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Team season comes to bitter end for McGuffey

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Joe Tuscano / Observer-Reporter McGuffey’s Stavros Alexas (right) locks up with Drew Rose of Fort LeBoeuf during their 170-pound bout in the preliminary round of the PIAA Class AA Team Tournament Monday night. Rose went on to a 10-1 major decision to help Fort LeBoeuf down McGuffey, 31-26.

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Joe Tuscano / Observer-Reporter Abe Guarriello of Fort LeBoeuf has McGuffey’s Lane Kline in a headlock during their 106-pound bout in the preliminary round of the PIAA Class AA Team Tournament Monday night. Guarriello pinned Kline in 3:05 to help Fort LeBoeuf win the dual meet 31-26.

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Joe Tuscano / Observer-Reporter Teague Nicolella (top) of McGuffey controls Noah Rose of Fort LeBoeuf during their 120-pound bout in the preliminary round of the PIAA Class AA Team Tournament Monday night. Nicolella won the bout 19-6 but the Bison won the dual meet, 31-26.

CLAYSVILLE – The candy flew from the stands at McGuffey High School, landing on the wrestling mat and igniting a mad scramble by wrestlers to scoop up as many as possible for the trip back home.

The Hershey Kisses were not only a reward for a job well done but also a symbol of where the next dual meet would take place: the Giant Center in Hershey Thursday.

Unfortunately for most of the large crowd huddled inside the gym on a cold Monday night, those flinging the sweet treats were not from McGuffey and the wrestlers scrambling for them were from Fort LeBoeuf.

The Bison had just handed the Highlanders a 31-26 defeat in the PIAA Class AA Team Tournament.

Fort LeBoeuf, the third-place finisher in District 10, advanced to the first round in Hershey, where the Bison take on Boiling Springs, the District 3 champion.

McGuffey finished the dual meet season with a 24-5 record.

This is the first time since the 2008-2009 season that a local wrestling team did not advance to Hershey to compete in this event. Fort LeBoeuf will make its eighth appearance in Herhsey, including six in a row under Simon.

“Now, we get ready for the individuals,” said McGuffey head coach Mark Caffrey. “We’ll give them a day off and then it’s back to work. You have to give Fort LeBoeuf credit. They did well. A couple of their boys clammed up, and they didn’t let our boys get the best of them.”

Fort LeBoeuf hurt McGuffey in the upperweights, where the Bison won four of five, and through the middle, where they had two consecutive pins to put the match out of reach.

“We didn’t know anything about (McGuffey),” said Fort LeBoeuf head coach Tim Simon. “To prepare, we just looked at stats and common opponents. We didn’t give up any falls until the end, and we kept their bonus points to a minimum.”

Dillon Richey opened the dual meet with a 7-2 decision over Jared Kula at 160, the starting point, to give McGuffey it’s only lead, 3-0.

Drew Rose followed with a 10-1 major decision over Stavros Alexas at 170, Justin Kula took an 11-5 win from Huey Gillespie at 182, Lane Reinwald knocked off Jim Duchi 3-1 in overtime at 195 and Garrett Reinwald shut out Liam McElhoes 5-0 at 220. That gave Fort LeBoeuf a 13-3 lead that McGuffey would chase the rest of the match.

“The loss at 195 hurt us,” said Caffrey, “and the one at 182, too. Those were weights we thought we could win.”

Abe Guarriello pushed Fort LeBoeuf’s lead to 19-6 when he pinned Lane Kline in 3:05 at 106. The Bison then wrestled cautiously enough to keep the big guns from McGuffey – Gage and Teague Nicolella – from getting pins.

Both Nicolellas won major decisions, but Fort LeBoeuf saved four bonus points.

“We felt they were strong at 113 and 120,” Simon said, “but it wasn’t anything we haven’t seen. We’ve been to Powerade, King of the Mountain and the Top Gun tournaments, so we’ve seen this before.”

McGuffey was without two starters in Connor Thompson (170) and Luke Desmond (138), who are nursing injuries. Thompson is done for the season but Desmond should return in time for the individual tournaments Feb. 14.

When Aaron Harris edged Shane Newell 3-2 at 126, McGuffey pulled to within two points, 19-17, but Jarrett Carter pinned Jared Whirlow in 1:26 at 132 and Isaac Bengel pinned Nick Cage in 43 seconds at 138. That gave the Bison an insurmountable 31-17 lead.

McGuffey’s Luke Shingle pinned Fort LeBoeuf’s Jacob Linde in 1:38 at 152 to end the dual meet.

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