LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – The Clarion wrestling team won four bouts on Sunday but were unable to upset the top team in the MAC East division, as the Golden Eagles fell to Rider 25-13 in a conference road match.
(Photo courtesy of Clarion University Athletics)
Clarion (9-6, 6-4 MAC East) will close their dual match schedule Sunday when it travels to Edinboro.
The overall bout was closer than the final score might indicate, as the teams were neck and neck through the first six matches. The Golden Eagles led 10-9 after Mike Bartolo’s sudden victory win over Gary Dinmore at 165 pounds, but the Broncs won three of the last four matches of the day – two by fall – to record the team win.
Fifteenth-ranked Greg Bulsak scored a significant win at 197 pounds, defeating 12th-ranked Ethan Laird by an 8-1 decision. Laird entered the weekend ranked above Bulsak both in national ranking as well as in the conference coaches’ poll, with the former ranked first and the latter second in the most recent release. Bulsak won the battle of the presumed top-two 197-pounders by taking Laird down early in the first period and riding him for more than two minutes to build a sizable advantage. He dominated the rest of the bout thereafter, with Laird managing only an escape.
If Bulsak’s win was significant for what it could mean for this season, then Brock Zacherl’s decision over Gino Fluri at 149 pounds held a deeper meaning as far as his overall career. The decision over Fluri was the 111th win in Zacherl’s career, moving him past four-time All-American Bryan Stout on Clarion’s all-time wins list and into a tie for 16th with Dan Payne and Ken Haselrig. All three of those former Golden Eagles are members of the Clarion Sports Hall of Fame.
Jake Gromacki won for the seventh time in his last eight matches, leading the dual off with a major decision over Jonathon Tropea. The sixth-year senior worked Tropea for a 15-4 result to put the Golden Eagles ahead 4-0. Zacherl put Clarion back in the lead 7-6 after the 149-pound bout, and Bartolo rallied from a large deficit in the 165-pound match to beat Gary Dinmore. Dinmore led the bout 4-1 in the first period but Bartolo continued to chip away at him, wearing Dinmore down and scoring a quick takedown in sudden victory. The win evened Bartolo’s season record at 9-9.
Rider 25, Clarion 13
125 – Jake Gromacki (Clarion) over Jonathon Tropea (Rider) (MD 15-4)
133 – Richie Koehler (Rider) over Seth Koleno (Clarion) (Dec 6-2)
141 – Peter Lipari (Rider) over Brayden Palmer (Clarion) (Dec 6-0)
149 – Brock Zacherl (Clarion) over Gino Fluri (Rider) (Dec 6-3)
157 – Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider) over Taylor Ortz (Clarion) (Dec 7-0)
165 – Mike Bartolo (Clarion) over Gary Dinmore (Rider) (SV-1 9-7)
174 – Dean Sherry (Rider) over Mike Vernagallo (Clarion) (Fall 1:00)
184 – George Walton (Rider) over Christian Sequete (Clarion) (MD 20-7)
197 – Greg Bulsak (Clarion) over Ethan Laird (Rider) (Dec 8-1)
285 – Ryan Cloud (Rider) over Tyler Bagoly (Clarion) (Fall 3:36)
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