Clymer takes home BHWC title

BETHLEHEM — One thing that Northwestern’s wrestling coaches have wanted to see more from Caleb Clymer is his ability to attack on his feet. After winning the 170-pound championship in Friday’s finals of the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic, Clymer still feels he needs work on his neutral game, but if he can ever put that together with the rest of his arsenal, he’ll be a force in the postseason.

Clymer used a second period tilt over Pennridge’s Logan Green to build a 3-0 lead heading into the third period before completing a 5-0 shutout for the title.

It capped off a two day tournament where Clymer didn’t give up one point in four matches to push his season mark to 14-0.

In fact, the only major problem he had to deal with at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium was a nasty cut across the ridge of his nose that he sustained in first bout Thursday.

“It wasn’t too bad having to deal with the nose once the adrenaline gets going,” said Clymer. “It happened in my first match and it was just something that you go through. I was just happy to come away with the championship.”

Clymer’s title was Northwestern’s highlight of the tournament, as the Tigers placed four wrestlers and finished tied for 15th in the team standings with 86 points.

Matt Peters (sixth, 138), Jackson Bernhard (fifth, 160) and Quinn Moyer (eighth, 220) also joined Clymer on the medal stand.

Being able to battle with 3A teams for two days was a quality experience for head coach Jim Moll’s troops, as the tournament always presents challenges the Tigers don’t see often throughout the regular season.

“We saw a lot of good things and a lot of bad things,” said Moll. “Caleb was good on top, was good on bottom, but didn’t do a whole lot on his feet. A couple of the matches he lost last year were because he didn’t move his feet and stayed square. So, we’re trying to force him to open up and just move more. It’s hard to change something when he’s winning all the time, but if he wants to go further this year and wrestle in college, he needs to do more on his feet.”

Clymer agreed with that sentiment and understands that everything from now until the postseason is an opportunity for him to try different things.

“I definitely need to work on neutral because that’s where I struggled the most,” he said, “but that was the first time this year that I hit a roll through tilt [in the finals] and that’s why we wrestle in tournaments like this. To beat good guys from 3A teams throughout the tournament, it’s definitely a confidence booster heading into the rest of the year.”

After pushing through to the semifinals, Peters ended up battling for fifth place against Wilson West Lawn’s Brandon Connor, but fell by a 3-1 decision. Bernhard scored a 3-0 victory over Ben McQuillen in his medal round bout, while Moyer lost to Easton’s Jacob Frank 9-4 in the seventh place consolation.

“Matt’s effort has really impressed me every week,” said Moll. “I know sixth place wasn’t what he wanted after making the semifinals, but his effort is great. Quinn Moyer is also having a great year. All the guys that placed showed what they’re capable of.”

Liberty crowned three champions in juniors Tal-Reese Flemming (106), Matt Maloney (113) and Damen Moyer (195) en route to winning the team title with 185 points, keeping second place Nazareth (169.5 points) at bay. The Hurricanes medaled eight wrestlers in total en route to winning their first BHWC title in 24 years.

Other local champions included Northampton’s Devon Britton (138), Parkland’s Zach Ortman (145), Nazareth’s Sammy Sasso (152) and Pen Argyl’s Chase Anklam (160).

Sasso took home with Outstanding Wrestler award for the third straight season, as he pinned two of his four opponents, including Phillipsburg’s Brian Meyer in 3:00 during the finals, and tech falling his other two foes.

Pennridge’s Josh Stillings (182) had the most pins in the least amount of time with three in 2:24. He edged out Nazareth’s Cade Wilson 2-1 in the championship bout.

NO MEDALS ... Pleasant Valley failed to have any wrestlers medal in the tournament, as the team finished 30th in the standings with 23 points.

TEAM TITLE ... Liberty captured the team championship, finishing with 185 points. The Hurricanes had three individual champs. Nazareth was second with 169.5.

SPREADING THE WEALTH ... Liberty was the only school with multiple individual champions. Eleven other schools each had one champ.