Bobcat Matmen Sweep Tri-Meet In Cranberry (01/23/2018)

on 23 January, 2018 at 10:36

(By CSZ Sports Writer Kenn Staub) Bobcat wrestlers won both legs of a tri-meet held Tuesday, Jan. 16 in Cranberry, defeating the Johnsonburg Rams 33-30 in the their first match and closing out the evening with a 37-25 victory over the host Berries.

Bobcat head coach Brian Luton described both wins as team efforts. “Everyone of our guys played a part in the wins. We were able to limit Johnsonburg’s and Cranberry’s better wrestlers to decisions while finding a way to get major decisions and falls in some critical matches to put us over the top,” said Luton.

Clarion vs. Johnsonburg

The Bobcats jumped out to an early 27-0 against the Rams, the product of four Johnsonburg forfeits and a decision in the opening five weight classes.

Camden Boggess started the Bobcats’ five match run by accepting a Cranberry forfeit at 170-pounds.

Seth Nellis goes head-to-head with his Johnsonburg opponent.

Seth Nellis, Clarion’s 182-pounder, then scored a 4-1 decision over Matt Berger. Nellis took Berger down as he switched from a single to double leg shot, forging ahead 2-0 in the first period. He added two points to his lead in the second, the first coming when Berger was penalized a point for interlocking hands and the other with an escape. Berger’s lone point of the bout came late in the third period on an escape.

Nellis’s victory was followed by Johnsonburg forfeits to Colt Stimmell (195-pounds), Tom Wurster (220-pounds), and Matt Coleman (285-pounds).

The Rams got on the board with a Bobcat forfeit at 113-pounds to Cole Norlin. Johnsonburg immediately reciprocated, with a forfeit at 120-pounds to Login Dehner, making the match score 33-6 in favor of Clarion.

Johnsonburg mounted a comeback beginning when Dalton Stahli received a Clarion forfeit at 126-pounds. The Rams’ Devon Norlin made the match 33-18 by pinning Colton Zacherl in the latter part of the first period (1:32) of the 132-pound bout.

At 138-pounds Cutter Boggess held a 3-2 lead over Johnsonburg’s Cole Haight following the first period and a 6-5 advantage after two periods of wrestling. Haight would notch an escape against Boggess during the third period to tie the bout at 6-6, sending it to overtime. The Johnsonburg grappler scored first in sudden victory, countering a Boggess takedown attempt to win 8-6.

The Ram’s Cole Casilio bettered Frank Weber at 145-pounds to cut further into Clarion’s lead, 33-24. Down 3-2 after the first period, Cassilio outscored Weber during the next stanza to go in front 5-4. Weber escaped from bottom early in the third tying things up 5-5, but ultimately fell 7-5 when Casilio took him down with less than thirty seconds on the clock.

Ryley McMasters squares off against his Johnsonburg foe.

Following Weber’s loss, Clarion’s Ryley McMaster fell to Jacob Zimmerman, ranked #10 in the Northwest Region by papowerwrestling.com at 152-pounds. The bout was scoreless after two periods, but Zimmerman collected an escape and takedown during the third to prevail 3-2.

Clarion held a 33-27 edge as Nick Porciello met Johnsonburg’s Tyler Watts at 160-pounds to close the match. In a situation where the Ram’s needed a pin to tie, Porciello kept the bout tight and an initially aggressive Watts only managed a 4-2 victory for three team points, giving Clarion the 33-30 victory.

Clarion vs. Cranberry

The Berries opened the proceedings with a 3-1 victory by Jesse York at 182-pounds. York, ranked seventh in the Northwest Region by papowerwrestling.com, and Clarion’s Nellis were scoreless after one period on the mat. Nellis escaped from bottom halfway through the second to take a 1-0 lead. York, choosing the down position to open the third, scored an escape early in the period to tie the bout and then put it away with a takedown during a late flurry of activity.

Stimmell staked Clarion to a 6-3 lead by pinning Dylan Salsgiver as time expired in the first period (1:59) of the 190-pound bout.

Bobcat head man Luton then shuffled his line-up, bumping Ben Smith up to 220-pounds and Wurster to 285. Luton’s strategy paid off, as Smith used a lateral drop to stick Richard Schneider in the first period (1:57) and Wurster posted a 13-0 major decision over Trey Wright.

Colt Stimmell runs an arm bar.

Dehner, the Bobcats’ 120-pounder, beat Evan Hepler 5-0 in between Clarion forfeits to Jacob Umstead at 106-pound and River Perry at 126-pounds.

With the Bobcats leading 19-15, the Berries tied the team score when 132-pounder Travis Crate posted a 17-7 major decision over Zacherl. Clarion took back over, 22-19, with Cutter Boggess’s 7-0 decision at 138-pounds over Garrett Hogue.

In the 145-pound bout Cranberry rebounded from Hogue’s loss to take their only lead of the match, 25-22, on Charles Schreffler’s second period pin (2:44) of Weber.

Clarion stormed back with consecutive victories, starting at 152-pounds where Ryley McMaster stuck Cameron Walney a little over half-way into the first period (1:06), making the score 28-25.

Porciello and Cranberry’s Daniel Wry wrestled scoreless first and second periods at 165-pounds, before the Bobcat wrestler used an escape and takedown in the third to win 3-0.

Up by six points, Clarion put the match away, 37-25, in the final go of the evening at 170-pounds, as Camden Boggess pinned Samuel Moore in the first period (1:29). “Boggess closed out Cranberry with a nice cradle. It was nice seeing him wrestling with a lot of confidence tonight,” said Luton.