Bald Eagle Area wrestling cruises over cross-town rival Bellefonte to stay perfect
It is not common to hear of a team rebounding after a win.
Last week, Bald Eagle Area topped Philipsburg-Osceola, but coach Ron Guenot wasn’t very pleased with how his team performed in the win.
On Tuesday night, the Eagles raced out to a 36-point lead, and never gave up a takedown until halfway through their 52-9 victory over Bellefonte.
“From the performance, yes, I think that we wrestled much better tonight. Up and down the lineup, pretty much good efforts the whole way through, and that’s what we expected,” Guenot said. “After our match against Phillipsburg, (we are) pleased with the performance.”
BEA won the first seven bouts. It finished the night winning 10 of the 12 contested bouts, earning bonus points in seven of those 10.
The dual began with Gage Gardner pinning the Red Raiders’ Logan Rarrick in 2 minutes, 26 seconds at 215 pounds. Eric Clark followed Gardner with a pin of his own.
He built an 8-0 lead on Ian Valimont before sticking him in 4:15.
Tanner Guenot made a return to the Eagles’ lineup at 107 pounds as he didn’t wrestle against the Mounties. He shut out Bellefonte’s Wyatt Long 6-0, which gave BEA a 15-0 lead.
The Eagles’ Michael Wesley received a forfeit at 114 and was followed by Caden Judice’s 17-1 technical fall in 2:00 of Nolan Weaver.
Judice collected five sets of nearfall points in the rout.
Dawson Lomison got the nod at 127 pounds and pinned Cameron Garcia in 3:02. BEA’s lead was 32-0.
“Thinking back to Lomison there, that kid he beat is a couple time regional qualifier. Dawson is a freshman, but he’s a tough freshman,” Guenot said. “He’s really looking sharp, and that was a nice win. He pinned a couple time regional qualifier, that was huge.”
Lucas Fye showed what he is taking to Lock Haven next year, when he recorded six takedowns in a 16-3 major decision of Gavin Lucas.
The Red Raiders were able to stop the bleeding momentarily by stringing together back-to-back victories — their only wins of the evening.
Ezra Swisher earned his team’s first takedown early in the first period on the Eagles’ Conner Maney at 139 pounds. Swisher opened the second period with a reversal.
He then put Maney on his back for a pin in 3:10.
Noah Weaver had what would’ve been the highlight bout on paper coming into the dual against Mason Reese.
Weaver came out and got a takedown midway through the period during a scramble situation. Reese tweaked his hamstring in the process, but was able to continue wrestling.
Weaver then put Reese on his back for nearfall points and it was 5-0 after one period. The pair then traded rideouts in the second and the third periods, which gave Weaver the 5-0 victory.
“They get the success they get because they work hard and do extra (practice) and have done extra. We just need other guys to do that,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said of Swisher and Weaver. “Success doesn’t happen by accident. A huge credit to the guys for what they do, and doing the right things”
BEA closed out the dual by winning the remaining four bouts, which got started with a pair of gutsy one-point victories.
Gavin Bennett rallied from being tilted by Jackson Long early in the second period at 152 pounds. Bennett secured an escape after the nearfall points were given up.
He then earned a bout-winning takedown. The third period saw Bennett rideout Long for the entire frame for a 3-2 win.
“Gavin Bennett has a lot of guts and grit. He’ll wrestle six minutes,” Ron Guenot said. “If you’re going to go six minutes with him, you’d better be ready because by the end of the match you’re going to feel it.”
Camerdon Dubbs’ first-period takedown was just enough to edge Jack McHail, 2-1.
Shawn Knepp got the nod at 172 pounds, where he recorded an 8-0 major decision on Quinn Park. Caleb Close finished the bout off by pinning Luke Hockenberry in 1:05.
“We want to win in all three phases, that’s what we preach. We wanted to try to get some more offense on our feet from the neutral position,” Ron Guenot said. “creating opportunities and opening up some more shots. I think we did some of that tonight. Hopefully, we can keep that moving forward.”
Bald Eagle Area 52, Bellefonte 9
Tuesday at Bellefonte
215: Gage Gardner, BEA, pinned Logan Rarrick, 2:26
285: Eric Clark, BEA, pinned Ian Valimont, 4:15
107: Tanner Guenot, BEA, dec. Wyatt Long, 6-0
114: Michael Wesley, BEA, won by forfeit
121: Caden Judice, BEA, tech. fall Nolan Weaver, 17-1 (2:00)
127: Dawson Lomison, BEA, pinned Cameron Garcia, 3:02
133: Lucas Fye, BEA, major dec. Gavin Lucas, 16-3
139: Ezra Swisher, B, pinned Conner Maney, 3:10
145: Noah Weaver, B, dec. Mason Reese, 5-0
152: Gavin Bennett, BEA, dec. Jackson Long, 3-2
160: Cameron Dubbs, BEA, dec. Jack McHail, 2-1
170: Shawn Knepp, BEA, major dec. Quinn Park, 8-0
189: Caleb Close, BEA, pinned Luke Hockenberry, 1:05
Takedowns: BEA 19, B 2
Records: Bald Eagle Area (8-0), Bellefonte (4-4)
JH: Bellefonte 45-22
Next match: Bald Eagle Area vs. Central Mountain at Lock Haven University, Thursday, 5 p.m.; Bellefonte at Sugar Valley Rural Charter School, Thursday, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published January 23, 2024 at 10:15 PM.
