Bison Earn District Title,
Eleven Advance to Regionals

Jessica Shirey, Team Reporter
February 22, 2009

CLARION - Although the Clearfield Wrestling team shared its ups and downs at the District 9 Class AAA Wrestling Championships, eleven Bison still reached the medal stand at Clarion University's Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium, propelling the program to its 51st team title in its 75-year history.

Clearfield came out victorious in nine of its 13 semifinal matches en route Saturday night's championship finals, where the Bison crowned five champions in Andrew Spicer (119), Holden Lowe (130), Derek Danver (145), Andre Buck (215) and Sean Owen (285).

Buck scored the biggest win of his three-year varsity career, pinning St. Marys' Sean Sadosky at the 3:48 mark. Sadosky, who is currently ranked seventh in the state in the PA Power Rankings, had a perfect 29-0 season record that included 21 wins via fall.

"We always have somebody who steps up. But we had gone through this tournament and our biggest step up at that point was Andrew Hill wrestling tough against Kody Young from Punxsutawney. We still hadn't had that upset or one big match. I was like 'man, we gotta get one here, and all of a sudden bam there it is."

Sadosky used a takedown and two backs to go up 4-0 over Buck after one. He added an escape and takedown to his advantage in the following period.

While Sadosky tried to throw the Bison to his back, Buck caught him on his own with 12 seconds remaining in the stanza for the fall that stunned the crowd and brought the Clearfield section to its feet.

"It's always one of the things that we preach - stay in the match and give yourself a chance. You never know what's going to happen. Sadosky made a big mistake. He made a mistake, and Andre made him pay for it," Aveni said.

"Andre is the district champ now. In the post-season, you've got to understand that it doesn't matter what they did all year or the last three times that they've wrestled you. Because who wins that match is going to move on, and we're going on as the district champ."

During the regular season, Sadosky had scored a trio of falls against Buck at the Brockway Big Dog Tournament, in dual meet action and at the District 9 Team Duals.

As a result, Aveni said that Buck wanted to go out and close the gap on Sadosky. He said that Buck's goal was to wrestle tougher against him than he had the last time.

Spicer, however, got the Bison's championship final action under way at 119 pounds. He took down St. Marys' Sam Miller twice in the opening period for a 4-1 favor. He scored a reversal in the second before riding him out for the 6-1 decision.

"Coming in, we kind of figured that Spicer should be the class of his weight. I think that he wrestled like it. He got a quick fall in the semis (over Jordan Bullers, Punxsutawney, 0:19) and dominated in the finals," Aveni aid.

"We knew what he could do. If he comes in and wrestles, he's going to be a champ and move on to next week. If he goes over there and wrestles, he's going to put himself right in the hunt."

Lowe climbed atop the medal stand at 130 pounds, defeating Owl Zach Britton (22-4).

After going scoreless in the first, Lowe escaped and picked up a takedown at the edge of the mat in the next stanza. He went back to work in the third, using three takedowns for the 9-2 win.

Lowe, who is currently ranked 15th in the PA Power Rankings with a 34-5 season record, dominated in the semifinal round.

Up 3-2 in the second, the Clearfield senior put DuBois' Chris Powers through a takedown clinic, scoring four for an 11-6 lead.

Lowe put the Beaver on his back three times for two backs each and the 17-6 major decision.

"Holden is wresting well and just being Holden. I expect Holden to turn it up every week from here on," Aveni said.

Two match-ups later, Danver, who won by fall in the semis, pulled out a 3-2 win over returning district champion in Punxsutawney's James Shirley.

Following two scoreless periods, he started in the defensive position and escaped for the bout's first point. Shirley, however, would manage a takedown and nearly put Danver on his back.

Danver avoided surrendering the back points and reversed Shirley for his first district title.

Aveni said that Danver was among his wrestlers who were still experiencing the effects of the team's hard work outs earlier in the week.

"I told him, 'that's OK. You'll be alright.' And, obviously, he (Derek) was well prepared for. They spent a lot of time trying to close the gap on that. We just went out and said 'hey, let's go wrestle,'" he said.

"If that gets any closer than it was, then we're going to have to do some preparation for him (Shirley). But those things Derek will figure out, and he was starting to figure out as the match went on. He did what he needed to do and won the tournament."

Bison Sean Owen captured his third title with a 24-second fall over Punxsutawney's Jake Long in the semifinal round before winning by injury default in his finale with Beaver Josh Yohe.

Owen is currently 36-0 on the season, but Aveni, on the other hand, has erased his previous wins from his stat sheet.

"Before he went on the mat for his first match, I told him it was the start of his next journey. 'Last year is over. This season is over. You're 0-0 right now. You have nothing to lose, and you have everything in the world to win. Remember that,'" he said.

"He needs to be just as hungry if not hungrier this year than he was last year. And, I think he is that way. He wants to go win another one."

