Bellefonte wrestling comes out on top at tri-meet with Penns Valley and Huntingdon
One would think a coach would be happy with their team earning two wins in one day.
While Bellefonte coach Mike Maney was proud of his team, he thought they could have performed better.
The Red Raiders topped host Penns Valley (43-16) and Huntingdon (43-15) in a tri-meet on Thursday. The Rams also topped the Bearcats, 43-19, to start the meet.
“Any time you can wrestle a Centre County rival and come out on top is a good thing,” Maney said. “Overall, I think our performance was sluggish and sloppy for some reason. We had a really good Big 7 tournament, but tonight we weren’t really intense.”
Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker had mixed reviews for his team’s performances.
“I was very pleased with the Huntingdon match. From top to bottom, I think we wrestled well,” Brinker said. “We wrestled within ourselves. I liked everything I saw in the Huntingdon match. With Bellefonte, we knew it was going to be tough. It was all positioning. Perspective is, I really wish we could have had this group all year long from the beginning of the year till now. A lot of these things would’ve been cleaned up by now. It stinks, but a lot of times you learn this way.”
After picking up a pin from Aidan O’Shea, who bumped up to 120 pounds to start the dual, the Red Raiders had Nate Smith take on Penns Valley’s Justin Darlington.
Darlington came out on fire opening up a 4-0 lead early on Smith. But the Red Raiders’ wrestler kept pushing forward and tied the bout up 4-4 to force overtime. The pair had a scoreless overtime period, but Smith earned a reversal and near-fall points in the the first ride out period that was enough to win 8-4.
“Justin has to find a way to get off the bottom,” Brinker said. “He was about four minutes on the bottom and just needed a point.”
Jude Swisher stepped on the mat for Bellefonte at 132 pounds and did what he’s done all season — take down his opponent. The junior earned only six, compared to his match average of 10-plus, in a 16-4 major decision over Ty Watson.
The Red Raiders were out to a 13-0 lead after Swisher’s victory.
The Rams’ Nate Long took on Gage Long at 138 pounds and temporarily stopped the bleeding for his team. Nate Long led 5-0 after two periods of wrestling, but Gage Long rallied.
The pair went reversal-reversal-reversal with Gage Long earning four points out that exchange. On the last reversal, Gage Long earned some near-fall points, but too late as Nate Long hung on for a 7-6 win.
Bellefonte and Penns Valley traded victories from 145 to 189 pounds. Dylan Dann (145), Ethan Richner (160) and Ethan Rossman (189) earned those wins for the Red Raiders. Rossman had a fall, but Dann (9-2 over Noah Fetterolf) and Richner (6-1 over Cole Felker) came up just a point or two shy of adding bonus points for their squads.
“We gave up some points both individually and as a team,” Maney said. “We didn’t really have any urgency. It is something we will have to work on.”
Dristen Wolfe (152) and Malachi DuVall (172) had the victories for the Rams. Wolfe had a 4-0 shutout as DuVall earned a fall.
Rossman’s victory pushed Bellefonte seven-point lead to 25-12. Max Barrier received a forfeit at 215 to lock the dual up for the Red Raiders.
At 285 pounds, it was a pair of rookies, per se. The Rams’ Ben Sharer took on the Red Raiders’ Addison Shawley.
This is Shawley’s first year on the varsity level, but he was fresh off winning the Big 7 tournament last weekend.This was Sharer’s fourth wrestling match since coming back to the sport. He last wrestled in the fourth grade.
Sharer secured the first lead, but Shawley tied the bout at 2-2 after two periods of wrestling. As he has done all season long, Shawley pulled out a late takedown on Sharer and eventually pinned the senior with eight seconds left in the bout.
Colten Shunk earned a 12-1 major decision for Penns Valley at 106 pounds. Aaron McClusick received a forfeit at 113 pounds for Bellefonte to close out the dual.
Even though the coaches weren’t the most pleased with how their teams performed, they still had high praise for each other’s squad.
“They are solid. I wish them well. They are classy and do things the right way,” Brinker said of the Red Raiders. “You know what you are up against every time. Maney does a nice job with the program.”
Maney added about the Rams: “They are young guys. I thought they wrestled hard. You always expect that because Coach Brinker has his guys ready to scrap. They came out and battled. I know they’ll be in the mix in Double-A. We wish them the best moving forward.”
