CLARION, Pa. --- John Worthing made the finals of the 174-pound bracket, Alejandro Herrera-Rondon took fourth at 157 pounds, and an unattached Joey Fischer placed third at 133 pounds, highlighting an exciting day for the Golden Eagles wrestling team at the Clarion Open. Clarion placed fourth at the tournament as a team.
 
Long an anticipated season-opening event that has attracted some of the best collegiate wrestlers in the country, the 2024 Open had its share of big programs and big names. Worthing enjoyed a good showing against some of those competitors on Sunday, entering the bracket as the top seed and reaching the finals with three straight wins. His day started with a second period win by fall over Navy's Liam Kilrain. Worthing built a 7-0 lead after the first period, started the second in the defensive position and then quickly reversed Kilrain to his back for the pin. Worthing followed up with a workmanlike effort against Buffalo's Dylan Schell, winning by 5-0 decision, and then used a late near fall against Bellarmine's Grant ODell to take a 9-0 major.
 
The 174-pound finals match against between Worthing and Michigan's Joseph Walker was a good one. Walker had the only takedown of the match, taking a 3-0 lead in the first period before Worthing escaped. Worthing got out from under in the second period to cut it to 3-2, and then rode Walker long enough in the third period to wipe out the riding time point. His shots at Walker were not enough to bring him to the mat, though, and the latter took the 4-2 decision.
 
Herrera-Rondon had the next-best placement for the Golden Eagles, winning his first three matches of the day to reach the semifinals of the 157-pound bracket. He beat Bloomsburg's William Morrow by 7-0 decision in the first round and followed with back-to-back bonus point wins. He won via technical fall against Gray Ortis in the round of 16, racking up 14 points over seven minutes and earning the riding time point, and he continued with a 10-1 major decision over Ohio State's TJ Schierl. That was the extent of it for Herrera-Rondon, though, as the Buckeyes' Brock Herman beat him by fall in the semifinals, and Michigan's Zack Mattin held on for a 5-0 decision in the third place match.

Meanwhile, Fischer put on a show while wrestling as an unattached competitor. He reached the semifinals of the 133-pound bracket, opening the tournament with a by and then beating Buffalo's Troy Guerra by a 17-2 technical fall. In the quarterfinal round Fischer won a tight match against Bellarmine's Trayce Eckman, beating him 4-1, before falling to Nic Bouzakis in the semifinals.

That set up a third place match against Edinboro's Colton Camacho, this time with Fischer winning a high-scoring bout. He edged out Camacho with an 11-10 decision.
 
Here is a summary of how some of the other Golden Eagles performed in their championship brackets:
 

• At 184 pounds, Adrian Gacek reached the quarterfinals of the bracket thanks to two big wins early on. He beat Michigan's Jack Cummings by 15-4 major decision and pinned Edinboro's Vitali Daniels midway through the first period. He fell in the quarterfinal round to top-seeded Rocco Welsh of Ohio State, currently ranked third by FloWrestling at 174 pounds. Welsh beat him by technical fall, 22-6.
• Gianni Silvestri reached the quarterfinals of the 141-pound bracket, picking up wins by decision over Buffalo's Aaron Lanster and Tyler Adams of Naval Prep. After losing to Lehigh's Luke Stanich, he managed another win in the consolation bracket.
• Mason Prinkey reached the quarterfinals of the 133-pound bracket, logging a pair of bonus point wins to start the day. He shut out Coatesville's Elijah Whitaker for a 15-0 technical fall and later pinned Navy's Hunter Heflin less than two minutes into the first period. He lost a technical fall to Ohio State's highly touted Ben Davino in the quarterfinal but later beat Kade Kluce for a 13-1 major decision in the consolation.
• Scott Johnson also got to the quarterfinals of 133 pounds, and he too won a pair of bonus point victories to get there. He started with a 16-0 tech fall over Buffalo's Nikolas Massaro and then beat Pitt-Johnstown's Tyson Cook by technical fall. He had an exciting match with Edinboro's Camacho before suffering an injury, coming back from a 6-0 deficit to get an escape, takedown and near fall, all in the first period. Camacho ultimately won a 20-11 major decision, though, and Johnson did not compete further on Sunday.
• At 125 pounds, Travis Clawson got to the quarterfinals, starting with a third period win by fall over Edinboro's Caleb Edwards. He cruised past Bellarmine's Micha Medina in the round of 16, winning by 17-2 technical fall, before a narrow 8-4 loss to lauded Ohio State 125-pounder Vinny Kilkeary in the quarters.
• The last Golden Eagle to reach the quarterfinals of their bracket was Wesley Barnes. He won his first two matches in the 165-pound field, beating Edinboro's Damon Michaels by 11-4 decision and holding off Keiji Watanabe for a 5-4 win. Barnes ultimately lost to Lehigh's Max Brignola by technical fall in the quarterfinals.