Here’s how Bellefonte, Philipsburg-Osceola wrestling found some normalcy in quad meet
Everything about this high school wrestling season is going to be unique.
The teams’ schedules will be like revolving doors, with cancellations and make-up matches. Teams will have to adjust on the fly, like learning how to practice and compete while wearing masks.
But on Saturday, there was a little bit of a sense of normalcy as Bellefonte and Philipsburg-Osceola took part in a quad meet with Tyrone and Clearfield inside the Red Raiders’ gymnasium.
However, Bellefonte was without head coach Mike Maney and most of the coaching staff.
“It is definitely unusual. Most of our coaching staff is either quarantining or in self-quarantine with contact tracing,” assistant coach Mark Coppolo said. “So it was definitely different for the rest of the coaching staff that was able to make it today and the kids. Everybody really stepped up, though. Like you always tell your kids, ‘Next man up,” the coaching staff had to step up today.”
The Red Raiders and Mounties competed against each other to open the day, with Bellefonte coming out on top with a 54-15 victory. It was a welcoming feeling for Coppolo and his wrestlers to be able to face their county foe.
“Philipsburg is always a huge rivalry match for us. The kids are always up to wrestle them,” Coppolo said. “We enjoy wrestling them. I was glad we were able to get one in with them as we weren’t sure we were going to be able to wrestle today.”
The dual started out heavily in the Red Raiders’ favor as they got back-to-back bonus-point victories from Garrett Choates and Aidan O’Shea. Choates received a forfeit at 106 pounds.
O’Shea followed with a 12-2 major decision over P-O’s Scotty Frantz. However, the Mounties responded.
Freshman Marcus Gable picked up a fall in 58 seconds over fellow freshman Aaron McClusick. Nick Coudriet followed Gable with a forfeit victory at 126 pounds to give P-O a 12-10 lead. It was the first and last time the Mounties would lead.
Bellefonte’s Nate Smith pinned Ben Gustkey in 1:16 at 132 pounds. PIAA placewinner Jude Swisher put on a takedown clinic at 138 pounds against P-O’s Austin Foster.
Swisher recorded 13 takedowns in a 26-11 technical fall in 4:00. Swisher tallied 10 takedowns in the second period alone to push the Red Raiders out to a 21-12 lead.
“They have a really solid lineup. Coach Maney has been doing a fantastic job with the program,” Mounties coach Brad Pataky said. “It’s showing as the kids come up from elementary to junior high to senior high. They are trusting what they are doing. With the addition of Swisher, that lineup has continued to get phenomenally better. They are a tough group for sure.”
Bellefonte continued to roll after Swisher’s showing.
After receiving a forfeit at 145 pounds, the Red Raiders’ Andrew McChesney pinned P-O’s Luke Hughes in 3:46 to push Bellefonte’s lead out to 33-12.
Then, came a historic win for Ethan Richner at 160 pounds. The senior was on the mat a total of 23 seconds as he pinned Jimmy Richtscheit.
The victory was Richner’s 100th of his career and was exactly the way he envisioned it would happen, even though he never thought he was going to get it.
“At the beginning of the season, we weren’t sure what was going to happen,” the senior said. “I didn’t think I was going to get it at home, but I was able to get it at home, so that’s awesome.”
The Red Raiders’ coaching staff was just as happy for their wrestler.
“I’ve watched Ethan wrestle since kindergarten. I’ve watched him come up through,” Coppolo said. “Just watching Ethan wrestle all those years, it was great to see him get that 100th win. The coaching staff is really excited to see him get that.”
The Mounties’ Hunter Weitoish stopped the bleeding for his team with a 3-0 win over Stephen Ivicic at 172 pounds to get the score to 39-15 in favor of Bellefonte. However, the bleeding was only stopped for a moment.
The Red Raiders won the final three bouts with two forfeits and a decision victory. Max Barrier (189 pounds) and Addison Shawley (285) received the forfeits.
Ethan Rossman topped P-O’s Parker Moore 7-3 at 215 pounds. The match was 4-3 Rossman heading to the third period, but Rossman caught Moore on his back in the third period for a set of near-fall points.
“Coach Maney preaches all the time, ‘Work hard and it will payoff in the end,’” Coppolo said. “I saw that a lot with everybody’s conditioning today. I thought they wrestled well in all three periods, even kids that were over matched, they still ran back to the center and worked hard.”
