Penns Valley has historic night on the mat against Bellefonte
It’s been 33 years in the making.
The last time that Penns Valley topped Bellefonte on the wrestling mat was in 1990. On Wednesday night, the Rams came through in a big way.
Penns Valley collected seven pins to rout the Red Raiders, 51-15, and give coach Joel Brinker his first ever win against Bellefonte in his coaching career.
“We were off all break. We’ve had a few weeks since our last competition, so to come out and wrestle (how we did), I’m happy,” Brinker said. “From top to bottom, I’m pleased. No matter how good you wrestle, you are going to see flaws and areas you got to work on. The effort was there tonight. The guys wrestled hard, even the ones that took a loss.”
The dual began at 160 pounds, and Brinker was asked if that was the ideal spot to start for his squad, but he shrugged it off. He said the way the matchups fell is what set things up, even those his team lost the opening coin toss.
For Red Raiders’ coach Mike Maney, he understood what his young squad was up against.
“We knew coming in they had a really good team. They have a lot of guys that have put in a lot of time. They are reaping the benefits of it,” Maney said. “Wherever the cards fall, they do a great job of representing Centre County and District 6. Coach Brinker always has done a great job of getting his team ready. They are putting it together right now, so that’s who we need to chase.”
David Martin got things rolling for the Rams by collecting an early takedown on Jack McHail. Martin had McHail in a headlock and slowly squeezed tighter and tighter until McHail was flattened in 1:06.
Ethan Fetterolf kept the momentum at 172 pounds by earning a 4-0 shutout of Grady Garrison. However, Garrison’s teammate in Nash Irwin stopped the bleeding momentarily.
Irwin has been steady all year long for Bellefonte and came through again at 189. Trailing 2-0 to start the second period, Irwin collected a quick escape and snapped back around for a takedown of Brandon Corl.
He held a 3-2 lead to start the third period, which saw Irwin put on a full period ride to earn that one-point victory. It was 9-3 Penns Valley after three bouts.
“For a guy that hasn’t wrestled that many years, he’s a senior, so you might say he’s an experienced guy, but this is his first year starting,” Maney said. “He is like (Tyler) Putnam last year, who we seen pull out some wins for us. He sucked it up in the third period to win his match tonight. Hopefully, he can use that to build upon and finish strong over the second half of the season.”
From that point, the Rams flipped a switched and turned a six-point lead into a 30-point lead.
Kollin Brungart got Colton Perryman into a double over-hooks hold, went for an outside trip and stuck Perryman in 1:36 at 215. Penns Valley’s Landon Hess received a forfeit at 285, and it was 21-3.
Conner Myers toed the line with Wyatt Long at 107 and did the same thing as Brungart with the outside trip. Myers flattened Long in 1:53. Jack Darlington followed with a fall of his own by taking care of Cameron Garcia in 1:31.
The Rams’ lead was now 33-3 with six bouts remaining.
Bellefonte’s Ezra Swisher earned a 2-0 win over Brayden Lisowski in a matchup of some young talent at 121 pounds. However, Penns Valley responded.
Zach Rummel, who is seeing his first varsity action this year as a sophomore, was getting man-handled by Jackson Long at 127 pounds to the tune of 5-0 after two periods of wrestling. Rummel was nearly pinned in the period, but stayed the course.
The Rams’ wrestler flipped an out-of-position Long to his back for a fall in 5:02.
“The only thing I said to him, ‘You finally got upset enough that the guy is beating the guts out of you on top, and you did something, so that’s why you keep wrestling,’” Brinker said. “I’m very proud of him. He’s been in the program a while. He’s been doing the extras a little here and there, and it’s starting to pay off.”
Chase Fleshman took just 1:34 to collect Penns Valley’s sixth pin of the night at 133 pounds to hand the Rams a 45-6 lead.
At 139 pounds, saw another nice matchup between Penns Valley’s Colten Shunk, who bumped up a weight, take on Noah Weaver. The pair had a scoreless first period, and saw the second period be the same as Shunk rode Weaver for the entire frame.
In the third period, Weaver cranked Shunk to his back for three nearfall points, but Shunk escaped. With 34 seconds remaining though, Weaver picked up a counter takedown on Shunk to secure a 5-1 win.
Weaver’s teammate Gage Long followed by building up a 7-0 lead on Max King before pinning King with a crossface cradle in 2:51.
“He’s coming around. He’s one of the guys that’s putting in the time. He’s working hard in the practice room,” Maney said of Weaver. “He placed at Conestoga, which is a tough tournament and beat some really good guys there. Shunk is a really tough kid, so hopefully that gives him some confidence going forward. I was real happy for him to step up for that win.”
Maney added about Long: “He did what he had to do. It’s something you come to expect from a senior and team captain. We just hope that continues.”
The dual ended with Penns Valley’s Ty Watson pinning Isaac Gall in 1:18.
The Rams turn their focus toward the Tool City Tournament in Meadville on Friday and Saturday. They are now 8-0 in dual action and sit in a nice spot with only five duals remaining on their schedule before the dual postseason gets here.
“Yeah, I knew we had the makings, but it’s just getting the people at the weights,” said Brinker when asked if he expected this success from his squad. “I think this team can do a lot, so we’ll see little by little.”
Penns Valley 51, Bellefonte 15
Wednesday at Bellefonte
160: David Martin, PV, pinned Jack McHail, 1:06
172: Ethan Fetterolf, PV, dec. Grady Garrison, 4-0
189: Nash Irwin, B, dec. Brandon Corl, 3-2
215: Kollin Brungart, PV, pinned Colton Perryman, 1:36
285: Landon Hess, PV, won by forfeit
107: Conner Myers, PV, pinned Wyatt Long, 1:53
114: Jack Darlington, PV, pinned Cameron Garcia, 1:31
121: Ezra Swisher, B, dec. Brayden Lisowski, 2-0
127: Zach Rummel, PV, pinned Jackson Long, 5:02
133: Chase Fleshman, PV, pinned Gavin DuFour, 1:34
139: Noah Weaver, B, dec. Colten Shunk, 5-1
145: Gage Long, B, pinned Max King, 2:51
152: Ty Watson, PV, pinned Isaac Gall, 1:18
Takedowns: PV 7, B 6
JH final: Penns Valley 54-26
Records: Penns Valley (8-0), Bellefonte (0-3)
Next match: Penns Valley at Tool City Tournament, Meadville HS, Friday, 4 p.m.; Bellefonte at Mountaineer Duals, Philipsburg-Osceola HS, Saturday, 9 a.m.
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 10:37 PM.