Clearfield had four other Bison reach the number two spot on the district podium.

At 125, (Andrew) Hill didn't back down from Young, who entered the match-up 34-0 on the season.

Hill scored the initial takedown, but Young escaped for one of his own. The scoreboard read 3-2 at the end of the first.

The Punxsutawney sophomore escaped to start the second period. Hill knotted the score at four each with a takedown, however.

But Young escaped and went up by three with his third takedown of the bout. In the third, he would take Hill down one more time to set the 9-4 final.

Hill landed himself a spot in the final with a 10-3 win over Bradford's Gage Bunker. With the score even at two, the Bison sophomore used an escape and takedown for the 5-2 advantage. He would take Bunker down again before tacking on three backs at the end.

"He wrestled well today and did a nice job there in the semis. He scored two takedowns on Kody Young. That's a heck of a job," Aveni said of Hill's tournament performance.

"My biggest thing with Hill was his mentality. He didn't go out there to just win by a point. He didn't go out there and say, 'well, if I keep it close, I'm happy.' No, he went out there and wanted to score points. He wanted to wrestle and see what happened."

Aveni said that he likes to see the same mentality in all of his wrestlers. He said that he wants them to go out and wrestle and see what happens inside those six minutes.

"He took a shot, and Kody Young came out on top today. But if he keeps doing that, he's going to get better and close the gap with these good kids," he said.

Both Clearfield's Shane Harper and Shawn Hall lost by decision at 140 and 160 pounds, respectively.

"It was tough," Aveni said of Hall's championship final re-match with Billy Morrison. "Hall was another one of those guys who did a lot of work this week. I'm sure that he was a little tired. But we'll get him freshened up for next week."

In the semis, Harper snuck by Chuck Dustin Brewer with a 2-0 win, while Hall built a 13-2 favor before decking Bradford's Austin Reams.

Hall used two takedowns, three backs and an escape for an 8-2 edge after one. He took down Reams again for three more near fall en route the pin at the 3:07 mark.

Although he lost by fall in his final, Clearfield's Cliff Hill had a "solid win" against Beaver John Rivera in his semifinal bout at 189 pounds. He took Rivera down five times for a 12-3 win, ensuring his spot in the regional tournament.

"As a 10th grader, every bit of experience that he gets is key. It was key for him to get to the district finals and now regionals. It's going to be a great experience for him. We look for big things out of Cliff Hill in the next two years," Aveni said.

Bison Shane Peters (103) and Kodie Lowder (112) had a run in with bad luck in their respective semifinal bouts.

Peters came out on the losing end of a 6-2 decision to Punxsutawney's Seth Spack, while Lowder fell 7-2 in an overtime bout with DuBois' Nick Bogacki.

"You hope to win them. But you got to make sure that you advance. When we lost at 103 and 112 pounds in the semis, I was like 'man, we got to get these guys through.' That's the big key," Aveni said.

Both came through for their coach winning in the consolations for a pair of bronze medals.

Peters defeated both St. Marys' Trenton Bauers (3-0) and Bradford's Luke McMurtrie (4-3). He used a second period reversal and takedown for his consolation final win over McMurtrie.

"He had some bad luck. His mind wasn't really in it. I said, 'you know Shane, I know your minds not there, but feeling sorry for yourself won't get you anywhere today.' And, he came back and wrestled well," Aveni said.

At 112, Lowder needed only 2:22 for the fall over Dutchman Evan Smith in his third place bout.

Aveni said that Lowder is "banged up" a little bit, and it was a gut check for him in the semis. He said that his junior will be healthier next week, and it will help him in the regional competition.

"They gutted it up and got through the tournament. They get to move on to next week," he said of the duos comeback performances.

Aveni said that his team didn't focus on the district tournament competition in its preparation.

"We pretty much knew who we'd get through here, and it's all about moving on. We came in here after working really hard for the last three days and were still tired. If we lost a match because we're tired, it's OK. It will pay off for us next week," he said.

"With this team, what it's done and where it stands, these kids needed to work on regionals. They need to work on getting to Hershey. We didn't do any films this week or any of that stuff. We didn't prepare for (wrestlers) individually. We'll do that preparation this week."

Aveni won his third Coach of the Year award for his staff and team efforts on Saturday night. He had previously won the award at both the 2003 and 2004 District 9 tournaments.

"I think that it's something that as a coaching staff, we have to appreciate," he said, crediting his assistants Brent Lykens, Andy Squires and Scott McKenzie in addition to his junior high staff.

"We're getting junior high kids who are coming into the ninth and 10th grades and are ready to wrestle on varsity. With a few adjustments that we're making, these kids are ready to win at the varsity level. If you look at this team, it's still comprised of mostly 10th and 11th graders."

He said that he sees the accolade as a "staff award" and must give his assistants and junior high coaches the credit, as they each work hard and contribute to the program's success.

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