Bald Eagle Area thrives off road atmosphere in win over Penns Valley

Bald Eagle Area’s Gage McClenahan may have been wrestling 24 miles from his high school Wednesday night, but he needed just five words to describe the road atmosphere.

“It was just like home,” he said.

In a gym packed by plenty of supporters of both schools, McClenahan and the Eagles fed off the energy for a dominating 60-8 victory over Penns Valley. And, for the sophomore, the home away from home had some special meaning.

Some of his family members are from the Spring Mills area. McClenahan even joked that there was probably some friendly jabs going on in the crowd when he was wrestling.

“It was awesome. It’s always what you want,” McClenahan said, referring to the atmosphere. “You want to come out here and want the crowd getting into it, and your teams getting into it. I loved it.”

McClenahan’s match with Abraham Allebach at 160 pounds, along with the 220-pound matchup of Penns Valley’s Dillon Covalt and David Close, were the highlights of a lopsided affair.

Rams coach Joel Brinker said it’s matchups like those the sport needs.

“I think what hurts dual matches is when we aren’t wrestling our better guys against better guys,” he said. “Fans know it and are knowledgeable. (They) want to see good matches. Unfortunately, a lot of times it turns into you’re trying to win the match so you’re bumping guys.”

A wave of noise permeated through the crowd when McClenahan and Allebach stepped onto the mat. Normally, athletes are focused and don’t hear what’s going on outside of the mat. Allebach took it all in.

“I definitely heard the crowd. I like to listen,” Allebach said. “I use it as motivation. When everybody was in here pumped up and excited, I feed off of that.”

McClenahan seemed to feed off of it to by racing out to a 6-1 lead thanks to two takedowns — one with a second remaining — and two near-fall points. But Allebach wouldn’t just go away like most of McClenahan’s opponents have done all year. Late in the match, Allebach took McClenahan down and nearly picked up near-fall points, but the crafty Eagle escaped with an 11-6 win.

“I was excited to wrestle him tonight,” Allebach added, “because I wanted to see where I was at going into states and districts. I have a couple more years so I’ll probably get to see him next year.”

Following McClenahan’s victory, BEA (13-0) continued to roll off three more bout victories and led 36-3 before Covalt and Close stepped on the mat. The crowd once again roared, as if it were McClenahan and Allebach.

“We try to get our studs on their studs, and that’s what we got,” Eagles coach Ron Guenot said. “That’s what the fans want to see. This is a nice atmosphere. It was a good night for wrestling, really.”

Close got the best of Covalt in an 8-1 win. He snapped off a late takedown in the first period and added three near-fall points to hold a 5-0 advantage. He then tacked on an escape point in the second period before getting another takedown in the third.

Penns Valley (6-10) didn’t pick up its lone other win until Baylor Shunk came up at 106 pounds. Shunk made his victory count with a 19-3 technical fall of Zander Ballock with five takedowns, three sets of near-fall points and a reversal. The crowd was still there with only three matches to go.

BEA took the final three bouts with two pins and a forfeit, but Brinker was still pleased with how his wrestlers performed and by the way the crowd stuck it out.

“The kids knew what we were up against tonight,” Brinker said. “The goal was just go out and scrap. I’m leaving here with a good taste in my mouth overall. That’s high school wrestling right there, fun. It’s just two communities coming together.”

This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 11:19 PM with the headline "Bald Eagle Area thrives off road atmosphere in win over Penns Valley."