CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion wrestling team jumped out to an early lead and Zach DeLuca clinched an impressive upset victory as the Golden Eagles defeated the 26th-ranked Rider Broncs 24-15 at Tippin Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
(Pictured: Brock Zacherl was among the six Golden Eagles to win on Sunday)
Clarion improves to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in Eastern Wrestling League action this year.
Clarion entered the final match of the day with an 18-15 lead and needing a decision to ensure victory over Rider (2-2, 0-1 EWL). DeLuca provided the heroics with an impressive display against Mauro Correnti in the heavyweight match. Leading 3-0 in the middle of the second period, DeLuca got the pin fall victory when he tossed Correnti over his head and landed him flat to get the fall and lock up the team win.
The match started firmly in favor of the Golden Eagles, who won the first four matches of the afternoon to take a 15-0 advantage over the Broncs. Rider responded by winning four of the next five decisions before DeLuca’s pin gave Clarion the edge.
The Golden Eagles struck the first blow against the Broncs, taking the decision in the 125-pound class on an injury default. Patrick DeWitt took a 2-1 advantage over Brendan Calas in the second period when he brought him down with a minute to go. His advantage improved to 3-1 on a stall called against Calas in the third period, and DeWitt claimed six points for the Golden Eagles when a hard toss forced Calas to withdraw due to injury.
Michael Bartolo added another to the win column when he recovered from a 3-0 deficit at 133 pounds with a masterful third period against Zach Valcarce. He earned his first point of the match with an escape and brought Valcarce down for two points in the final minute to send it to sudden victory. The two grapplers needed a second overtime period after they finished the first set tied at 4-all, with Bartolo flipping Valcarce on his back for four-point near-fall to take the 8-4 decision.
In the 141-pound class, Brock Zacherl opened the match with a 4-1 first period that included a pair of takedowns and eventually took the 5-1 lead after escaping Paul Kirchner to start the second. Kirchner gained an escape point to open the third period but Zacherl brought him down for two points with just two seconds remaining in the match to take the 7-2 decision.
Brodie Zacherl had his own success to start the match at the 149-pound class, taking down Jimmy Morris twice in the first three minutes to open up a 4-2 lead in the match. Zacherl added an escape point in the second period to go up 5-2 and survived a scare in the third period when Morris took him down with 10 seconds to go to make it 5-4. Morris was unable to tack on another point before the buzzer as Zacherl narrowly took the 5-4 decision.
The Broncs pulled to within 15-9 after a win by fall at 157-pounds and a decision in the 165-pound match, but Michael Pavasko turned the tide on Rider with a come-from-behind victory over Wayne Stinson at 174 pounds. Pavasko trailed 3-1 entering the third period and claimed a quick point on an escape to pull within a point. He and Stinson looked to be at a stalemate for the rest of the period but Pavasko took down his opponent twice in rapid succession for four points and a 6-3 decision to put the Golden Eagles ahead 18-9.
Clarion 24, #26 Rider 15
125: Patrick DeWitt (CL) wb inj. def. Brendan Calas (RU) 6:15
133: Michael Bartolo (CL) dec. Zach Valcarce (RU) SV2; 8-4
141: Brock Zacherl (CL) dec. Paul Kirchner (RU) 7-2
149: Brodie Zacherl (CL) dec. Jimmy Morris (RU) 5-4
157: Chad Walsh (RU) wbf over Morgan Way (CL) 3:32
165: Conor Brennan (RU) dec. Evan DeLong (CL) 8-2
174: Michael Pavasko (CL) dec. Wayne Stinson (RU) 6-3
184: Michael Fagg-Davies (RU) dec. Dominic Rigous (CL) 11-6
197: Ryan Wolfe (RU) dec. Dustin Conti (CL) 7-1
285: Zach DeLuca (CL) wbf over Mauro Correnti (RU) 3:52
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