Bald Eagle Area grad Seth Koleno leads Clarion wrestling into Penn State’s Rec Hall
Sunday marks the final dual of the season for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions will host the Clarion Golden Eagles, who are led by former Bald Eagle Area wrestler Seth Koleno.
It is the final dual of the senior’s career.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve grown up and went to Rec Hall to watch Penn State wrestle all the time,” he said. “I’ve always dreamed of wrestling there and having a match there, so having my last match in my college level dual meet season, it’s kind of amazing, how it pans out. Your biggest dreams and desires come true, at the end of (your career).”
When it came to his dream, Koleno said it didn’t matter if it was a Blue and White singlet or a Blue and Gold singlet. But now, he wouldn’t trade his Clarion career for anything.
Koleno wrestles at 141 pounds, which means he’ll get Penn State’s Beau Bartlett.
It could be the highlight of the match, as the BEA grad has a motto for all of his matches: Score 20 points.
“I got to combine his points and my points and they got to equal 20 points,” Koleno explained. “If I do that, then win or lose, I scored lots of points and made it a fun match. When you score lots of points, good things happen.”
Bartlett has talked all season about opening up his offense. With the consistent push from Koleno, fans could see the scoreboard light up on Sunday afternoon.
Koleno went on to say that in a couple of the tournaments he’s competed in, he’s scored over 100 points in the five matches that he wrestled. He joked that he’s had “quite a bit of points” scored on him, but it doesn’t deter him from doing what he does.
“I don’t care if you score on me. I’m going to keep coming after you until the whistle blows to just keep scoring more points against you,” Koleno said.
Nittany Lions fans have become accustomed to wrestlers talking about how they want to just continue to score points and have fun. It’s a mentality that Penn State coach Cael Sanderson instills in his guys.
Koleno had that mindset ingrained into his wrestling, as former Nittany Lion Zack Beitz was a volunteer coach for BEA in his high school career. It continued to grow when he got to Clarion because the coaches wanted him to score as many points as possible in his matches, he said.
With that type of mindset, it could be detrimental. It happened in Koleno’s recent match against Edinboro’s Amonn Ohl. If that name sounds familiar, it should — Ohl graduated from St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy.
Ohl was up 6-0 on Koleno late in the second period. However, Clarion coach Keith Ferraro wasn’t worried.
“I remember saying to myself, man, if anybody in the lineup is in this situation, you want it to be Koleno,” Ferraro said. “He went out, was hitting a go behind on the guy, locked up a cradle, took him to his back and stuck him. There’s some guys you want in those situations, and other guys that you can’t count on. He’s a guy that you can count on.”
Koleno recalled that after the official hit the mat he joyfully rejoiced in what he just accomplished.
It was a little out of character for the senior who tries not to over celebrate. He usually stays in the moment and acts like “he’s been there before.”
However, there was a lot on the line that evening.
“My family was all there. My girlfriend’s family was there. I had so many people coming to support me,” Koleno said. “Being down by a lot, I was like, oh no, but I kept my composure and got the pin. I stood up and I was just so happy and relieved that it happened.”
Just as Koleno had so much support that night against Edinboro, he’ll have the same if not more when he hits the mat on Sunday afternoon.
It will definitely be his parents, who go to all of his match, and family members. The support may also come from current BEA wrestlers like Lucas Fye, Coen Bainey, Caleb Close, Jeffre Pifer and Cameron Dubbs, who Koleno helped during his time in high school, when they were coming through the Eagles’ elementary program.
By the sounds of it, BEA coach Ron Guenot will be there to root on his former wrestler, too.
“It’s exciting. As a coach, it’s the big stage, and that’s what you want to see. He’s just a great kid. I’m proud of him,” Guenot said. “(I’m) proud of what he’s done and accomplished, not just on the mat, but off the mat too. He comes back into the room when he can, you know, over Christmas break and helps our kids. He teaches what he’s learned as a wrestler, but also as a person. (I’m) excited to watch him.”
Clarion (11-5) at No. 1 Penn State (15-0)
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Rec Hall
Radio: WAPY (103.1 FM)
Online: Radio, Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com; Online, Big Ten+
Twitter: @byncobler, @pennstatewrest
| Nittany Lions | vs. | Golden Eagles |
| 125: Gary Steen (5-12) | vs. | Joey Fischer (9-7) |
| 133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (12-0) | vs. | Mason Prinkey (7-11) |
| 141: No. 6 Beau Bartlett (18-1) | vs. | Seth Koleno (19-8) |
| 149: No. 13 Shayne Van Ness (14-4) | vs. | Kyle Schickel (13-11) |
| 157: No. 8 Levi Haines (17-1) | vs. | Trevor Elfvin (6-16) |
| 165: No. 9 Alex Facundo (15-2) | vs. | Cam Pine (21-6) |
| 174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (14-0) | vs. | John Worthing (17-7) |
| 184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks (9-1) | vs. | No. 21 Will Feldkamp (19-4) |
| 197: No. 3 Max Dean (17-2) | vs. | Ty Bagoly (20-6) |
| 285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (12-1) | vs. | Austin Chapman (9-12) |
