CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles wrestling team made their home dual debut on Sunday afternoon, but Clarion dropped their 2024-25 home opener 26-9 to George Mason at Tippin Gymnasium. Clarion came up on the wrong end of a close decisions early in the match, and the Patriots pressed their advantage in the middle weights for the win.
 
The whole of Clarion's points came in the upper weights, with the Golden Eagles winning three of the last four bouts to get on the scoreboard. John Worthing snapped what had been to that point a Patriot shutout in the 174-pound bout, beating Logan Messer by 9-4 decision. Early on it seemed that Worthing might make short work of his opponent when he took him down and turned him to his back, but no near fall points were registered and the match continued. Worthing scored another first period takedown to make it 6-2 after three minutes, and he picked up a crucial reversal early in the third period to lock in the victory.
 
Patrick Cutchember had a spirited effort in the 197-pound bout, giving up 10 pounds to the Patriots' Donovan Sprouse but still finding a way to win a high-scoring bout. He had the first takedown early in the first period, and he shrugged Sprouse to the mat with a minute remaining in the first to make it 6-1. The scoreboard lit up for both wrestlers in the second period as Sprouse brought some offense, cutting the deficit to 9-7, but an illegal and the riding point in the third gave Cutchember the 11-7 win.
 
Austin Chapman rounded out the dual with his second straight dual win, beating Ean Winchester in the heavyweight bout. Chapman got the only points he needed just a minute into the first period, bringing Winchester down on a single-leg and riding him for the duration of the first period. He tacked on another takedown early in the second period for good measure en route to the 8-1 decision.
 
George Mason controlled things in the lower and middle weights, winning the first six matches of the day. The Golden Eagles came close to popping that balloon on a couple occasions, starting at 133 pounds when Mason Prinkey nearly erased a 7-0 deficit in the third period. He took Charlie Bunting down twice in the third period but could not get the near fall needed to complete the comeback. Likewise, Gianni Silvestri nearly came back against Dom Hargrove in a bout where he took him down in the third period and nearly tilted him for a score. The third toss-up came at 149 pounds, where Kyle Schickel was the clear aggressor against Kaden Cassidy for two periods but could not get over the top.
 
George Mason 26, Clarion 9
125: Ben Monn (Mason) def. Weston Pisarchick (Clarion) MD 10-0
133: Charlie Bunting (Mason) def. Mason Prinkey (Clarion) Dec. 9-6
141: Dom Hargrove (Mason) def. Gianni Silvestri (Clarion) Dec. 6-5
149: Kaden Cassidy (Mason) def. Kyle Schickel (Clarion) Dec. 8-6
157: DJ McGee (Mason) def. Lavinsky Collins (Clarion) TF 18-2 5:38
165: Evan Maag (Mason) def. Wesley Barnes (Clarion) TF 17-2 7:00
174: John Worthing (Clarion) def. Logan Messer (Mason) Dec. 9-4
184: Malachi DuVall (Mason) def. Adrian Gacek (Clarion) Dec. 4-0
197: Patrick Cutchember (Clarion) def. Donovan Sprouse (Mason) Dec. 11-7
285: Austin Chapman (Clarion) def. Ean Winchester (Mason) Dec. 8-1