Bobcat Wrestlers Have Good Showing In New York Tournament (01/17/2018)

(By CSZ Sports Writer Kenn Staub)  On Saturday, January 13 the Clarion Bobcat wrestling team competed at the 18th Annual Patrick J. Morales Memorial Wrestling Tournament held Saturday, January 13, 2018 in Falconer, New York. Though the weather caused a change in the tournament’s format, from a two-day double elimination event to a single day round robin, the Bobcats were unfazed, as nine of the eleven team members found spots on the podium. As head coach Brian Luton commented, “it was a pretty nice showing.”

Reaching the Championship Final for the Bobcats were Login Dehner, Cutter Boggess, and and Tom Wurster.

Dehner, Clarion’s 113-pounder, went undefeated in his pool, notching two pins and a technical fall, to reach the finals. In the Championship Final Dehner was tasked with facing last year’s runner-up Cody Pool of Jamestown (NY). After three periods of action it was Pool coming out on top with a 9-2 decision. Dehner’s second place finish was an improvement over his fourth place effort of a year ago. Luton commended Dehner for wrestling “very solid this weekend,” noting “he wrestled super tough in the finals and probably got the better of his opponent the last two periods but wasn’t able to make up enough ground after falling behind early.”

At 138-pounds Boggess was perfect in pool action, with two of his four wins coming via pins. In the Championship Final Boggess squared off against Nick Saeger of host Falconer. Seager claimed the top step of the podium, relegating Boggess to second, with a 7-2 decision. Luton described Boggess as “showing a ton of maturity for a freshman,” adding that “he isn’t intimidated by any opponent or situation.” “Boggess never really panics and adapts during his matches,” said Luton.

Wurster was dominant in his pool, winning all four of his bouts, three by first period falls. In a rematch of last year’s 220-pound finals Wurster took on Noah Turzillo from Jamestown. The match was tied after regulation, with Wurster, the 2017 event champion, eventually losing after being called for stalling in overtime. “It’s a tough way to lose a match,” said Luton, “You really want to see the wrestler decide it, but we can’t allow ourselves to be in those types of situations. He’s a tough kid, he will bounce back.”

Frank Weber and Ryley McMasters represented the Bobcats in the Consolation Finals, with both wrestlers settling for fourth place.

Clarion 145-pounder Weber was a perfect 3-0 with three pins during the pool round before falling into the Consolation Final. At this point Weber dropped a 6-3 decision to Austin Sliwinski of Cheektowaga (NY), who went on to finish third.

McMasters, seeing his first mat action since an injury last year, found himself in the Consolation Final after a 3-1 performance in pool action. Of his three wins in a 152-pound pool round, two were the product of first period pins. In the Consolation Final McMasters lost a 9-0 major decision to Coventry’s (OH) Liam Fagan. McMasters placing was improved from his fifth in the 2018 tournament.

Nick Porciello, Cam Boggess, Seth Nellis, and Ben Smith found themselves wrestling in matches to determine the fifth and sixth spots on the podium.

Boggess, who was 2-2 in pool action with two pins, stuck Ben Schrader of Jamestown in the first period (1:10) to claim fifth at 170-pounds, while Nellis, 1-2 in a 182-pound pool, took slightly more time (1:26) to stick Falconer’s Dillon Hokanson for fifth place.

Porceillo, 2-2 in the pool round, lost a 7-0 decision at 160-pounds to Aiden Hulings of Kane, currently ranked #6 in Pennsylvania and last year’s tournament runner-up, consigning him to sixth place. Smith, who has been out of the line-up thus far because of an appendectomy just days before the season’s start, also finished sixth when he dropped a tightly contested 3-2 decision to Dontae Hoose of Sothwestern (NY).

Luton is happy to have McMasters and Smith back back on the mat because of the experience and attitude they bring to the team. “Those type of guys have an instant impact on the team. They are hard-nosed wrestlers that really like to compete,” said Luton.

Also competing for the Bobcats were Colton Zacherl at 132-pounds and 285-pounder Matt Coleman.

In the team competition, Clarion finished seventh out of eleven squads, two spots behind the Kane Wolves, the only other District 9 team to compete. The tournament was won by Harbor Creek (PA).

Overall, Luton felt the Bobcats wrestled hard and “really bounced back after facing a couple tough dual meets” against Brockway and Kane (both losses) in the past two weeks.