By Todd Irwin

sports@altoonamirror.com

TYRONE — Three of the first six bouts in Tyrone’s home dual meet against Huntingdon set the tone for the Tuesday night wrestling match.

The Bearcats’ Eric Mykut and Dominic Peruso scored in the final minute to pull out respective 4-3 wins at 145 and 152 to start the meet. Later, at 215, Lincoln Miller got a takedown with 6 seconds left to win, 3-1, and help 3-0 Huntingdon beat the Golden Eagles, 48-15.

“I was telling them we could have gotten three more matches there if things just went a little differently,” Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. “But we ended up losing all three of those close ones. Huntingdon was fighting. Tyrone was fighting. That’s what the fans like to see.”

“The guys wrestled well,” Huntingdon coach Jon Mykut said. “There were four bouts that were really close. Tyrone came out and scrapped. They wrestled very well, but our guys just kept wrestling in those close matches to the end. We preach that in the practice room.”

Before the match, the entire Tyrone wrestling team sang the National Anthem, drawing applause from those in attendance.

“We made it a point this year to sing the National Anthem,” Wright said. “The guys wanted to do it. In the last dual meet (against Bedford), the sound wasn’t working, so our guys just started singing. It’s probably going to be a tradition with this team going forward. It makes us all feel good.”

Tyrone’s Remington Fleck and Mykut went to the third period tied 2-2 in the opening bout. Fleck, who rode Mykut the entire second period, escaped 44 seconds into the third for a 3-2 lead. He held on to that lead until Mykut took him down out of a long scramble with 21 seconds left in the bout for the decisive two points.

After a scoreless first period, Tyrone’s Cohen Wallace scored a reversal to take the lead on Peruso. But an interlocking penalty point and an escape tied the score, 2-2, entering the third. Peruso reversed with 52 seconds left in the bout. Wallace escaped with 17 seconds left, but Peruso held on to win.

“We hit that kid up at the Panther Classic and we majored him (12-4) up there,” Mykut said. “When you wrestle kids multiple times, sometimes they close gap a little bit. Credit to Dom. He wrestled until the very end.”

Huntingdon’s Grady Clark wasted no time with a 17-second pin at 160.

The 172-pound bout between Tyrone returning state qualifier Kyle Scott and Huntingdon’s Luke Uplinger turned out to be a surprisingly tight and action-filled bout, especially the first frenzied minute.

Scott worked himself out of a precarious position early and took the feisty Uplinger down, scored two back points and held a 4-0 lead. Uplinger, however, reversed with 8 seconds left in the period to cut into his lead.

Scott tilted Uplinger for three points and a 7-2 lead in the second, and he took a 7-3 lead into the third. Scott escaped in the third, but with time winding down, Uplinger headlocked Scott for a takedown, but Scott avoided going to his back and won, 8-5.

“I know he’s really disappointed in himself,” Wright said of Scott. “I was telling him we all have matches like that. We’re not at our best. Things don’t go right. I told him don’t beat yourself up over it because every good athlete has those types of matches.”

“Luke has wrestled for a long time and took a couple years off,” Coach Mykut said. “But he’s a quality kid. He’s very athletic and works his tail off in our practice room. He showed what he can do out there in a match against a very good kid.”

After Huntingdon/Williamsburg’s Andrew McMonagle pinned Andrew Weaver in 2:23 at 189.

Miller was deep on six double-leg shots on Richard Rawlings, but each time the strong Rawlings muscled his way out of danger. The 1-1 bout that appeared headed to overtime, but finally Miller took Rawlings down with 6 seconds left to win.

Tyrone returning state qualifier Braden Ewing stopped the Bearcats’ run with a pin in 54 seconds at 285.

Huntingdon then got forfeit wins from Gaige Sholly and Degan Brown at 107 and 114, respectively. Alex Gladfelter extended the lead with a pin at 121.

At 127, Huntingdon’s Gavin Bilich built an 11-3 lead on Dominic Pluebell, but Pluebell took him down to his back for five points to draw to within three, 11-8. Bilich ended up winning, 12-9.

The meet came to a close with Tyrone’s Logan Rumberger getting a pin in 3:30 at 133 and Huntingdon’s Chris Gibson recording a fall in 1:07 at 139.

145–Mykut, H, dec. R. Fleck, 4-3; 152–Peruso, H, dec. Wallace, 4-3; 160–Clark, H, pinned Buck, :17; 172–Scott, T, dec. Uplinger, 8-5; 189–McMonagle, H, pinned Weaver, 2:23; 215–Miller, H, dec. Rawlings, 3-1; 285–Ewing, T, pinned Metz, :54

107–Sholly, H, won by forfeit; 114–Brown, H, won by forfeit; 121–Gladfelter, H, pinned Detwiler, :50; 127–Bilich, H, dec. D. Pluebell, 12-9; 133–Rumberger, T, pinned Simpson, 3:30; 139–Gibson, H, pinned Whitby, 1:07.

Records: Huntingdon (3-0), Tyrone (4-5)

Exhibition winner by fall: Erdman, H

Referee: Paul Myers