom Best Memorial Top Hat Tournament, while P-O was hitting the resilite for the first time on the new season.
The Bison rolled out to an almost insurmountable lead of 30-3 as the match crossed past the halfway mark. Overall, the Bison won seven out of the 10 contested bouts, winning all three of the toss-up matches.
The match started at 145 where Bison senior Luke Freeland (3-2) notched two first period takedowns and held off a rally by Ian Phillips to pick up a very exciting 6-5 victory.
At 152, P-O looked to take the bout lead with a major decision by 2021 state qualifier Austin Foster as he was up 12-4 late in the third period. Bison sophomore Will Domico (4-3) never gave up and saved the Bison a team point by notching a late takedown and rode Foster out to keep the team score at 3-3.
Karson Kline (2-2) had a first period takedown be the difference in a 3-1 win over Luke Hughes at 160, which gave the Bison a lead that they would never relinquish.
At 172 Bison strongman Mark McGonigal (5-1) needed less than a minute to take care of Mountie Jim Richtscheit to up the Bison lead to 12-3.
Sophomore Carter Chamberlain (2-2) rolled up an 8-0 second period lead before picking up his pin in 3:52 at 189 over Dominic Shaw.
Momentum was clearly on the host’s side as Hayden Kovalick (5-1) picked up the third consecutive pin for the Bison. He needed a minute and seven seconds to dispose of Trevor Corl, giving the Bison a commanding 24-3 lead.
Clearfield’s Oliver Billotte at 285, Philipsburg’s Sam McDonald at 106, and Bison Evan Davis at 113 traded forfeits giving the Bison a 36-9 lead with four bouts to wrestle.
The Mounties did pick up two quick first period falls at 120 and 126 by Trevor Kephart and Nick Coudriet respectively to bring the visitors as close as they would get on the night at 36-21.
Freshman phenom Brady Collins (5-1) made his long awaited varsity debut inside of the Weis a successful one as he dominated from start to finish in a 17-0 technical fall over Scott Frantz at 132.
Bison senior Nolan Barr (4-2) was down 1-0 to Philipsburg’s Marcus Gable, a state qualifier last year, halfway through the third period, but picked up a takedown then rode Gable out to secure the 2-1 win and set the final score at 44-21.
Next up for the Bison will be a trip to DuBois to face the Beavers Friday night in the annual Pete Morelli Memorial match.
| Weight | Summary | CAH | POAH | |
| 145 | Luke Freeland (Clearfield Area Hs) over Ian Phillips (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) (Dec 6-5) | 3 | 0 | |
| 152 | Austin Foster (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) over Will Domico (Clearfield Area Hs) (Dec 12-6) | 3 | 3 | |
| 160 | Karson Kline (Clearfield Area Hs) over Luke Hughes (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) (Dec 3-1) | 6 | 3 | |
| 172 | Mark McGonigal (Clearfield Area Hs) over Jim Richtscheit (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) (Fall 0:55) | 12 | 3 | |
| 189 | Carter Chamberlain (Clearfield Area Hs) over Dominic Shaw (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) (Fall 3:52) | 18 | 3 | |
| 215 | Hayden Kovalick (Clearfield Area Hs) over Trevor Cort (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) (Fall 1:07) | 24 | 3 | |
| 285 | Oliver Billotte (Clearfield Area Hs) FORFEIT | 30 | 3 | |
| 106 | Sam McDonald (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) FORFEIT | 30 | 9 | |
| 113 | Evan Davis (Clearfield Area Hs) FORFEIT | 36 | 9 | |
| 120 | Hunter Kephart (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) over Kaden Good (Clearfield Area Hs) (Fall 1:42) | 36 | 15 | |
| 126 | Nick Coudriet (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) over Adam Rougeux (Clearfield Area Hs) (Fall 0:46) | 36 | 21 | |
| 132 | Brady Collins (Clearfield Area Hs) over Scott Frantz (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) (TF 17-0 4:46) | 41 | 21 | |
| 138 | Nolan Barr (Clearfield Area Hs) over Marcus Gable (Philipsburg Osceola Area Hs) (Dec 2-1) | 44 | 21 | |
| Team Score: | 44 | 21 |