CLAYSBURG - Most of Claysburg-Kimmel's wrestlers hadn't wrestled since the Thomas Subaru Tournament on Jan. 28, and some hadn't been in action since the Jan. 21 dual meet loss to West Branch.
If there was rust on the Bulldogs, it wasn't showing against Moshannon Valley on senior night.
The Bulldogs, sparked by Clayton Claar's pin at 120 and Dylan Weyant's decision at 152, charged out to a 33-4 lead en route to a 51-28 win over the undermanned Black Knights Tuesday night.
"Last week was rough on us," C-K coach Dave Marko said. "Not only not being in the [District 6] Duals and having that emotional letdown, but also having the flu, which ripped and tore its way through the team, and still is. We had five guys unavailable tonight.
"It was nice to get back on the mat. We get tonight, and we get another match on Thursday [at Central] to help us prepare and get us sharp for districts."
"When you're wrestling a good team with a lot of good individuals like Claysburg has, you have to win the matches that are tossups and the ones you're supposed to win," Mo Valley coach Justin Fye said. "I felt we lost the two tossup matches, and that goes a long way in playing a part in the final score."
The Knights (20-11) forfeited three weights to C-K (13-7), including the first bout at 113. Missing from the lineup was unbeaten Logan Cook, who is done for the season with an ankle injury.
"It hurts not having a full lineup," Fye said. "We figured that by the end of the year we'd have our full lineup, but we're not getting that right now."
After senior Nathan Sell won by forfeit at 113, Claar trailed Bryce Bloom, 2-0, in the second period when he reversed Bloom to his back for five points. He added two takedowns for a 9-5 lead, put Bloom on his back and pinned him in 3:26.
"That kid majored Clayton last year," Marko said, "but Clayton isn't the same kid as he was last year. Whenever we lost the [prematch disk] toss, that was one thing I was excited for because I felt Clayton could turn that one around from last year."
"As much as I don't want to say it, 120 kind of decided the who dual meet," Fye said, "because we figured we were going to win that match. If we win that match, then we can make some moves in the upper weights and possibly win this match."
At 126, Andrew Ohler rang up seven takedowns of Cole Hypes en route to a 15-4 major decision.
Zach Long, senior James Dodson and senior Ty Dively moved up a weight, the result was Long getting a forfeit at 132, as well as Dively (28-0), ranked No. 1 in the Mirror rankings at 138 and No. 2 in the statewide Off The Mat rankings, at 132 and 145, respectively.
Dodson (29-0) built up an 8-1 lead on Sam Ohler before taking Ohler down to his back and pinning him in 2:21 at 138.
Weyant, a senior, took a 7-0 lead on Tanner Dipko into the third period thanks to a takedown, reversal and three-point nearfall. He added a takedown in the third, but Dipko avoided the major when he reversed with 9 seconds remaining.
"With Dylan just coming back, I wasn't sure how his conditioning was going to be," Marko said, "but he was able to build up a lead and sort of hang on there. Now, he has a week-and-a-half to build up his conditioning and get ready for a run at districts."
Mo Valley's strength is in the upper weights, and Tyler Martin started it at 160 by building a 12-1 lead on Justin Hammel before pinning him in 3:30. C-K senior 170-pounder Tyler Ickes (23-1), who hadn't wrestled since the West Branch match, followed at 170 with a pin of Kameron Swoope in 3:26.
Mo Valley's Dylan Ludwig pinned Owen Musselman in 25 seconds at 182, and Marko opted to forfeit to unbeaten James Stodart (31-0), ranked first in the Mirror rankings, at 195 and move Doug Knisely up to 220 to face Jake Ludwig. Ludwig pinned Knisely in 2:33.
"Nothing against Ludwig, but I just felt he was the lesser of two evils," Marko said.
The Bulldogs followed with two pins in less than one minute. Senior Titus Feathers pinned Jack Bunnell in 26 seconds at 285, and top-ranked Josh Brown decked Bill Bryan in 43 seconds.
"It was a good time for the seniors to put their last exclamation point on the season at home," Marko said.
113-Sell, CK, won by forfeit; 120-Claar, CK, pinned Bloom, 3:26; 126-A. Ohler, MV, maj. dec. Hypes, 15-4; 132-Long, CK, won by forfeit; 138-Dodson, CK, pinned S. Ohler, 2:21; 145-Dively, CK, won by forfeit; 152-Weyant, CK, dec. Dipko, 9-3.
160-Martin, CK, pinned Hammel, 3:30; 170-Ickes, CK, pinned Swoope, 3:26; 182-D. Ludwig, MV, pinned Musselman, :25; 195-Stodart, MV, won by forfeit; 220-J. Ludwig, MV, pinned Knisely, 2:33; 285-Feathers, CK, pinned Bunnell, :26; 106-J. Brown, CK, pinned Bryan, :43.
Records: Moshannon Valley (20-11); Claysburg-Kimmel (13-7).
