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TYRONE -- As the dual meet between 2-0 Tyrone and 6-0 Penns Valley entered the 285-pound bout between Tyrone's Braden Ewing and PV's Kollin Brungart, the score was tied with four weights left.
Ewing is familiar with having pressure on his shoulders. His pin of Bellwood-Antis' Nate Jennings in the last bout of the Section 1 Tournament last season gave the Golden Eagles the team title by one point over Huntingdon.
"Sectionals was a whole different beast," Ewing said. "That was a big-time win. This is a big win too, but sectionals felt very different."
It wasn't as dramatic as the sectional fall, but Ewing's pin of Brungart in 1:49 in what Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker considered a tossup bout turned out to be pretty big for the Eagles in their 39-31 win in Quentin Wright's home debut as coach.
"During the heavyweight match, I was doing calculations," Wright said. "After Braden got that pin, I took the calculator and threw it away."
Ewing's pin was one of four for the Golden Eagles.
"We wrestled well," Wright said. "We were fighting all night. They showed a lot of heart out there. It was huge to get those pins, to make up for the pins that we were giving up. It's a mathematical game. You just have to be one point ahead at the end."
"This is a big win for us, especially for seeding later on in the year," Ewing said. "Penns Valley is definitely one of the best teams around here. This is great for our team to build up that team confidence."
After Tyrone's Ashton Sipes opened the meet with a pin in 3:34 at 132, Lukas Walk built an 11-3 lead on Nate Long at 138 before stacking Long for a pin in 3:45.
"That was huge," Wright said. "He was fantastic."
PV's Panther Classic champ Ty Watson followed with a pin at 145, but Tyrone's Reese Wood responded with a fall in 1:40 at 152.
The Rams were without a few starters, including Panther Holiday Classic 120-pound runner-up Colten Shunk. So Brinker shifted his lineup starting at 152.
"We tried to gamble and bump everybody up from 152 up," Brinker said. "It didn't pan out the way I kind of thought it could, but I knew we had to try something."
Eagle 160-pounder Andrew Weaver notched a takedown, three-point nearfall and a reversal for a 7-0 win over David Martin.
The Rams won the next three to tie the score, 21-21. After Penns Valley's Brandon Corl (172) won by fall, Cole Felker beat Zack Lash, 9-4, at 189 and Hunter Lyons (215) recorded a pin.
That set the stage for Ewing, who missed the first two dual meets because he was in COVID-19 quarantine before debuting in the Panther Holiday Classic.
Penns Valley's Jack Darlington was waiting to pick up a forfeit at 106, as was Tyrone's Korry Walls at 113 and Logan Rumberger at 120. PC's Carter Homan finished the meet with a 10-2 win over Remington Fleck at 126.
Ewing took Brungart down to his back, worked for the fall and referee Dick Wood slapped the mat with 11 seconds left in the first period.
"I was comfortable," Wright said. "I knew that we were going to be okay at 113 and 120 with Logan and Korry. But Braden getting that pin really helped us solidify that win for the match. Braden took that pressure off of (Fleck) by getting that pin." "I thought it was a tossup," Brinker said, "but I gave it a slight lean to us to be honest."
Ewing has had a close view in practice of Wright, who was a two-time state champion at Bald Eagle Area and a two-time NCAA champ at Penn State.
"I have to wrestle him a lot in practice," Ewing said with a smile. "That's rough. He's hard to take down. He's a great coach. He's very good at teaching the simple stuff into you, getting you better at what everybody should know."
Wright, who was on his feet a lot coaching his wrestlers, enjoyed the atmosphere in the Tyrone gym
"It was good crowd," Wright said. "Tyrone's got a great fan base. They were cheering. They know what they're doing. It was an exciting first match, and I look forward to the next."
132--Sipes, T, pinned Cain, 3:34; 138--L. Walk, T, pinned Long, 3:45; 145--Watson, PV, pinned Klein, 1:37; 152--Wood, T, pinned Good, 1:40; 160--Weaver, T, dec. Martin, 7-0; 172--Corl, PV, pinned Myers, 3:29; 189--Felker, PV, dec. Lash, 9-4
215--Lyons, PV, pinned Rice, 1:23; 285--Ewing, T, pinned Brungart, 1:49; 106--Darlington, PV, won by forfeit; 113--Walls, T, won by forfeit; 120--Rumberger, T, won by forfeit; 126--Homan, PV, maj. dec. Fleck, 10-2.
Records: Penns Valley (6-1), Tyrone (3-0)
Referee: Dick Wood