Bison Wrestlers Hang On to Knock Off BEA

WINGATE — In what Clearfield Bison head coach Jeff Aveni called a “slobber knocker” of a match, the Bison led wire-to-wire and narrowly held off Bald Eagle Area on their home turf 36-31.

Both teams came in undefeated with Clearfield at 4-0 and Bald Eagle at 2-0.

There were lots of twist and turns, some upsets, and come from behind victories for both teams.

Brady Collins (8-1 record) got things started for the Bison at 139 with a first period fall over Hunter Ishler (0-5).

In a barn burner at 145, Clearfield’s Ty Aveni (5-3) gave up the first points of the match to Mason Reese (6-5) and was down 4-0 before getting a reversal at the end of the first period and a takedown in the second period to go to the final two minutes tied at four. After giving up two nearfall points, Aveni picked up his second reversal of the match to send the bout to overtime. Aveni picked up the all important sudden victory via his second takedown to give the Bison a 9-0 lead.

Bald Eagle’s Jeffre Pifer (8-5) at 152 brought the hosts back to within three with a second period fall over Patrick Knepp (3-5) after building up a 7-0 lead after one period.

Holding onto a precarious 1-0 lead heading into the third period, 160 pound Bison strongman Carter Freeland (8-2) worked hard on top and managed a fall in 5:15 over Cameron Dubbs (3-6) to give the Bison some breathing room at 15-6.

Once again the Bald Eagles brought it close as Shawn Knepp (4-5) got a first period fall over Clearfield’s Hunter Ressler (2-2) at 172 making the score 15-12.

189 was the feature bout of the night as two returning PIAA eighth place medalists, Clearfield’s Carter Chamberlain in AAA and BEA’s Caleb Close in AA, locked horns. The first two periods was all Close (12-2) as he was up 2-0 after a first period takedown and a second period ride out. Close upped his lead to 4-0 with a third period reversal before Chamberlain (9-1) escaped and then headlocked Close to his back and picked up the fall with 10 seconds remaining in the match.

The back and forth match continued as Gage Gardner made his season debut for the hosts a memorable one as he knocked off the Bison’s Eric Myers (3-5) with a 4-2 sudden victory at 215.

Not to be outdone by Gardner, Bison Nick Bailor brought the house down with his varsity debut when he earned a 1:03 fall over Eric Clark (4-5) giving the Bison a 27-15 lead as the match turned the corner to the lightweights, where the hosts seemingly had the advantage.

Freshman Cash Diehl (9-2) put on a tilt clinic at 107 for the Bison, padding his lead to 15-1 in the third period over Liam Purcell (2-7) before picking up a fall at the 5:27 mark, pushing the Bison lead to 33-15 with four bouts remaining.

The Bison almost iced the match at 114 as Bryndin Chamberlain (6-3) was up 7-0 after one period and up 9-2 after two periods. On bottom to start the the third, Chamberlain was put on his back by Kayson Tice (2-3) and eventually pinned at the 5:26 mark bringing the hosts closer at 33-21.

Lucas Fye (11-1), fifth in the state last year, kept Bald Eagle’s hopes alive with an 11-1 major decision over Bison returning state qualifier Evan Davis (7-3) at 121.

With two matches to go and Clearfield holding a slim 33-25 lead, and with two time state medalist Coen Bainey waiting somewhere in the wings for BEA, the Bison knew they had to win where ever Bainey “wasn’t going to be”.

That heavy task fell on the hands of freshman Colton Ryan at 127 as he faced off with fellow freshman Connor Maney.

Ryan managed to score the bout’s first points via takedown, but Maney escaped to make it a 2-1 match going into the second period. It was Ryan’s choice and he took down. He scored the lone point of the period with an escape and help a 3-1 lead going into the final period. Maney started on bottom and managed to get a penalty point and an escape to knot the match at three. With just under a minute to go, Ryan picked up his second takedown of the match to go up 5-3. Maney once again escaped to narrow the gap to a single point. Ryan (4-4) managed to fight Maney (2-6) off and hold on for the victory that locked up the dual meet between the two state-ranked AA schools.

Down 36-25, all Coen Bainey (9-4) could do is set the final at 36-31 with his second period fall over Colton Bumbarger (1-5).

The Bison (5-0) have a week to recover as they will host the Tyrone Golden Eagles on January 10 inside the Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium.