Clearfield 135-pounder Richie Queen is in control of Bellefonte's Josh Fishburn during their bout Thursday at Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasim. Queen scored a 9-2 decision, but the Bisons fell to the Red Raiders, 50-25. (Photo by Jim Butler)

And it was those weights that were the difference in a 50-25 win for Bellefonte at the Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium. The Raiders won six of those seven bouts - all by fall. But Clearfield hung right with Bellefonte, which is regarded by many to be one of the top teams in District 6, through the rest of the weights.

"We didn't do a bad job," Clearfield head coach Jeff Aveni said. "There were a lot of positives. I am disappointed with the falls, because we shouldn't be getting pinned that much. Some of them were too easy. But there were other times that we fought off our back and really fought off some tight holds.

"We were outclassed from 112 to 145, and we knew that. We got a big win from Rich Queen through the middle that slowed the momentum. The rest of the weights, I thought we did real well. We moved up at 152, 160, 171 and 189, and we ended up winning two of those four. I don't think we would have done any better if he would have stayed down, and we would have ended up forfeiting a weight and that was a kid we pinned."

The dual meet began at 189 where Lee Zalno, who is usually at 171, started the Bisons off with a bang.

He built a 4-1 lead with a pair of single-leg takedowns in the first period after getting cautioned before the starting whistle for too quick of a start.

After getting reversed to start the second period, Zalno scored his own reversal then locked in a cradle and rocked Mueller to sleep at 3:48.

"Lee's starting to show some leadership," Aveni said. "There was no one better that could have started the match tonight. He went out there with an attitude. He came over to me (in the second period) and I told him to be patient, because he may have to wear his kid down, and he said, ‘I'm going to pin him right now.' And he did. Lee's a tough kid, and I hope he gets on a roll this year because he'll be fun to watch if he does."

Bellefonte got the six points back at 215 when Josh Wensal pinned Bison Andre Buck in 1:50. Wensal got Buck in a headlock and hip-tossed him to his back to score the fall.

"The matches where we knew we weren't outclassed ... the only one they really got of those was 215," Aveni said. "Josh Wensal is an accomplished wrestler, but I told Andre that he shouldn't pin us. That should have been a one-point match and we didn't make it that. But that's something Andre will work on."

The Bisons got back on track at heavyweight where Sean Owen scored a 15-5, major decision, over Kyle Lucas. Owen was dominant on his feet, notching eight takedowns in the bout. All five of Lucas' points were escapes.

"You're not going to pin every kid you wrestle and (Lucas) wrestled hard for six minutes," Aveni said.

 "I thought we controlled it, but we did make some mistakes that we need to work on. It also showed Sean that he needs to work on his conditioning. But that's a good, positive match for Sean."

Clearfield's early success continued with a blink-and-you-missed it fall from 103-pounder Kodie Lowder, who took Bellefonte's Jonathan Hopple down immediately and pinned him in 11 seconds.

"Kodie is going to be a solid 103-pounder for us," Aveni said. "There are a couple things he's going to have work on in the room, but he'll be solid. And he went out and got us six points tonight."

With the Bisons leading 16-6, Bellefonte turned the meet around in a hurry, with six falls in the next seven bouts to take a 42-19 lead.

"We're not going to see a team that's going to be that good through those weights again this year," Aveni said. "That's a solid group of light-middleweights. Our young guys need some matches."

The only weight Clearfield won in that stretch was 135 where Queen notched a 9-2 decision over Red Raider Josh Fishburn. Queen gave up the initial takedown after trying to hit a big move early on.

But he didn't give up a point after that, scoring two reversals, a takedown and three nearfall points.

"He scared me early when he went out there throwing the super-duper Lindy right off the bat and not getting it," Aveni said. "But he recovered and did good, solid things. I told Rich when he came off the mat, ‘if you wrestle like that, you're going to win a lot of matches this year,'

"He's a good size 135-pounder, and he's very experienced. He's been around the sport for a long time and he's been in the varsity lineup a long time. He just needs to quit giving people points. Fishburn's a good kid, and we handled him."

At 152, Bellefonte's Shane Traxler defeated Derek Danver, 12-6. Traxler grabbed a 10-1 lead early in the second period before Danver made a comeback. Danver had Traxler on his back in a cradle in the third period, but couldn't get the fall.

"Derek is better than that," Aveni said. "I'm disappointed with how he's wrestling, but his effort's there. He's still wrestling hard, but he has to realize how to win those kind of matches at this level. He's good. I know what he can do. We just have to get it out of him. He lets himself get into a hole by hanging on to things too long."

Bellefonte made the score 50-19 with a technical fall from Alan Zimmerman at 160.

Bison Shawn Hall put the final points on the board with a third-period fall over Bellefonte's Ian Musser. Hall built a 5-0 lead before using the cradle to get the pin and set the dual meet final.

The Bisons were without Holden Lowe, who was unable to wrestle due to illness.

"We asked Garrett (Samsel) to step in for Holden and he was more than excited to do it," Aveni said. "It's guys like that which keep the program going."

Clearfield (0-1) is back in action Tuesday, hosting Bradford.

"We have some work to do," Aveni said. "Our conditioning is real good at this point in the season, and I think we have a good attitude. We just need to get some competition that is more our level so that some of these young guys can develop."

Bellefonte-50 - Clearfield-25
189-Lee Zalno, C, pinned Jake Mueller, B, 3:48. (0-6).
215-Josh Wensal, B, pinned Andre Buck, C, 1:50. (6-6).
285-Sean Owen, C, maj. dec. Kyle Lucas, B, 15-5. (6-10).
103-Kodie Lowder, C, pinned Jonathan Hopple, B, :11. (6-16).
112-Mitchell Port, B, pinned Max VonGunden, C, :52. (12-16).
119-Nate James, B, pinned Andrew Hill, C, 2:31. (18-16).
125-Addison Snyder, B, pinned Garrett Samsel, C, :35. (24-16).
130-Preston Snyder, B, pinned Shane Harper, C, 1:13. (30-16).
135-Richie Queen, C, dec. Josh Fishburn, B, 9-2. (30-19).
140-Garrett Snyder, B, pinned Dan Henderlong, C, 5:29. (36-19).
145-Shane Alterio, B, pinned Wil Beauseigneur, C, :41. (42-19).
152-Shane Traxler, B, dec. Derek Danver, C, 12-6. (45-19).
160-Alan Zimmerman, B, tech fall Kasey Casher, C, 19-4, 6:00. (50-19).
171-Shawn Hall, C, pinned Ian Musser, B, 5:53. (50-25).