Red Raiders finish day perfect
Bellefonte (4-0) wrestled both Tyrone and Clearfield to make up for not having a whole month to compete.
The Red Raiders topped the Golden Eagles 48-16 in their second match of the day. They then topped the Bison 48-20 to complete the Saturday sweep.
O’Shea, Swisher, Richner, Rossman, Barrier and Gage Long also were able to finish the day undefeated. Long, who didn’t compete in the P-O match, recorded two decision victories.
O’Shea, Swisher, Richner and Rossman all kept their bonus-point wins going throughout the day. O’Shea had a fall and a forfeit.
Swisher earned two falls, but kept displaying his takedown ability. He had 10 takedowns against Tyrone’s Luke Walk. Against Clearfield, Swisher added another 12 against Justin Hand. In all, Swisher had 35 takedowns on the day and has 45 on the season.
“Jude’s work ethic is nonstop,” Coppolo said. “As soon as he comes into the room, he’s warming up and ready to go. He’s nonstop all practice long. He does a lot of extra on his own.”
Richner added two more pins to go with his one he had against the Mounties. He wrestled a total of 1:46 in all three of his matches on Saturday, that’s not even a whole period.
Rossman also had two falls. His second, which came against the Bison’s Mark McGonigal, may be the biggest of his career. Rossman was leading 4-0, when he caught McGonigal and stuck him in 3:46 for the win.
“We were hoping to get that matchup with Ethan Rossman,” Coppolo said. “I know those two will probably see each other again. Ethan was really looking forward to getting out there, get an opportunity to push himself and see how he was looking this early in the season.”
Mounties fall against Clearfield
Clearfield was the only other team P-O (0-4) faced on Saturday as it just dropped a 42-25 loss to Tyrone on Thursday.
The Mounties fell to the Bison 34-19 on Saturday, but for Pataky, winning or losing doesn’t matter, especially this year.
“At the end of the day, it’s not so much whether you won or lost, it’s whether you got better,” he said. “We have very limited time to practice right now. If we can continue to get our guys to improve by the end of the year, they are going to continue to get better. Winning is great, losing is hard, but at the end of the day are you growing?, that’s the question you have to ask yourself.”
Frantz, Coudriet, Foster and Weitoish were able to record victories for the Mounties.
Frantz opened the dual with a fall over Evan Davis in 3:48 at 113 pounds. Coudriet came up a point shy of a major decision in his 9-2 132-pound win over Hand.
Foster pinned Camden Gormont at 145 pounds in 1:26. Weitoish secured an 11-2 major decision over Carter Chamberlain at 172 pounds.
Even though the Mounties suffered several losses against Clearfield, Gable and Gustkey stood out to Pataky in their losses.
Gable bumped up a weight class and was pinned. Gustkey trailed 11-3 with roughly 10 seconds left in his match, but he escaped with four seconds left to keep Clearfield from securing a bonus-point victory.
“We knew we were going to be giving up weights during that match. Our goal was to get every single kid a match if we can,” Pataky said. “There was a chance we were able to bump kids up to fill those matches to give everyone an opportunity to wrestle. Marcus (Gable) is a warrior and fights his butt off no matter who he is wrestling. (Ben) Gustkey is a smart kid, and he trusts what we are doing. Every time he steps on the mat, there is no doubt in our mind he is going to give his 110 percent. It showed in that match getting that escape with four seconds left in the bout.”
Mounties don unique singlets
During P-O’s dual with Clearfield, the Mounties traded in their normal navy blue singlets for some purple ones.
The singlets had Mountaineers spelled out on the front from one side to the other. On the back, square in the middle, was a ribbon with “Take Down Cancer” laid over top of it.
The Mounties and Bison have come together that past several years to raise funds for cancer research, culminating with a “Take Down Cancer” dual against one another. It didn’t happen last year, but Pataky and his squad wanted to pay homage to the tradition on Saturday.
“Last year, we made singlets for the team in honor of that match,” he said. “We no longer have the Take Down Cancer match, but we are still trying to recognize that event. In the future, it may have to shift to a different team, but it has always been with Clearfield. Coach (Jeff) Aveni was the one that actually put it together. It’s been continuing to grow up until last year.”
