From the Centre Daily Times of State College, Pennsylvania
Clearfield holds off Philipsburg-Osceola
By Ron Bracken
PHILIPSBURG – Justin Jarrett won his first match. Brad Pataky won his 100th.
Jarrett’s win gave Philipsburg-Osceola its biggest lead of the night 28-9. Pataky’s got Clearfield within striking distance at 28-21 and the Bisons went on to pick up a 38-32 decision in the 51st meeting between the long-time rivals.
Once the Mounties learned that the meet would begin at 152 pounds, their game plan was to put as much distance as possible between them and the Bisons before the lightweights took the mat.
And after Clearfield got a 9-5 decision over Jeff Winters at 152, one of only two regular decisions in the entire meet, P-O ran off three straight wins with bonus points as Doug Bainey major decisioned Adam Norman 11-2 at 160 with four takedowns, Ryan Mostyn pinned Nick English in 1:17 at 171 and Vlad Sidorick put away Jake Riglin in 5:45 at 189 to make it 16-3.
But Clearfield’s Brent Durandetta pinned Tyler Minarchick in 5:15 at 215 while leading 4-1, making it 16-9.
“I told Brent he had to step up, “Clearfield coach Jeff Aveni said. “I told him we weren’t just throwing him out there to get pinned. If we thought that we’d just forfeit. That was a big win for us.”
P-O followed with two more falls as Ron Pollock overwhelmed Devin Yastro in 1:07 and Jarrett lit up the P-O crowd when he took down Cody Billotte and turned him for the fall in 1:23 to give P-O the 28-9 cushion.”
“The highlight of the night for us was Justin’s win, “P-O coach Dave Caslow said. “There was no doubt he believed he could do it. He knew what he wanted the whole time and all of the fans appreciated his effort. He put us in striking distance.
“We knew we had to score as many points as possible in the upper weights and then hold on for dear life and try to get a win or two against some of their better wrestlers.”
The problem was the next two wrestlers the Bisons sent on the mat were their best wrestlers and both got falls as Matt Kyler pinned Cory Bryan in 44 seconds and Pataky, a defending PIAA champion who had been out of action for nearly a month with a knee injury, decked Tim Barnhart in 56 seconds.
“I was hoping to get a better battle at 103 but kudos to Jarrett, “said Aveni. “He went for the fall and got it. But when we got to our big guns, Kyler and Brad took care of business. If Brad couldn’t get his 100th at Clearfield, I’m glad he got it here because he has a lot of fans here and he has some friends here.”
Clearfield rode the momentum of those two quick falls as Chris Bloom followed with a 10-2 major decision over Mike Gray to make it 28-25 and Tom Barger put the Bisons in the lead for good when he pinned Derick Weitoish in 3:00 while leading 6-2 to make it 31-28.
Shadoe Bauman pushed the Clearfield lead to 35-28 when he majored D.J. Casller 10-2 thanks to an escape, takedown and three backpoints in the second period.
P-O’s Elliot Davis got the Mounties close when he majored Doug Gisewhite 12-2 with two takedowns, two reversals and four backpoints, setting the score at 35-32 with one bout to go.
But Clearfield’s Kyle Keane was too strong on his feet for David Wood, taking him down three times in a 7-4 win to seal the victory.
“Barger stepped up, as usual, and got the fall for us, “Aveni added. “And Shadoe had a great win. That might have been the best match of the night as far as two guys scrapping.
“And then we were able to finish with Keane. It’s good to have him there as a closer. I was very confident with him in there.”
P-O will return to action Friday in the New Oxford Duals, wrestling three times on Friday and three more dual meets Saturday.
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