Bellefonte beats Penns Valley in dual meet finale

A couple of county rivals took the mat in Spring Mills on Thursday in a packed Penns Valley Area High School gymnasium to close out their dual meet schedules while casting an eye toward the postseason.

Bellefonte (13-7) had a little too much firepower for Penns Valley (8-12) as the Red Raiders won nine of 14 bouts to win 41-19.

Bellefonte posted a pin, two forfeits, an injury default, two major decisions and three decisions. Penns Valley countered with a forfeit, major decision and three decisions.

“We upped our training this week, and (will) next week as well,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said. “We’re just focusing on the individual postseason, fine tuning and getting the guys ready so they’re peaking at the right time.”

“I thought we were a little sluggish in some spots, were a little sloppy in some spots. There are things we need to get out of the way before the postseason. The margin of error is very slim. We’re still working on trying to be much more intense. In some spots we saw that tonight. We need to work on scoring more points.”

Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker knew his team would be in for an uphill fight.

“We knew it was going to be a tough night against a very quality opponent. With the matchups, we knew we would have to wrestle our very best to even be in it and maybe pull some upsets,” he said. “All the credit to Bellefonte.”

The match started at 170 pounds and, through five weights, the match was tied at 9-9.

Bellefonte won the first three bouts to take a 9-0 lead. Dillon Kephart’s third-period escape was enough to edge Allen Cain, 3-2. At 182, Brien McChesney shrugged off an initial takedown by Hunter Homan to earn a come-from-behind 9-4 decision. And, at 195, Max Mondy used takedowns in the second and third and an escape to fuel a 5-1 win over Cory Rimmey.

The Rams broke through at 220 pounds where Logan Johnson scored a takedown with a second left to pull out a 9-7 decision over Sean Irvin. When Penns Valley’s Jared Bressler accepted a forfeit at 285, the match was tied.

But when the lineup turned over to 106, Bellefonte took off, winning four of five matches to take an insurmountable 31-13 lead.

At 106, Cole Stewart got an early takedown and eventually locked up a crossface cradle on Baylor Shunk, getting the fall a second ahead of the first-period buzzer.

Darren Yearick got Penns Valley another win when, at 113, he used three takedowns, an escape and a two-point nearfall to roll up a 9-1 major decision over Shafiq Blake.

Bellefonte then reeled off three straight wins to put the match out of reach.

Zach Taylor received a forfeit at 120 ahead of Cameron Coppolo’s 9-0 major decision over Jeremiah Manning. At 132, Raider Aaron Witherite scored an early takedown on Jason Ticknor but in the process Ticknor hurt his ankle and couldn’t continue. Witherite was awarded an injury default in 16 seconds.

At 138, Bellefonte’s Matthew Jacobs and Penns Valley’s Isaac Bierly combined to score 26 points in a rollicking match. Bierly led, 10-2, heading into the third but Jacobs tried to mount a comeback, outscoring Bierly 8-6 in the period but ceding a 16-10 decision.

That set up what promised to be the bout of the night between arguably each team’s best wrestler. Raider Brock Port was paired with Ram Curtis Decker.

Port converted on a takedown just ahead of the buzzer in the first for a 2-0 lead. From there on, it was all Port in a 14-1 major decision.

“It’s good for both of them,” Maney said. “Port did a nice job of widening the gap in the second and third period. Decker’s a good, solid kid so I’m glad we got to see that match.”

Brinker agreed that despite the outcome, the competition would help both standouts.

“Curt for four years has bumped any time we’ve needed him through the years,” he said. “He always came out. Tonight, we asked him what he thought and he wanted to give it a shot. We supported him. It’s only going to make him better.”

“Win or lose, we’re getting ready for the postseason. He and Port are good friends. They know each other like practice partners. It will help them both. Curt sees the bigger picture.”

Chase Gardner closed out the night by accepting a forfeit at 160.

Each coach said his team might see some minor changes before their respective postseason tournaments. Bellefonte hopes that means returning to the lineup it thought it would have all season.

“Tonight we were as close as we’ve been, basically, since our first dual meet of the season against Philipsburg. I think we’ve had 20 dual meets and I think we’ve had 20 different lineups,” he said. “Credit to the guys who have stepped in. Nobody’s made any excuses ever. Guys have stepped in and wrestled well. Hopefully we’ll be back to full strength come districts.”

Penns Valley starts its postseason at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 19 at the Altoona Area High School Field House in the District 6 Class AA Championships. Bellefonte has two weeks to get ready for the District 6 Class AAA Championships, which are scheduled for one day, Feb. 27 at the Altoona Area High School Field House.

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 11:49 PM with the headline "Bellefonte beats Penns Valley in dual meet finale."