Masks required ... even in wrestling
Masks are required almost everywhere in Pennsylvania to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Now, imagine having to wear one while practicing and competing. It’s exactly what high school athletes are having to do this season.
So, what’s it like?
“Obviously, it’s hard to breathe with it, but that’s where conditioning comes in,” Richner said. “(Coach) Maney has us running all the time, so we are conditioned really well, so it shouldn’t be a problem for us.”
Bellefonte 54, Philipsburg-Osceola 15
Saturday at Bellefonte
106: Garrett Choates, B, won by forfeit
113: Aidan O’Shea, B, major dec. Scotty Frantz, 12-2
120: Marcus Gable, P-O, pinned Aaron McClusick, :58
126: Nick Coudriet, P-O, won by forfeit
132: Nate Smith, B, pinned Ben Gustkey, 1:16
138: Jude Swisher, B, tech. fall Austin Foster, 26-11 (4:00)
145: Dylan Dann, B, won by forfeit
152: Andrew McChesney, B, pinned Luke Hughes, 3:46
160: Ethan Richner, B, pinned Jimmy Richtscheit, :23
172: Hunter Weitoish, P-O, dec. Stephen Ivicic, 3-0
189: Max Barrier, B, won by forfeit
215: Ethan Rossman, B, dec. Parker Moore, 7-3
285: Addison Shawley, B, won by forfeit
Takedowns: P-O 4, B 19
Records: Philipsburg-Osceola (0-3), Bellefonte (2-0)
Bellefonte 48, Tyrone 16
113: O’Shea, B, pinned Remington Fleck, 1:29
120: Hunter Walk, T, pinned McClusick, :19
126: Ashton Sipes, T, dec. Smith, 4-3
132: Swisher, B, pinned Lukas Walk, 4:33
138: Gage Long, B, dec. Andrew Weaver, 6-2
145: Reese Wood, T, major dec. Dann, 12-2
152: McChesney, B, won by forfeit
160: Richner, B, pinned Jermaine Myers, 1:00
172: Ivicic, B, med. forfeit Zach Lash, 5:41
189: Rossman, B, pinned Tommy Hicks, 3:22
215: Barrier, B, pinned Alex Weaver, 4:59
285: Shawley, B, dec. Braden Ewing, 1-0
106: Korry Walls, T, dec. Choates, 8-4
Takedowns: T 6, B 17
Records: Bellefonte (3-0)
Clearfield 34, Philipsburg-Osceola 19
113: Frantz, P-O, pinned Evan Davis, 3:48
120: No match
126: Nolan Barr, C, pinned Gable, 3:20
132: Coudriet, P-O, dec. Justin Hand, 9-2
138: Will Domico, C, dec. Gustkey, 11-4
145: Foster, P-O, pinned Camden Gormont, 1:26
152: Karson Kline, C, major dec. Hughes, 8-0
160: Wyatt Reorda, C, pinned Richtscheit, 1:48
172: Weitoish, P-O, major dec. Carter Chamberlain, 11-2
189: Hayden Kovalick, C, won by forfeit
215: Mark McGonigal, C, dec. Moore, 6-3
285: Oliver Billotte, C, won by forfeit
106: No match
Takedowns: C 13, P-O 6
Records: Philipsburg-Osceola (0-4)
Next match: Penns Valley at Philipsburg-Osceola, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Bellefonte 48, Clearfield 20
120: McClusick, B, won by forfeit
126: Barr, C, dec. Smith, 2-1
132: Swisher, B, pinned Hand, 3:26
138: Long, B, dec. W. Domico, 3-0
145: Dann, B, pinned Gormont, 4:38
152: Kline, C, tech. fall McChesney, 19-4 (5:30)
160: Richner, B, pinned Reorda, :23
172: Ivicic, B, pinned Chamberlain, :42
189: Rossman, B, pinned McGonigal, 3:46
215: Barrier, B, dec. N. Domico, 6-4
285: Billotte, C, pinned Shawley, :48
106: Davis, C, pinned Choates, 1:13
113: O’Shea, B, won by forfeit
Takedowns: C 10, B 20
Records: Bellefonte (4-0)
Next match: Bellefonte at Central, Thursday, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 5:02 PM.
