By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

LOYSBURG — Two outstanding teams fighting for the top spot in the Inter-County Wrestling Conference squared off Tuesday night, and the matchup lived up to its billing.

Clinging to a 25-24 lead entering the final three bouts, Mount Union came up with falls from sophomore Josh Ryan at 189 pounds and senior Mason Beatty at 107 to close the match and seal a 37-27 dual meet victory over Northern Bedford at the Northern Bedford High School gymnasium.

Ryan headlocked Brian Amick for a fall in 67 seconds, and Beatty, a PIAA Class 2A state qualifier a year ago, tilted Aiden Replogle for a fall at 1:28 to help Mount Union improve to 10-2 overall and 6-0 in conference competition.

“We had a couple guys hurt tonight and we had to move a couple guys around to different weight classes to get the victory,” Mount Union coach Keith Ryan said. “Northern Bedford is a tough program with a lot of tough wrestlers, and this match could have gone either way tonight.”

Northern Bedford dropped to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference.

“This was a real good close match,” Northern Bedford coach Brian Dutchcot said. “I really like to see these types of matches.

“The crowd gets into it, the teams get into it, it’s great to be a part of these types of matches,” Dutchcot added. “Unfortunately, we came out on the losing end.”

Along with the falls by Josh Ryan and Beatty, Mount Union got gutsy victories from two freshmen — Jacik Hess at 127 pounds and Rowan McLain-Hartman at 133. Both coped with injuries to post key wins.

Hess, who is battling a knee injury, pinned Paeden Logue in 3:23, and McLain-Hartman (thumb) racked up a 9-1 major decision over Haidyn Dively.

“They are both wrestling with injuries, but they both stepped up and won for us,” said Keith Ryan, whose Mount Union team had a 12-9 edge in overall takedowns on the night.

Mount Union also got a fall from A.J. Chilcote, who clamped Bryson Free in 3:27 at 121 pounds, and a 3-1 decision from Vance Hower over Tyler Paris at 145. The Trojans’ Deegan Rittenhouse won by forfeit at 160.

Northern Bedford enjoyed several excellent performances of its own. The Black Panthers’ Wyatt Clouse started the match by using four takedowns in an 11-6 decision over Kamden Beatty at 114 pounds, while Aidan Pittman needed only 40 seconds to pin Evan Shaver at 152.

Northern Bedford’s Eion Snider parlayed two takedowns and a five-point reversal-near fall sequence into a 10-3 decision over Jase Ripple at 172, while sophomore standout Aaron Bowers hiked his season record to 18-2 with a 71-second fall over Aydin Grove at 189.

Northern Bedford junior Brock Beach logged a hard-fought 3-1 decision over Haiden Inch at 285 pounds, where a takedown at the edge of the match in the second period proved decisive.

“Aaron Bowers and Eion Snider have been consistent throughout the season, and that was a good win for Brock Beach at heavyweight,” Dutchcot said. “Inch is a tough wrestler, and Brock Beach wrestled a very smart match.”

Austin Bartholow took a forfeit victory at 139 for Northern Bedford, which visits Everett in another key conference match next Tuesday night.

114–Clouse, NB, dec. K. Beatty, 11-6. 121–Chilcote, MU, pinned Free, 3:27. 127–Hess, MU, pinned Logue, 3:23. 133–McLain-Hartman, MU, major dec. Dively, 9-1. 139–Bartholow, NB, won by forfeit. 145–Hower, MU, dec. Paris, 3-1.

152–Pittman, NB, pinned Shaver, :40.160–Rittenhouse, MU, won by forfeit. 172–Snider, NB, dec. Ripple, 10-3. 189–Bowers, NB, pinned Grove, 1:11. 215–Ryan, MU, pinned Amick, 1:07. 285–Beach, NB, dec. Inch, 3-1. 107–M. Beatty, MU, pinned Replogle, 1:28.

Official: Jack Pensyl.