Clarion Drops Dual To Kane In Mat Action (01/16/2018)

(By CSZ Sports Writer Kenn Staub)  The Clarion Bobcat wrestling team lost its second match in as many outings when it fell to undefeated Kane Wolves on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Kane won six of nine bouts and collected three forfeits to down visiting Clarion 46-12. Two of the Bobcats’ three wins came by pin fall and the other by decision.

Wrestling started at 182-pounds with Kane’s Teddy Race, ranked fifth in the Northwest Region by papowerwrestling.com, facing off against Clarion’s Seth Nellis. Following a scoreless first period, Nellis chose to begin the second in the down position. This did not prove advantageous for the Bobcat grappler, as Race turned Nellis to collect three near fall points. Leading 3-0 Race opted to start the final period on bottom, from where he escaped, took Nellis down, and exposed his opponent’s back. Race’s six points in third period earned him a 9-0 major decision and staked the Wolves to a 4-0 team lead.

Clarion’s Tom Wurster, the twenty-second ranked 220-pounder in the state and fifth in the Northwest Region as determined by papowerwrestling.com, found himself in a nail biter against Kane’s Ty Stahli. Neither wrestler could score in the first period, after which they exchanged escapes in the second and third to knot the match at 1-1. It was Wurster who would prevail in overtime, scoring a takedown in the one minute first period of sudden victory to edge Stahli 3-1. Wurster’s win cut Kane’s lead to 4-3, though the Wolves would extend their advantage by claiming the next five bouts and, ultimately, eight of the ten that remained.

Kane’s win streak began at 285-pounds when James Porterfield pinned the Bobcats’ Matt Coleman in the first period (1:48). Dillon Illerbrun received a forfeit for the Wolves at 106-pounds, making the match score 16-3.

Brandon Healey took Bobcat Login Dehner down twice in the first period, jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the 113-pound bout. After a scoreless second period, Dehner received a penalty point in the third, setting the final at 4-2 in Healey’s favor.

At 126-pounds Christian Whisner accepted the second Clarion forfeit, extending the Wolves advantage to 25-3. Noah Blankenship, ranked fifth in the Northwest Region by papowerwrestling.com, stuck Bobcat Colton Zacherl in the first period of the 132-pound bout to make the team score 31-3.

Kane’s run would end at 138-pounds when Clarion’s Cutter Boggess took a decision over Nate Asp. Boggess used two takedowns in the first period to go up 4-1. Asp scored a reversal from the bottom in the second to narrow the gap to 4-3 heading into the final two minutes. Boggess chose bottom to begin the third period, notching an escape to secure a 5-3 decision.

With the match at 31-6 in the Wolves favor, the Bobcat’s Frank Weber squared off against Cameron Whisner. Weber got on the board first, taking Whisner down. Whisner was able to reverse Weber before the period ended, tying the score at 2-2 heading into the second. The second period was all Whisner’s, as he escaped from the down position, converted a shot into a takedown, and put Weber in jeopardy of being pinned to establish a 7-2 advantage. This would become the final, as neither wrestler was able to put up any points in the third.

The Wolves’ 152-pounder Alec English received the final Clarion forfeit, allowing Kane to pull ahead 40-6. Nick Porciello secured the Bobcats’ third and final victory when he stuck Adam Sicher with less than a minute to go in their 160-pound matchup. Sicher was in control throughout the bout, leaping to 7-0 lead after two periods. Porciello, who had deferred to start the second, exercised his choice in the third and elected to start on bottom. This proved to be the correct decision when Porciello reversed Sicher and planted him at the bout’s 5:08 mark.

The evening concluded at 170-pounds, when Aiden Hulings, who had been bumped up a weight class, pinned Clarion’s Camden Boggess. Hulings, ranked #6 in the state and #2 in the Northwest Region at 160-pounds by papowerwrestling, recorded the pin fall at 0:39 of the first period, setting the final team score at 46-12 in Kane’s favor.