WILLIAMSPORT — After Day One of the Tom Best Memorial Top Hat Tournament at Williamsport High School, the Clearfield Bison wrestlers sat in ninth place out of 24 teams. At the conclusion of the tourney on Saturday, they pretty much held serve, and moved up one spot to number nine with 113.5 points.
Saucon Valley edged Montoursville 174 to 171 to claim the title.
Six Bison grapplers made it to the podium in the annual season opening tourney for the Bison.
Leading the way was 2022 PIAA state qualifier Brady Collins, a sophomore 145 pounder. Collins earned a second place finish, losing to Central Mountain’s top seeded Griffin Walizer, eighth in last year’s PIAA state tourney, 9-5 in the championship finals.
Finishing in third place for the Bison was junior Carter Chamberlain at 189. Chamberlain, also an eighth place finisher at the PIAA state championships last year, pinned Central Mountain’s Rocco Serafini in 3:41 in the consolation finals. Chamberlain had lost to state runner-up Jake Jones in the semifinals by a 4-1 score.
Two Bison freshmen kick started their careers with fifth place finishes.
At 107, Cash Diehl lost in the quarterfinals and then went 3-1 in the wrestlebacks, culminating with a three minute tech fall, for a 4-2 weekend.
Bryndin Chamberlain at 114 lost in the semifinals, then lost his first consolation match, but ended his career opening weekend with a fall.
Senior 121 pounder Evan Davis was in a loaded weight class and ended up in seventh, squeezing out a 5-4 win in his final bout.
Carter Freeland, a junior high state champion last year, made the leap to varsity and went 3-2 on the weekend for his seventh place finish, also ending with a fall.
Colton Ryan at 127, Adam Rougeux at 133, Ty Aveni at 152, Pat Knepp at 160, and Eric Myers at 285 each went 1-2 on the weekend.
The Bison, wrestling their first season after making the drop to the AA classification, will face off with perennial District 9 AA power Brookville on Friday night in the Arthur Weiss Gymnasium.
Complete results courtesy Track Wrestling can be found by clicking HERE.