Penns Valley-Bellefonte wrestling match has nostalgic feel with terrific ending
The days of gymnasiums packed full of fans riding the waves of high school wrestling matches are few and far between nowadays.
But Thursday night in Penns Valley’s gym, the Rams’ dual with Bellefonte presented a nostalgic feel that would give long-time wrestling fans a reminder of what the old days were like.
“It’s Bellefonte and Penns Valley, two crosstown teams, good fan bases, great crowds, great high school atmosphere for these kids to be in,” said Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker after his team’s 36-33 win. “Kudos to both communities to come out and support these guys. It was really cool.”
Added Red Raiders coach Mike Maney: “In today’s environment, it wants to be a lot of tournaments and a lot of multi-duals, but it’s hard to beat a good high school dual meet between two county teams. Credit to both teams to put on a good show. It was a good environment.”
Penns Valley (11-1) trailed Bellefonte (6-4), 33-6, with five bouts left in the dual.
However, the Rams knew they had four forfeits coming in five of those bouts. Once they received those victories, the dual was 33-30 with one bout left.
“We were prepared. We knew about any scenario they could throw. If we could weather it, like we did,” Brinker said, “we thought we (could get through it). We didn’t give up the bonus points they were maybe thinking they could get. I felt good, and then heavyweight, it was just a decision.”
The final bout had Penns Valley’s Tripp Watson needing any bonus points against Jacob Horn at 133 pounds to secure his team’s win.
Watson, who said he was a little worried as he watched the match unfold, just trusted what he knew.
“All my teammates and coaches were telling me, ‘We still have a chance.’ I believed in them,” Watson said. “I believe in what my coaches teach me. I believe that I can do it.”
His belief allowed him to come out and record a takedown on Horn midway through the first period. Watson went to put Horn on his back, but was only able to collect nearfall points to lead 7-0.
With 10 seconds remaining in the period, Watson put Horn to his back again, and this time collected a fall to lock up his team’s win with older brother, Ty, watching in the stands.
“It’s nice for him. He’s been up and down this year. It was great to see it come down to him,” Brinker said, “and get the important bonus point match that we needed. We’re happy for him.”
Maney and his staff knew coming in that they were going to be giving up 24 free points with the four forfeits they had, so they got creative with their lineup.
Wyatt Long, who normally wrestles at 127 pounds, bumped up two weights to begin the dual at 139 pounds. He was able to secure a 9-1 major decision over Zach Rummel to kick things off for Bellefonte.
Cameron Garcia bumped up to 145 pounds, and came up one point shy of a major decision in a 12-5 win over Sawyer Fetterolf. Ezra Swisher followed with a pin in 42 seconds to give the Red Raiders an early 13-0 lead.
Penns Valley’s Brayden Lisowski stopped the bleeding momentarily with a fall in 49 seconds, but Bellefonte went on a run of four straight wins with bonus points.
Noah Weaver had a 9-0 shutout of Robert Martin at 172 pounds. Jackson Long bumped up to 189 pounds, and had a 9-0 major decision over Shane Rimmey.
Luke Hockenberry and Logan Rarrick had back-to-back pins to set up the ending of the dual.
“Coming off the bus, we were down 24. Not saying we would have won, because I know they have really good guys at those (lighter) weights,” Maney said. “We had to move other guys around just to give ourselves a chance. Wyatt Long went up two weight classes, and other guys had to move around. I think we ended up winning seven out of the nine contested bouts. Overall, solid performance, but you never like to come out on the short end of it.”
Penns Valley 36, Bellefonte 33
Thursday at Spring Mills
139: Wyatt Long, B, major dec. Zach Rummel, 9-1
145: Cameron Garcia, B, dec. Sawyer Fetterolf, 12-5
152: Ezra Swisher, B, pinned Seth Fetterolf, :42
160: Brayden Lisowski, PV, pinned Gavin Lucas, :49
172: Noah Weaver, B, major dec. Robert Martin, 9-0
189: Jackson Long, B, major dec. Shane Rimmey, 9-0
215: Luke Hockenberry, B, pinned Ty Steiger, 4:30
285: Logan Rarrick, B, pinned Landon Hess, 5:31
107: Evan Lisowski, PV, won by forfeit
114: Max Dinges, PV, won by forfeit
121: Conner Myers, PV, won by forfeit
127: Erik Carlile, PV, won by forfeit
133: Tripp Watson, PV, pinned Jacob Horn, 1:50
Takedowns: B 8, PV 4
Records: Bellefonte (6-4), Penns Valley (11-1)
JH: Penns Valley, 53-30
Next match: Bellefonte at Clearfield, 7 p.m. Tuesday; Penns Valley at Fred Bell Tournament, Grove City, 4 p.m. Friday.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 11:05 PM.
