BROOKVILLE, Pa. – Brookville avenged an early season loss to Clearfield, downing the top-seeded Bison, 33-26, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 4, to claim its 10th consecutive District 9 2A Dual Meet Championships and advance to the state team tournament in Hershey.
“It was really how we thought it would go down,” Brookville head coach Dave Klepfer said. “There were two very good teams going at it. They made some moves [shuffled the line-up], as we did. It was two good teams going at it”
The championship dual between the two teams, both ranked in the top 10 by PA Power Wrestling – Clearfield fifth and Brookville eighth – was hotly contested, not decided until the final bout of the match when Easton Belfiore beat Carter Freeland, 15-11, ay 172 pounds giving Brookville the team victory.
Belfiore was down 3-2 to Freeland in the first period and trailed 5-3 after two. During a wild third period, in which both wrestlers combined to score 18 points, Belfiore gained the upper hand to win, 15-11, giving Brookville the team victory.
“Today was big (for Belfiore), because that’s a good kid (Freeland). He’s (Belfiore) had a pretty tough go of it lately and he just got tough in a big situation,” reported Klepfer. “He knew all he had to do is not get teched or pinned. I looked at him and said ‘just go win the match, turn your season around right now.’ I’m happy for him, he did.”
Belfiore’s win was the second big win in a row for the Raiders, who trailed 26-25 going into the 160-pound bout between Brookville’s Coya Brown and Clearfield’s Patrick Knepp.
Brown put the Raiders in a position to win the championship when he won by technical fall (17-2) at 4:00 over Knepp putting Brookville ahead 30-26 meaning all Belfiore had to do was not lose by more than a decision.
Instead, Belfiore made sure there was no suspense when he rallied for the victory.
“We (the coaches) stress 1% better every day, we stress attitude and effort,” Klepfer said. “I haven’t heard one complaint, nothing under their breath. (They do) whatever you ask them to do. They’re a bunch of selfless kids that will do anything for their teammates. That’s probably the thing that as a coach you have to be most proud about.”
The biggest win of the match for Brookville, and a big reason the Raiders were able to turn the regular-season defeat into the championship victory, came at 145 pounds when Burke Fleming won a 7-4 victory over Ty Aveni. The win put the Raiders ahead 25-21 at the time.
“The kid (Aveni) tech falled him (Fleming) about a month ago, 18-2, and he turns around and beats him today,” Klepfer said. “We kept telling him (Fleming) ‘you’re going to beat this kid, you’re better on your feet.’ He believed it and went out there and got it done.”
In that key 145-pound bout, Fleming started the scoring with a takedown, though an Aveni escape with less than five seconds remaining in the first tied the bout, 2-2.
Aveni escaped and scored a takedown, giving him a 5-2 lead he held through much of the second.
Fleming never quit fighting, however, working for a reversal with one second on the clock, making it 5-4.
In the third, Fleming went ahead with a takedown, 6-4, defending his position the rest of the way. Aveni was assessed an unsportsmanlike penalty as the period closed, giving Fleming a 7-4 victory.
Brady Collins gave Clearfield a chance to win going into the final two bouts when he came away with a 16-1 technical foul (6:00) mark over Kolton Griffin at 152 points to put the Bison ahead 30-26.
The match started with the teams exchanging six points at the outset – the Raiders Jackson Zimmerman accepting a forfeit at 189 pounds after which the Bison’s Carter Chamberlin pinned Gavin Hannah in the second period (2:32).
The Raiders took their first lead at 285 pounds, going up 12-6 when Baily Miller used a headlock to quickly flatten the Bison’s Nick Bailor (0:23).
A Brookville forfeit at 107 pounds, accepted by Clearfield’s Chase Diehl, evened the match, 12-12.
Clearfield forged ahead 21-12 with victories at 114 and 121 pounds.
At 114 pounds, the Raiders’ Jared Popson drew first blood taking Bryndin Chamberlin down a little over 30 seconds into the first period. Chamberlin, however, reversed Popson, parlaying that move into three near-fall points, making the score 5-3.
Chamberlin started the second on the bottom and quickly received a point on a technical violation. Once wrestling got fully underway, the Bison grappler resisted all Popson’s attempts to turn him. As time ticked down, Chamberlin managed a reversal to extend his lead, 8-3.
Popson scored the only points of the third period – a two-point reversal from the bottom – the bout ending 8-4 in Chamberlin’s favor.
The Bison’s Evan Davis followed by pinning Antonio Thornton halfway through the first period of the 121-pound bout (0:59).
Cole Householder started a four-bout mini-win streak for Brookville with a decision against Colton Ryan at 127 pounds and ended with Fleming’s key victory.
Tied 2-2 after the first period, Householder pulled away from Ryan in the second, a reverse and tilt for near fall points giving him a four-point advantage. He added to that with a takedown in the third, defeating Ryan, 8-2.
At 133 pounds, Brookville’s Brecken Cieleski cruised to a 12-2 major decision against Adam Rougeux, the latter’s only points coming on a reversal with two seconds left in the bout.
Brookville 139-pounder Anthony Ceriani carried a 2-0 lead into the second period against Colton Bumbarger.
Bumbarger started the second on the bottom, escaping shortly after the whistle. Ceriani came back with a takedown, only to have Bumbarger once again break free. The period and bout ended 4-2 in Ceriani’s favor, with neither wrestler scoring in the third.
Brookville earned its spot in the finals with a 36-39 victory against Saint Marys, while Clearfield won a tough 39-25 match against Cranberry.
Cranberry advanced to the semifinals with a victory over Clarion, 60-9.
Brookville will wrestle WPIAL runner-up Burrell in the first round of the state tournament on Thursday (Feb. 9). Burrell and Brookville met on Jan. 29 at the Ultimate Duals, the latter prevailing 31-25.
