Mifflin County Defeats Bison Wrestlers, 48-15

Jessica Shirey, Team Reporter
January 31, 2012

CLEARFIELD – The Mifflin County wrestling team collected three forfeits and a pair of first-period falls, putting the home-standing Bison wrestlers in a 36-0 hole at the halfway point of Tuesday night’s dual meet at the Arthur J. Weiss Sr. gymnasium.

In the end, despite falling 48-15, Clearfield claimed four of the final seven contested bouts. The Bison came away with a fall from Christian Stone at 120 and impressive decision wins from Dylan Graham (126), Nolan Barger (138) and Kody Hepfer (152).

“I thought we wrestled well in a lot of situations. We were outgunned once, and we made a big mistake once. Other than that, we were right in all the matches,” head coach Jeff Aveni said.

"Overall, I'm pretty pleased. Yeah, you could say we were a little flat. But it's going to be that way after sitting two weeks. You're not going to be sharp or as aggressive. But we kept wrestling, and we stayed in the battle. We wrestled some pretty good kids there."

The Huskies engineered their seven-bout run with a first-period pin from Harry Lowber. He turned the tables on Bison Devin Sinclair, catching him out of position and pinning him. The end came with 11 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.

"Devon was right in that match and rolled the wrong way. He just made a mistake. Without that, I think he's in that match,” Aveni said.

Brandon Hampton and Cole Welham received forfeits at 182 and 195 pounds, respectively, setting up an 18-0 advantage for their undefeated teammate Tyson Searer at 220 pounds. Searer, who is now 32-0 overall, pinned Shane Billings in 14 seconds.

At heavyweight, Clearfield’s Jordan Lancaster came up short in a 3-2 battle that went to an ultimate tiebreaker with Kyle Kahley. Both wrestlers notched escapes in regulation and again in their respective ride-out periods. Unfortunately for the Bison, Kahley maintained control during the final 30-second ride-out, breaking the tie.

"Jordan wrestled a kid that is 12-4 to overtime ride-out. We're down and we have to get out. Jordan's been working on some things. He took a shot in the third period, was in deep with a leg up in the air. He's got to finish that,” Aveni said.

"He's so close right now to being a kid (who) can really make an impact at districts and win a few at regionals and then who knows what happens. He's got to get confidence to wrestle with those guys."

Clearfield’s bad luck continued at 106 pounds, where Noah Cline came up short in a 2-1 decision to Isaac Underhill, who needed only a first-period takedown for the win. The Bison escaped in the final stanza and nearly converted a decisive takedown at the buzzer.

“He’s good. We knew he was good," Aveni said of Underhill. "Noah has to take that shot earlier and create that opportunity. Two more seconds and he probably gets the leg lifted enough to get the two. I think some referees would have given him that.

"That was match we wanted. It would have been great to see Noah win that. It would have been great for his confidence."

Mifflin County’s Brandon Folk received his team’s third forfeit win at 113 pounds. He stretched their advantage to 36-0 over the Bison. Stone finally put Clearfield on the scoreboard at 120 pounds, where he engineered an 11-2 lead before pinning Tim Pearce in 3:09.

At 126, Dylan Graham snuck out a 3-2 decision over Mifflin County’s Lucas Besch. Besch entered the dual meet with a 23-8 season record. Graham scored a first-period takedown after a scramble. Beach escaped to make it 2-1 heading into the middle period. Graham and Besch swapped escapes in the next two periods to set the final.

"I thought Christian looked pretty good at his first time at 120,” Aveni said, adding that “Dylan Graham got a big win against a quality kid (who) is somewhere around fourth in the region, so we know where we're at there."

Mifflin County’s Luke Bender then posted a 10-3 decision over Bison Frankie Aveni at 132 pounds. At 138, Barger upended Kevin Bair, 8-2. In his first bout down a weight, Barger filled his opening period with “funk” before picking up an escape and takedown in the second.

Bair would reverse Barger in the third; however, the Bison wasted little time escaping for another takedown to set the final.

"Barger was Barger. He had a little fun in the first period. We were kind of chuckling on the bench because his favorite thing to do is roll around and funk. He got his funk battle there in the first and then was trying to make up for lost time."

Mifflin County’s Joe Knarr decked Mike Beck in 3:22 at 145 pounds, while Bison Kody Hepfer pulled out an 8-5 decision over Mark Hess in the 152-pound bout. Hepfer trailed 2-0 after giving up a first-period takedown but overcame it for a 3-2 lead with an escape and takedown.

Hess escaped to even the bout at three apiece after one. In the second, Hepfer came off the bottom for an escape before using a cement mixer for another takedown. He added a takedown in the final stanza, while Hess escaped and earned a penalty point at the end.

Mifflin County’s Brandon Michael set the final scoreboard with 7-0 decision over Garrett Timko at 160 pounds.

Match Results

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