Bellefonte wrestling picks up key wins to top Penns Valley
When it comes to wrestling, matches usually end with the big guys at heavyweight.
Sometimes a dual can also come down to which ever team claims the win at that weight is the dual winner.
On Tuesday night, the big guys were one of the swing matches, but the bout came midway through Bellefonte’s 44-30 win over Penns Valley.
“Tyler Putnam has been Mr. Clutch all year. He had a great tournament at Conestoga (Valley High School),” Raiders coach Mike Maney said. “For a guy that had one or two wins under his belt coming into the season, he is now into the double digits. He is a senior and put in a good amount of time in the preseason and it’s starting to pay off.”
When Putnam came to the mat, Bellefonte led 23-18, thanks to a pin from Addison Shawley in 1:29 at 215 pounds.
Putnam took on the Rams’ Kollin Brungart, and neither wrestler scored a point in the first period as they jostled for position. Brungart was able to take the lead in the bout with an early escape to start the second period.
Brungart then went for a throw on Putnam, and the Bellefonte wrestler slipped Brungart’s grip to collect a takedown on the edge of the mat. Brungart would escape again before the second period was over, and it was 2-2 heading to the final period.
Putnam tacked on an escape to claim a 3-2 lead midway through the third period. From there, Putnam’s baseline defense and Brungart’s inability to get off a takedown led to a win for the Raiders.
“I thought heavyweight was a swing match, and it was,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “If Kollin pulled that (off), I knew those last few weights were going to be critical, not putting it on them, but I just knew those two (last) matches could be swing matches.”
The Rams sent Jack Darlington out at 106 pounds against Cameron Garcia. Darlington came through for his team with a pin in 1:27 to pull the dual within 26-24.
The teams traded forfeits at 113 and 120 pounds to keep the dual at a two-point lead for Bellefonte, 32-30, heading to those two matches that Brinker talked about.
The Raiders’ Noah Weaver took on the Rams’ Carter Homan at 126 pounds, and it was action-packed from the get go.
Weaver and Homan traded shot attempts with neither scoring. Homan locked up a double overs of Weaver’s arms, and prepped to throw the Bellefonte wrestler to his back.
Weaver was able to slip Homan’s grip, and actually came out on top of the throw attempt. Weaver then threw Homan to his back for the pin in 1:10. The win sealed the dual for the Raiders with one bout left and the score at 38-30.
Bellefonte’s Nate Smith tacked on one more pin in 1:49 to close the dual.
“No, not until 126, that kind of mathematically put it out of place,” said Maney when asked if he felt at anytime during the dual it was in his team’s favor. “I think there was a lot of toss-up matches throughout. In a rivalry-type match, anything can happen. There was some back and forth. Not until the final two weight classes could we be sure of the win.”
Added Brinker of the loss at 126: “Yeah, that was definitely the nail in the coffin. I knew we needed that and needed bonus points. These matches every point is critical. We are stressing to the guys, you are fighting for each and those bonus points can really hurt you.”
The dual opened up with the teams trading wins back and forth.
Bellefonte’s Aidan O’Shea got things started with a 15-0 technical fall in 4:00 at 138 pounds. Gage Long and Jude Swisher strung together back-to-back pins at 152 and 160 pounds, respectively, to give the Raiders a 17-6 lead.
Penns Valley’s Ty Watson had a 49-seconds pin at 145 pounds. Cole Felker and Hunter Lyons had back-to-back pins at 172 and 189 pounds, respectively, to give the Rams an 18-17 lead before Shawley came to the mat for Bellefonte.
“You have to take a breathe there at the beginning, just good to be back in a high school dual meet,” Maney said of the win. “It’s a big portion of the sport. You have good crowds and excitement, it’s certainly something you miss over the course of last year. Both sides there was a lot of bonus points.
“Coach Brinker always does a great job with his team. He is certainly a great colleague that I look up to. It was a good local, rivalry dual meet. Fortunately, we were able to come out on the upper end tonight.”
Bellefonte 44, Penns Valley 30
Tuesday at Spring Mills
138: Aidan O’Shea, B, tech. fall Nate Long, 15-0 (4:00)
145: Ty Watson, PV, pinned Alex James, :49
152: Gage Long, B, pinned Noah Fetterolf, 2:53
160: Jude Swisher, B, pinned Micah Fetterolf, 3:00
172: Cole Felker, PV, pinned Nolan Weaver, 1:24
189: Hunter Lyons, PV, pinned Nash Irwin, 5:05
215: Addison Shawley, B, pinned Josh Spahr, 1:29
285: Tyler Putnam, B, dec. Kollin Brungart, 3-2
106: Jack Darlington, PV, pinned Cameron Garcia, 1:27
113: Garret Choate, B, won by forfeit
120: Colten Shunk, PV, won by forfeit
126: Noah Weaver, B, pinned Carter Homan, 1:10
132: Nate Smith, B, pinned Nick Cain, 1:49
Takedowns: B 7, PV 6
Records: Bellefonte 1-1, Penns Valley 6-2
Next match: Bellefonte at Mountaineer Classic, Philipsburg-Osceola HS, Saturday, 9 a.m., Penns Valley at Mifflinburg, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 10:56 PM.
