Seeing Red

by Guy Cipriano

Posted on December 17, 2008

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008

Seeing Red

Guy Cipriano

BELLEFONTE — A banner listing this season's goals hangs from Bellefonte's spacious wrestling room

By 8:02 p.m. Tuesday, Bellefonte could scratch one goal wrestlers often noticed from their peripheral vision.

The Red Raiders took a 40-0 lead after eight bouts en route to defeating Bald Eagle Area 46-18 in their home opener.

Four falls and a forfeit in the first eight bouts meant Bellefonte (1-1) secured the victory a tidy 42 minutes after the first whistle. The Eagles (0-1) awoke to win four of the final six bouts once team objectives were replaced by individual gut checks.

"This match is sort of high stress," Bellefonte senior 135-pounder Garrett Singer said. "We have a banner in our wrestling room with our top 10 goals of the year and beating Bald Eagle is on it."

Actually, defeating BEA ranked high on the to-do list. "It was No. 2," Singer said. And what about No. 1?

"Beat Central Mountain," Singer said.

The Red Raiders lost to the nationally ranked Wildcats 40-30 last week so they must wait until the District 6 Class AAA Duals to take another crack at No. 1.

For now, Bellefonte can savor its third straight victory over a program it had not defeated at home since the 1970s. The 46 points represents the most Bellefonte has scored in more than 50 matches against BEA.

The match started at 112 allowing the Red Raiders to immediately send some their best wrestlers to the mat. Bellefonte freshman Tom Traxler took Jason Sherry down 11 seconds into the match. Sherry tried to fight his way out of bounds, but Traxler tugged Sherry back into the circle, locked a cradle and completed a fall in 48 seconds.

"When 112 was drawn as the weight class, I thought we could go on a nice run there," Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said.

Bellefonte freshman Cody Fisher received a forfeit at 119 before Dan Dreibelbis earned a 13-2 major decision over Trevor Foresman. The Eagles then received a surprise pin at 135 where Singer took down Coleman Hoffman and stuck the BEA sophomore in 1:37. Three days earlier, Singer, who's still recovering from multiple postseason surgeries, managed a 3-1 decision over Hoffman.

"That felt really good especially with everyone being here," Singer said. "I knew it was going to be a tough match and I didn't want to underestimate him because I beat him earlier."

Sophomore Brandon Grau then recorded a third-period escape and received a point when referee Jim Rupp hit Ian Neely with stalling to force overtime at 140. Grau countered a Neely shot and circled around to complete a 4-2 victory 22 seconds into the sudden-victory period.

"I like to see matches where guys come back in the third period," Maney said. "That was a good win for Brandon."

Nate Alterio and Shane Alterio increased Bellefonte's lead to 40 points by recording falls at 145 and 152.

BEA's first victory came at 160 where Rusty Fetzer defeated Brad Grieb 8-6 in a rematch of a final won by Fetzer during last weekend's Mountain League Tournament. The Eagles also received a 3-2 decision from

Shane Robinson over Jake Perryman at 189 and second-period pins from 215-pounder Jon Gingrich and heavyweight Mark Bonsell.

The match ended with Bellefonte freshman Leo Wortman avenging a loss from last weekend by defeating sophomore Justin Giedroc 2-1 at 103. Robinson's victory avenged a loss for BEA from last weekend.

"When you look at the dual as a whole, it's hard for some teammates to get up when you're down by so many points," BEA coach Steve Millward said. "I'm not sure how they are reacting to that. Fortunately, some of the guys later in the meet got themselves together, wrestled well and got a win, basically, for themselves."

The match featured some odd sights.

Few Centre County fans could envision a day where Bellefonte raced to a 40-0 lead over BEA. The Red Raiders were handling their rival with Maney, a PIAA Class AAA champion at BEA, sitting on their bench wearing red and white.

Maney coached against BEA during his two-year stint at Philipsburg-Osceola. But he said Tuesday felt different because of his relationship with Millward.

"Coaching for P-O against Bald Eagle didn't have the same viewpoint for me," Maney said. "It's different wearing red and white especially with coach Millward over there. He was my coach and I owe a lot to him for being a state champ. I know he will get those guys ready for the rest of the season."

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