HYDE — Week after week during football season, Clearfield took care of business on the gridiron, winning 12 straight games behind a relentless group of seniors.
So it was fitting that the Bison wrestling team, full of those same seniors as well as a few underclassmen from that squad, got to perform on a Friday night in its home opener.
Clearfield got pins from seniors Ty Aveni (160), Brady Collins (172) and Nick Bailor (285) and a big 4-0 win by Carter Freeland (189) in one of the best matchups of the night to lead the Bison to a 41-17 victory over DuBois at Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium.
Juniors Bryndin Chamberlain (133) and Cash Diehl (139) added pins, while classmate Colton Ryan (152) picked up a solid 11-5 decision as a few of the underclassmen from the football team also got in on the act as the Bison won nine of the 13 bouts against the rival Beavers.
“One of the best things I saw all day was on my wife’s Facebook and it said, ‘these guys dominate on Friday night.’ And it was my football players, my seniors,” Clearfield head coach Jeff Aveni said. “They were all football players except for Xavier (Lutz), and they all went out and had big wins and falls. They do dominate on Friday night. And that’s our experience and leadership and maturity with those guys.”
While the final score may seem a bit lopsided, there were plenty of competitive matchups in the dual with a young and talented DuBois squad that put three freshmen and three sophomores on the mat.
“They’re talented and well-coached,” Aveni said. “They just don’t have the depth that we do at this point. I kind of knew what was coming. There’s a lot of talent. There are probably six or seven PJW titles on that team. They’ve got some high-end talent, and they’re well-coached. They did a really good job on the bottom, and on top, I thought. They did their things that they do well, even the guys that we beat up on I thought were competitive in those bouts.”
The match started at 107 and DuBois grabbed the upper hand early with a major decision and a technical fall before the Bison got on the board at 121 with a close 3-0 win.
Beaver freshman Kinley Knisley fell behind Lutz 6-2 in the first in the 107-pound bout before closing to 6-5 with a late takedown in the period. Knisley took control of the bout from there, outscoring Lutz 12-2 over the final two periods with several sets of back points to take the 17-9 major.
Mateo Gallegos followed with a 15-0 technical fall over Bo Aveni at 114 in 2:27. Gallegos recorded a takedown and two four-point nearfalls in the first before an escape and takedown ended the bout in the second.
Dakota Shugarts got the Bison on the board at 121 as he made a first-period takedown stand up in a 3-0 decision over Antonio Giambanco.
“I was disappointed early with our bottom wrestling, our toughness,” Aveni said. “I know the Knisley kid is a solid freshman, but I felt Xavier was the better wrestler, but he just mentally didn’t finish. With Bo, you have to control Mateo’s hands or he is going to be tough. He’s a bear on his feet and he’s a bear on top. You’ve got to control his hands, and we didn’t.
“And with Shugarts, I just thought he took his foot off the gas early and cruised to the win. Our bottom wrestling has to be better there.”
At 127, Connor Peacock got his coach’s attention with a hard-fought 1-0 win over DuBois’ Peyton Geer. Peacock got off the bottom early in the third to score the only point of the bout.
“I was pleased with Connor tonight with his grit,” Aveni said. “That was one of the things I was disappointed with against Philipsburg. He surrendered too many positions. Wrestling matches are thousands of tiny little battles for position and if you just give up, you lost a whole bunch of battles. Connor didn’t surrender tonight. He fought and ended up coming out with a solid 1-0 win.”
Trailing 9-6 after Peacock’s win, the Bison racked up falls in four of the next six bouts, while also getting the decision from Ryan to turn the 3-point deficit into a 32-12 advantage.
The only loss during that stretch came in sudden victory when 145-pounder Colton Bumbarger gave up a takedown to Samson Deeb in a scramble. Deeb trailed Bumbarger 6-2 after two, but picked up two, third-period takedowns to send the match to overtime.
“I thought he wrestled a great four minutes and then he took his foot off the gas,” Aveni said. “He stopped wrestling.”
Chamberlain (3-3) pinned Aaron Chewning with a cradle in 36 seconds at 133, while Diehl (3-2) followed with a pin of Jeffrey Morris on 1:20.