Red Raiders cruise past Bearcats
Bellefonte really had no trouble with Huntingdon. The teams traded victories over the first three weights with O’Shea (113 pounds) and Smith (126) earning wins for the Red Raiders.
Bellefonte won the next seven bouts, including four bonus-point victories, to turn a one-point lead into 39-6. Swisher (132) had a forfeit, Richner (160) and Stephen Ivicic (172) had falls and Rossman had a 17-0 technical fall in 3:00.
After two losses, the Red Raiders closed out the dual with a 10-2 major decision from Garrett Choates at 106 pounds.
Rams battle against Huntingdon
The dual began at 106 pounds, where Penns Valley got a 7-2 win from Shunk.
The Rams dropped the next two and trailed 10-3. However, a pair of major decisions from Darlington and Watson gave Penns Valley a 1-point lead. A win from Long and a loss at 145 pounds made it Penns Valley 14-13, but then the Rams went on a run.
Wolfe, Micah Fetterolf, Felker and DuVall all picked up straight bonus point victories from 152 to 189 pounds. Fetterolf had a forfeit, Wolfe and Felker had pins and DuVall hung a 19-4 technical fall on Myles Baney, who is a two-time state qualifier, in 5:28.
Sharer closed the dual out with a fall in 1:27.
Bellefonte 43, Penns Valley 16
Thursday at Spring Mills
120: Aidan O’Shea, B, pinned Chase Fleshman, 1:11
126: Nate Smith, B, dec. Justin Darlington, 8-4 (UTB2)
132: Jude Swisher, B, major dec. Ty Watson, 16-4
138: Nate Long, PV, dec. Gage Long, 7-6
145: Dylan Dann, B, dec. Noah Fetterolf, 9-2
152: Dristen Wolfe, PV, dec. Andrew McChesney, 4-0
160: Ethan Richner, B, dec. Cole Felker, 6-1
172: Malachi DuVall, PV, pinned Stephen Ivicic, 1:39
189: Ethan Rossman, B, pinned Hunter Lyons, :37
215: Max Barrier, B, won by forfeit
285: Addison Shawley, B, pinned Ben Sharer, 5:52
106: Colton Shunk, PV, major dec. Garrett Choates, 12-1
113: Aaron McClusick, B, won by forfeit
Takedowns: B 13, PV 11
Records: Bellefonte (7-0), Penns Valley (4-1)
Next match: Tyrone at Bellefonte, Tuesday, 7 p.m.; Penns Valley at Clearfield, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Bellefonte 43, Huntingdon 15
113: O’Shea, B, major dec. Landon Dunsmore, 9-0
120: Alex Gladfelter, B, pinned McClusick, :51
126: Smith, B, dec. Devin Grubb, 7-5
132: Swisher, B, won by forfeit
138: Long, B, dec. Eden Wagner, 7-0
145: Dann, B, dec. Morgan McDivitt, 4-0
152: McChesney, B, dec. Devin Brenneman, 6-2
160: Richner, B, pinned Owen Garlock, :13
172: Ivicic, B, pinned Kyle Barnett, 1:10
189: Rossman, B, tech. fall Myles Baney, 17-0 (3:00)
215: Briar Deline, H, pinned Barrier, 4:27
285: Gunner Singleton, H, dec. Shawley, 3-2
106: Choates, B, major dec. Ryan Yocum, 10-2
Records: Bellefonte (6-0), Huntingdon (0-2)
Penns Valley 43, Huntingdon 19
106: Shunk, PV, dec. Yocum, 7-2
113: Dunsmore, H, major dec. Fleshman, 12-4
120: Alex Gladfelter, H, won by forfeit
126: Darlington, PV, major dec. Grubb, 9-1
132: Watson, PV, major dec. Wagner, 14-2
138: Long, PV, dec. Mo. McDivitt, 4-1
145: Brenneman, H, dec. N. Fetterolf, 4-2
152: Wolfe, PV, pinned Garlock, 5:45
160: M. Fetterolf, PV, won by forfeit
172: Felker, PV, pinned Barnett, 4:26
189: DuVall, PV, tech. fall Baney, 19-4 (5:28)
215: Deline, H, won by forfeit
285: Sharer, PV, pinned Singleton, 1:27
Records: Huntingdon (0-1), Penns Valley (4-0)
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 11:48 PM.
