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Clearfield Defeated by
Jessica Shirey, Team Reporter December 21, 2011 PUNXSUTAWNEY – The Clearfield wrestling team has stumbled into an unfamiliar territory this season, starting out 0-3 for the first-time ever after losing 43-32 to Punxsutawney Thursday night. Punxsutawney claimed seven of the 12 bouts wrestled, including five, first-period falls. The Chucks scored four straight pins from 170 to 220 pounds, which sealed the dual meet with Clearfield to forfeit the final bout. Bison Christian Stone (132), Dylan Graham (138) and Jordan Lancaster (285) all pinned their opponents. Teammate Nolan Barger won by forfeit and Noah Cline by technical fall at 152 and 106 pounds, respectively. At 132, Stone established a 7-0 advantage against Devon Snyder with a pair of takedowns and three near fall. In the second, he flattened the Punxsutawney junior at the 2:43 mark. Graham and Neko Cappella went scoreless in the opening period of the next bout. Cappella escaped for one early in the second, and Graham fended off a Chuck shot attempt before the buzzer. Graham started in the defensive position in the final period, but Cappella would make a fatal mistake. He went with the optional start and let the Clearfield junior up. Cappella was attempting to score when Graham turned the tables, taking him down and pinning him. The end came at the 5:36 mark, putting Clearfield ahead, 12-9. Barger collected a forfeit two weight classes later at 152 pounds. Bison Mike Beck then used a pair of takedowns and escapes for a 6-2 regular decision over Punxsutawney’s Caesar Maruca during the 160-pound bout. Beck’s decision gave the Bison a 21-13 team advantage. However, Chucks Seth Spack (170, 0:40), Carl Langley (180, 1:10), Josh Neal (182, 0:43) and Tyler Titus (220, 0:16) strung together four pins. Punxsutawney led 37-21 with two bouts to be wrestled and a forfeit en route in the last bout at 113 pounds. Lancaster halted the Chucks’ pin streak with his own against Brock Huntington 27 seconds into the second period. At 106, Cline hauled in a takedown against Andrew Bullers before flattening him for three. He reversed Bullers in the second and turned him twice for five near fall. Starting neutral in the final period, Cline took down Bullers twice for the tech at the 5:25 mark. Punxsutawney’s Joel Bowers won by forfeit at 113. Clearfield and Punxsutawney have wrestled 44 total dual meets. The Bison lead the overall series with 38 wins to just five losses and one tie. The two teams met twice during Clearfield’s inaugural wrestling season in 1935. The first dual ended in a 23-23 tie on March 22 of that year, which prevented a 0-3 start for Clearfield’s novice wrestlers. A week later, Punxsutawney upended the Bison, 26-18, on March 29, 1935, and Clearfield finished the season 0-3-1. In 1936, the Chucks defeated Clearfield by scores of 38-6 and 22-12. The Bison topped Punxsutawney for the first time in 1937, winning 21.5-14.5 to prevent a 0-3 season start and to begin its 64-dual meet win streak. The teams didn’t wrestle any dual meets between 1939 and 1975. The Bison won 35-3 in 1938 and resumed the series in 1976 with a 34-15 season opening victory. Until Wednesday night, Punxsutawney hadn’t beaten Clearfield since 1977, a season the Bison finished 10-2. That year, the Chucks won 27-18 to keep its record spotless at 8-0. It was described as Punxsutawney’s “biggest victory” since restarting its program seven years prior. Match Results
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