After Deeb’s win over Bumbarger, Ryan (4-2) notched an 11-5 decision over Seth Wilmoth. Ryan led just 5-2 after two, but added two takedowns in the third against three Wilmoth escapes to set the final.
Ty Aveni (7-2) and Collins (5-0) each recorded first-period falls. Aveni stopped Easton Harris in 1:51 after building a 7-0 lead, while Collins was up 9-2 when he headlocked Alex George and pinned him at 1:39.
“We got some falls from Bryndin, Cash, Ty and Brady and a solid win out of Colton against the Wilmoth kid, who is a PJW champion,” Aveni said.
Carter Freeland (5-2) notched a 4-0 decision over DuBois’ Carter Wilson at 189, getting two nearfall points in the second and a reversal in the third after a scoreless first period.
Beaver freshman Kendahl Hoare put a stop to the Bison momentum with a 19-4 tech fall over Ryan Ludwig and 215 before Bailor (4-1) ended the meet with a pin of Noah Clark at 285 in 2:58.
“Solid win from Carter Freeland,” Aveni said. “That’s a good kid and he controlled the tempo and everything about that match. And then we got Nick Bailor taking care of business there at the end.”
The win for the Bison is the fifth straight over DuBois and gives them a 6-5 edge in the Battle for the Buck Trophy, which was created in 2014 in memory of Pete Morelli and awarded to the winner of the dual meet each year.
“I’ve been here a long time and Pete Morelli was around when I started and he’s a guy I respected a ton,” Aveni said. “He was just a great individual that loved the sport of wrestling and I’m glad that we’re carrying on a tradition with DuBois, honoring him.”
Clearfield (2-0) is back in action December 17, hosting Brookville.
Clearfield 41, DuBois 17
107 – Kinley Knisley, D, maj. dec. Xavier Lutz, C, 17-8. (0-4)
114 – Mateo Gallegos, D, tech fall Bo Aveni, C, 15-0, 2:27. (0-9)
121 – Dakota Shugarts, C, dec. Antonio Giambanco, D, 3-0. (3-9)
127 – Connor Peacock, C, dec. Peyton Geer, D, 1-0. (6-9)
133 – Bryndin Chamberlain, C, pinned Aaron Chewning, D, 0:36. (12-9)
139 – Cash Diehl, C, pinned Jeffrey Morris, D, 1:20. (18-9)
145 – Samson Deeb, D, dec. Colton Bumbarger, C, 11-8 SV. (17-12)*
152 – Colton Ryan, C, dec. Seth Wilmoth, D, 11-5. (20-12)
160 – Ty Aveni, C, pinned Easton Harris, D, 1:51. (26-12)
172 – Brady Collins, C, pinned Alex George, D, 1:38. (32-12)
189 – Carter Freeland, C, dec. Carter Wilson, D, 4-0. (35-12)
215 – Kendahl Hoare, D, tech fall Ryan Ludwig, C, 19-4, 3:35. (35-17)
285 – Nick Bailor, C, pinned Nathaniel Clark, D, 2:58. (41-17)
*Clearfield lost a team point following the 145-pound bout
BISON SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/06 & 07 @ Top Hat Tourney – Williamsport 166.5 pts. 5th place
12/10 @ Philipsburg-Osceola 55 – 13 1 – 0
12/12 DUBOIS ppd. 1 – 0
12/13 DUBOIS 41 – 17 2 – 0
12/17 BROOKVILLE 12/21 @ St. Marys 01/03 & 04 @ Laurel Highlands Tourney 01/08 @ Altoona 01/10 & 11 @ Mid-Winter Mayhem – IUP 01/14 @ Bald Eagle Area 01/16 HUNTINGDON 01/18 BISON DUALS 01/21 BELLEFONTE 01/24 & 25 @ Thomas Auto Tourney – Bedford 02/01 @ District 9 AA Duals 01/28 @ Tyrone 02/04 PENNS VALLEY 02/21 & 22 @ District 9 Championship 02/28 & 3/1 @ Nortwest Regionals 03/06 – 08 @ PIAA Championships – Hershey
