Philipsburg Defeats
Bison Wrestlers, 51-19

Jessica Shirey, Team Reporter
January 19, 2012

CLEARFIELD – Although the Philipsburg wrestling team claimed eight of 12 contested bouts, including five falls, and two forfeits, the inexperienced Clearfield team showed some fight in its 51-19 loss Thursday night at the Arthur J. Weiss Sr. Gymnasium.

“You have to go into the match thinking ‘where can we win, what can we find out.’ One thing that we really wanted to get out of it was to show more fight. I thought we did that tonight. I thought we showed a little more effort and a little more battle,” head coach Jeff Aveni said.

“I pretty much told our guys this week that ‘there’s no sense in me teaching any of you to wrestle, to do any kind of technique, to do anything more until you’re willing to fight for six minutes.’ I thought they responded . . . this is an improvement for us and a step in the right direction.”

The dual meet got under way at 132 pounds, where Dylan Graham showcased his offense in a 15-1 major decision over Mountie Joseph Bainey. The Bison junior almost decked Bainey in the opening period en route a 6-1 advantage after one.

In the second, Graham escaped for another takedown and turned Bainey again for three near fall (12-1). He used a third-period escape and takedown to set the final score and improved his season record to 12-9 overall with the win.

Philipsburg’s Andrew Greenawalt pinned Kody Mayhew in 3:50 at 138 pounds, setting up the marquee match-up in which Bison Nolan Barger dominated Jared Smith. Smith entered the dual meet 18-1 overall with his only loss by disqualification in his team’s dual meet versus Clarion at this past weekend’s Juniata Duals.

Barger came out atop of Smith in a scramble, scoring the opening takedown after Smith had a deep shot attempt. Starting in the defensive position, Barger would escape (3-0) in the second. Then, Smith lifted Barger mid-air at which time the official stopped the action.

The Bison extended his lead to 5-0 with another takedown before cradling Smith for the fall 37 seconds into the final period. Barger, who is currently ranked 10th in the PA Power Rankings, earned the Arthur J. Weiss Sr. Wrestler of the Match for his performance.

“Nolan was pretty confident in that match as to what he could do. In the last match he wrestled, he had a defeat down at the Escape the Rock Tournament. Normally, when Nolan comes back from a loss, he comes back with a vengeance. It was real dominating, and I think Nolan showed the level he’s at and the level he plans to maintain,” Aveni said.

Philipsburg’s Logan Walstrom (152) and Jeff Thompson (160) pinned Mike Beck and Kody Hepfer in 3:19 and 1:14, respectively. Walstrom, now 21-1 overall, is a returning state qualifier and currently ranked 11th in the PA Power Rankings.

At 170, Mountie John Prentice used five takedowns for a 10-4 lead over Clearfield senior Garrett Timko. In the third, Timko hit a headlock and took Prentice to his back, shrinking his deficit to one. Prentice would escape, setting the 11-9 final.

“We were outclassed. His technique was better. He was taking good shots and finishing them. We really couldn’t do much with him, but we stayed in the battle. We had an opportunity for a fall that could have won the match for us even though we were losing most of it,” Aveni said.

“(It was a) perfect example of what we’ve been talking about. You have to stay in the match, and you may get an opportunity. It was a great job by Garrett Timko. On his record, it’s a loss, but in his mind, it needs to be a win.”

Philipsburg earned falls from Dennis Lumadue (1:51) and Nick Gray (1:23) over Devin Sinclair and Shane Billings at 182 and 220 pounds, respectively, while Mountie Roger Kephart won by forfeit at 195 pounds. Clearfield’s Jordan Lancaster ended Philipsburg’s six-bout streak at heavyweight.

Lancaster spun behind Tim Dombroski before almost getting the first-period fall. Instead, he collected three backs and a 5-1 advantage after one. He scored a second-period escape, but Dombroski came out for one in the third. The Mountie used the second stall warning on Lancaster to pull within three.

Dombroski took down Lancaster before surrendering one to the Bison. Lancaster held off Dombroski for the 7-5 decision win. In last year’s dual meet, Dombroski pulled off a 3-1 decision in sudden victory to upend Lancaster.

“It was a good win for Jordan because he lost that bout last year. It showed that we took a step in the right direction. I wish we would have done a littlemore, but his opponent kind of quit wrestling him. It was a great job in the first period . . . we just have to finish the deal there,” Aveni said.

At 106, Bison freshman Noah Cline dropped a 4-0 decision to Chris Thompson, who managed only a first-period takedown and a second-period reversal against Cline. The Mountie entered the dual meet 21-0; Cline came into the bout with a 5-9 season record.

“I’ve known Chris a long time. He’s a great kid and wrestling real well. Right now, he is the best 106-pounder in the northwest region. I have seen them all, and he’s going to see some competition when some 113-pounders drop. He’s real solid,” Aveni said.

“But I think what we have to take out of it is that we’re hanging right with the best 106-pounder in the northwest region at this point. We got to be able to score points and close the gap. Noah is getting better and can wrestle with anyone. Now, he’s got to realize he can score and beat anyone.”

Phillipsburg’s Bryan Descavish received a forfeit at 113 pounds, while teammate Brian Evans scored a 3-1 decision over Clearfield’s Frankie Aveni at 120.

Up 2-0 in the final bout of the night, Clearfield’s Christian Stone used a second-period reversal and a pair of takedowns to engineer an 8-2 advantage over Caleb Shively.

Stone opted to let Shively up in third before dumping him for three backs (13-3). He let Shively up again, taking him down and pinning him. The end came at the 4:40 mark.

Clearfield and Philipsburg-Osceola have wrestled 73 dual meets with the Bison leading the series with 51 wins to 22 losses. The Bison wrestled Philipsburg for the first time Jan. 20, 1940 and defeated the Mounties, 43-3.

Clearfield recorded wins in the teams’ first 11 dual meets, before Philipsburg ended the streak in 1951. The Mounties defeated Clearfield, 24-15, and snapped the Bison’s 51-dual meet winning streak in a packed gymnasium at Philipsburg.

Starting in 1958, Clearfield strung together 24 consecutive dual meet wins over the Mounties. Philipsburg ended the winning streak with a 30-18 victory over the Bison in 1981. The Mounties’ greatest winning streak was seven straight from 1995 through 2001.

In 1992, current Bison head coach spoiled a gambling effort by then Philipsburg head coach Dave Caslow. Up 17-15, Caslow moved sophomore Brad Good down to wrestle Aveni at 152 pounds. His move backfired when Aveni pinned the Mountie in 1:04, which proved to be the “turning point” in Clearfield’s 30-25 win.

Match Results

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