Bald Eagle Area wrestling tops Penns Valley in an instant-classic with a nostalgic feel
A new decade may have just kicked off on Wednesday, but on Thursday the Penns Valley and Bald Eagle Area wrestling teams took to the mat with a nostalgic feel.
The Eagles came away with a 46-27 win in an instant classic that seemed ripped from the history books. The back-and-forth affair saw one wrestler earn his 100th career win, a matchup of PIAA placewinners facing off and a four-point difference with three bouts to go.
“It was a great night for high school wrestling,” Rams coach Joel Brinker said. “The crowd got to see the matchup at (1)52 that we wanted to see. That’s what it’s about, we want to see the best matchups we can get when we go out.”
Added BEA coach Ron Guenot with a chuckle: “That was a lot of fun, but too close for my comfort, I guess. The fans got their money’s worth tonight and that’s what its all about, the crowd getting into it.”
The dual began at 138 pounds with Penns Valley’s Clayton Royer needing just one win to earn his 100th career victory. It was a mark he wanted to get out of the way early this season.
“I came into the year knowing I’m getting those 13 wins to get my 100th; that’s one milestone,” he said. “We have banners in the wrestling room, I’ve got my name on one of them. Now, I want to get my name on the other one ... state placewinner.”
Royer didn’t take long to get that 100th win, either.
A takedown 17 seconds into the match for Royer gave him an early lead. He then took a little bit of time to work on locking up a cross-face cradle. With 47 seconds left on the clock, the Rams’ senior got the mat slap and the 100th win.
“Royer is a self-made man. He puts everything he can into the sport,” Brinker said. “To get a fall for his 100th, is special for him and his family. We are very happy for those guys.”
Royer had his hand raised to the BEA stands first. He was then spun around to the visiting stands that had Penns Valley fans holding 100th win signs and a giant 100 light-up poster. It was a feeling that he said was the best in his life so far.
“It feels great. I’d rather have it home,” Royer said, “but it ended up being here, local, a whole bunch of fans, the gym was full, no better feeling than that.”
Royer’s win gave the Rams a 6-0 lead that was quickly wiped away in two bouts.
The Eagles’ Zander Ballock earned a 9-0 shutout over Micah Fetterolf at 145 pounds. It came right before an all-star matchup at 152 pounds between Ballock’s teammate Gage McClenahan and Penns Valley’s Malachi DuVall.
A matchup of a 2018 PIAA runnerup and a PIAA placewinner from last season.
“We had an idea that Malachi was coming down and he did,” Guenot said. “We just thought why not let two of the best guys in the gym go at it. It was a heck of a match. It was a great match for the fans and wrestling.”
The senior in McClenahan, who is committed to wrestle at Cornell, scored the first points of the match with a takedown 25 seconds in. DuVall quickly escaped and the match was 2-1 after one period.
In the second period, McClenahan tallied a reversal with 45 seconds left for the lone points of the period. DuVall, who had a solid ride game in the second period, choose to fight off the bottom for the third.
DuVall got a reversal 16 seconds into the period to get within 4-3, and went to work with that top game. He worked it out to gain two stall calls on McClenahan and the pair went to sudden victory.
McClenahan showed the poise of a wrestler that has been there before, scoring a counter takedown on DuVall with 37 seconds left, earning the 6-4 win.
“Coming into it, I knew we were going to have a couple of good matches with kids bumping up,” McClenahan said. “It’s a long season, and not everyone is feeling 100 percent, but you have to give the crowd what they want. I think we did that tonight.”
BEA led 7-6 after McClenahan’s win and the excitement only continued. The teams went on to trade the lead over the next seven bouts.
The Rams’ Charles Martin trailed 9-3 after one period against Drew Koleno at 160 pounds. Martin rallied to get within 11-9 after two periods and Koleno got injured. He was unable to make the call for the third period and Penns Valley led 12-7.
A forfeit to the Eagles’ Noah Foltz put BEA back out front 13-12. Penns Valley’s Dristen Wolfe pinned Matthew Knepp in 5:12 at 182 pounds to give the Rams an 18-13 lead.
Chandler Burns put the Eagles ahead by one after pinning Caelob Packer in 5:00. It was a match that Burns trailed 5-0 after the first period and almost was pinned himself.
“What he did is what we preach to the kids daily about never giving up,” Guenot said. “When you get down five points or whatever, don’t give up, keep coming, and that’s what he did. It was a huge win and turned the momentum in our favor. I’m proud of Chandler that was a big win for him confidence-wise too.”
BEA and Penns Valley traded forfeits at 220 and 285 pounds to keep it a one-point lead for the Eagles. Freshman Coen Bainey gave BEA some breathing room with a pin in 1:41.
However, the Rams came right back with Justin Darlington scoring a 9-3 win over Jeffre Pifer at 113 pounds to make it 31-27. There were just three bouts left.
The Eagles won the final three bouts with a pin from Cooper Gilham at 120 pounds, Grace Stem earning a forfeit at 126 and Isaac Packer rallying for a 9-8 win at 132.
Even though Brinker’s team didn’t win the match, he was still in awe of where his team was with three bouts to go. He admitted they “were green at the beginning of the year,” but since not being on the mat since a Dec. 17-loss to Tyrone, they are headed in the right direction.
“The last few weeks we were able to work on a lot of things,” Brinker said. “I saw tremendous growth from the beginning of the year. If we had this lineup at the very beginning of the year, I think we would have more Ws in our win column. I couldn’t be prouder of the guys’ efforts. Kudos to Bald Eagle Area, a solid program and we knew what we were coming in here with.”
Bald Eagle Area 46, Penns Valley 27
Thursday at Wingate
138: Clayton Royer, PV, pinned Kevin Taylor, 1:13
145: Zander Ballock, BEA, major dec. Micah Fetterolf, 9-0
152: Gage McClenahan, BEA, dec. Malachi DuVall, 6-4 (SV)
160: Charles Martin, PV, inj. def. Drew Koleno, 4:00
170: Noah Foltz, BEA won by forfeit
182: Dristen Wolfe, PV, pinned Matthew Knepp, 5:12
195: Chandler Burns, BEA, pinned Caelob Packer, 5:00
220: David Close, BEA, won by forfeit
285: Rylee Brungart, PV, won by forfeit
106: Coen Bainey, BEA, pinned Chase Fleshman, 1:41
113: Justin Darlington, PV, dec. Jeffre Pifer, 9-3
120: Cooper Gilham, BEA, pinned Hayden Yearick, 4:31
126: Grace Stem, BEA won by forfeit
132: Isaac Packer, BEA, dec. Malachi Thompson, 9-8
Takedowns: PV 9, BEA 13
Records: Penns Valley 2-6, Bald Eagle Area 3-1
Next match: Penns Valley at Tool City Tournament, Friday; Bald Eagle Area at BEA Duals, Saturday
This story was originally published January 2, 2020 at 10:46 PM.
