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By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
TYRONE -- Tyrone held a three-point lead after nine of the 13 bouts were wrestled against Clearfield in a battle of 5-0 teams on Tuesday night at the Tyrone gym.
The problem for the Golden Eagles, who had three pins in the first nine bouts, was the Bison wrestlers in the final four weights are a combined 48-8 this season.
Clearfield ran the table from 172 to 285 with three pins and a technical fall to beat the hand the Golden Eagles their first loss, 44-24.
"It was a close match, and our guys wrestled really tough," Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. "They went out there and they fought hard. They did what I wanted them to do. We wrestled probably as good as we could wrestle. I'm really proud of their performance. Clearfield's a tough team, but our guys put on a show for the crowd."
"Our best weights are 172, 189, 215 and heavyweight. Those are our hammers," Clearfield coach Jeff Aveni said. "We got 23 points out of those four weights. So, when you're making hay in the upper weights and you're staying in the match in the lower weights, you kind of know you're in pretty good shape."
It was a tough day for Wright and his wife, Lauren. Lauren's grandfather, Earl Harris, a 1958 state champion at Philipsburg-Osceola and former Tyrone junior high wrestling coach, passed away Tuesday morning. Wright was close with Harris. The Wrights also had to deal with a broken house furnace.
Still, Wright and the rest of the Eagles were on the edge of their seats or standing for the competitive meet.
Tyrone's Korry Walls opened by using a low-leg cradle to pin Xavier Lutz in 1:18 at 106 pounds.
"He really started the match on a great note for us," Wright said. "He really set the tone."
After Clearfield's Evan Davis won by fall in 1:29 at 113, Tyrone's Remington Fleck had a 6-2 lead on Clearfield's Adam Rougeux in the third period at 120. But an interlocking and escape made the score 6-4.
Rougeux took Fleck down to his back for a four-point move, but Fleck scored a reversal to tie the score, 8-8, and send the bout into overtime. Rougeux got a takedown in the first 10 seconds to win, 10-8.
"I thought we wrestled well there," Aveni said. "We're working with him to wrestle that good in the first period."
Clearfield's Brady Collins posted a 15-second pin at 126, but Tyrone's Ashton Sipes responded with a pin of Nolan Barr (10-6) in 1:58. Sipes (14-5) also used a low-leg cradle for the fall.
"Those middleweight guys did such an awesome job tonight," Wright said. "I was really excited to watch them. They're doing what we're teaching them in practice."
At 138, Lukas Walk took Ty Aveni down four times en route to an 8-2 decision, tying the dual meet score, 15-15.
Tyrone's Reese Wood (12-5) gave his team a six-point lead. Wood was up 8-2 on Patrick Knepp in the third period at 145 when he reversed Knepp to his back and pinned him in 5:28.
After Clearfield's Luke Freeland won by fall in 1:02 at 152, Tyrone's Andrew Weaver and Karson Kline locked up in an intense bout at 160. Weaver scored three takedowns in a 7-2 victory, giving the Eagles a 24-21 lead.
But then Clearfield's Mark McGonigal (13-3) moved up to 160 and rang up a 17-1 technical fall of Zach Lash in 5:06. Referee John Edgell called a slam on McGonigal in the first period, but Lash was on his feet quickly.
Carter Chamberlain (10-4) followed with a pin in 1:10 at 189, and Hayden Kovalick (14-1) had a 20-second pin at 215. Oliver Billotte (11-0), the Bison quarterback who weighed in at 253 pounds, pinned Tyrone's promising young star Braden Ewing (12-3) in 1:21 to close the dual meet.
"This was the first real test where we were really far behind if you look at it on paper," Wright said. "At the upper weights, we just got outgunned a little bit too much. Those guys (in the upper weights) are going to be very good in the state."
106--Walls, T, pinned Lutz, 1:18; 113--Davis, C, pinned Rumberger, 1:29; 120--Rougeux, C, dec. Fleck, 10-8 OT; 126--Collins, C, pinned E. Walk, :15; 132--Sipes, , pinned Barr, 1:58; 138--L. Walk, T, dec. Aveni, 8-2; 145--Wood, T, pinned Knepp, 5:28
152--Freeland, C, pinned Klein, 1:02; 160--Weaver, T, dec. Kline, 7-2; 172--McGonigal, C, tech. fall Lash, 17-1, 5:06; 189--Chamberlain, C, pinned Barr, 1:10; 215--Kovalick, C, pinned Wise, :20; 285--Billotte, C, pinned Ewing, 1:21.
Records: Clearfield (6-0); Tyrone (5-1)
Referee: John Edgell