KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Williamsport's Dade Splain celebrates after winning his match against Altoona with a fall at Williamsport High School on Friday afternoon.

Dade Splain didn’t hear the crowd booming as the official slapped the mat for his fall in the first bout Friday afternoon. He very rarely hears the crowd when he’s wrestling. It registers only as white noise.

But the powder keg crowd made up almost entirely of the Williamsport High School student body was screaming and cheering at an ear-piercing level. The band, sitting in the balcony behind Splain, dialed up a version of Flo Rida’s My House as Splain shook his opponent’s hand.

The Williamsport sophomore 220-pounder gave the crowd the excuse they needed to make as much noise as possible when he overcame a five-point deficit and earned a third-period fall. Williamsport rode the energy of the crowd to a quick 17-point lead as it went on to beat Altoona, 39-28, at the Magic Dome.

For the second time in three years, Williamsport brought in its student body to watch a wrestling match on the final day of classes before the Christmas break. For the second time, the Millionaires gave their peers something to cheer about.

Fans who two years ago may not have known a half nelson from Willie Nelson, came prepared with signs to support their friends. A group of football players in the front row exploded as teammate Charles Crews lifted his opponent high into the air and dropped him to the mat.

“Everyone in here was excited already, but when Dade won, it erupted in here,” senior Owen Mahon said. “These guys deserve the recognition. They’re working their tails off in the room and it’s nice to see these guys are getting the recognition, especially the young guys who are going to be world beaters in a couple years.”

Splain didn’t make getting his explosive win easy on himself. Making his season debut coming off an injury from football season, Splain found himself in a 5-0 hole to Altoona’s Raymond Boose just 20 seconds into the bout. But he fought off his back and went back to work methodically chipping away at the deficit.

By the end of the first period, Splain was down just 6-4. A six-point second period, including a pair of takedowns had the sophomore in front, 10-7. And when Boose chose bottom in the third period, Splain sunk a half nelson deep and got the fall with 57 seconds to go.

It was a win Splain likely wouldn’t have gotten a year ago when he was just 8-20 and lost nine matches by fall. But he showed immense mental toughness and set an important tone for the Millionaires.

“That’s way better than losing,” Splain said with a wry grin. “I feel like through football and coming back from my injury, I want to be here more. I want to get to states. I want to keep putting the work in. So you don’t notice you’re down as much as you are until there’s a break, and then you just focus on your basics and come back and work yourself back in the match.”

“I even said to my assistant that he doesn’t look like the same kid. It’s all about the maturity,” Williamsport coach Brian Nasdeo said. “We figured it was going to happen because he looks like a different guy out there. He was able to suck up the nerves after that first little go. He was so amped up at the start that it was like he was frozen. But then he wrestled great. He moved his feet well and put together combinations of moves and I’m excited to have him back in the lineup.”

It started a run of five wins in seven bouts to begin the dual for Williamsport, which put Altoona in a hole to big to escape. State-ranked Cael Nasdeo again sent the crowd into a frenzy with a 45-second fall at 106 pounds. Luke Seagraves used a last-minute takedown to secure his win at 113. Carter Weaver used five takedowns to post an 18-3 technical fall at 120. And Isaiah Harer scored two sets of back points before getting a fall at 132 pounds to give Williamsport a 26-9 lead halfway through the deal.

Not even Matt Sarbo’s 11-6 win over Riley Bower in a matchup of Top-10 ranked wrestlers at 138 was enough to give Altoona the spark it needed to climb back into the dual. Roman Morrone immediately followed Sarbo’s impressive win with a first-period fall for the Millionaires and then Mahon posted a 17-5 major decision.

Nasdeo has scheduled the afternoon dual in front of the student body for two reasons. He wants to help promote the sport of wrestling to those who may not normally get the chance to see it. And he also wants to give his wrestlers exposure to a pressure-packed environment. The wrestlers admitted competing in front of their fans was far more nerve-wracking than competing in front of you average wrestling crowd.

“Normally I’m pretty relaxed before wrestling, but my adrenaline was really going,” Mahon said. “I had adrenaline going down through the biceps and it was hard to relax. Before I wrestle I usually take a deep breath and calm down, and I had to do that a lot (Friday). You could feel the energy in here. It was great.”

“It’s pretty nerve-wracking until you step on the mat, then it’s just another match and you’re listening to your coach and trying to help your team,” Splain said. “But walking off and hearing all the cheers, it sent chills through me. It’ll be pretty cool to talk about when school comes back.”

“It was fun. I was hoping the kids would have a good time with it,” Nasdeo said. “They were screaming for things they didn’t even realize were going on. Most of the kids want to come and see this, so it’s nice when you get here and it’s fun and you’re seeing guys you know competing. I really like this.”

Williamsport 39, Altooona 28

220: Dade Splain, W, pinned Raymond Boose, 5:03. 285: Adam Port, A, dec. Charles Crews, 3-1. 106: #15 Cael Nasdeo, W, pinned Eli Wisor, :45. 113: Luke Seagraves, W, dec. Caleb Fasick, 6-3. 120: Carter Weaver, W, tech. fall Jordan Carlucci, 18-3, 5:32. 126: Damion Finnegan, A, pinned Austin Stugart, 3:29. 132: Isaiah Harer, W, pinned George Boutiller, 5:25. 138: #4 Matt Sarbo, A, dec. #9 Riley Bower, 11-6. 145: Roman Morrone, W, pinned William Young, 1:24. 152: Owen Mahon, W, maj. dec. Graham Black, 17-5. 160: Adam Zerbee, A, pinned Cale Cooklin, 3:37. 170: Porter Dawson, W, dec. Connor Reimer, 9-8. 182: Colin Allmond, A, maj. dec. Sebastian Robinson, 14-6. 195: Josh Keirn, A, pinned Ryley Holcomb, :42.

Takedowns: Williamsport 24, Altoona 15.

Records: Williamsport (2-0); Altoona (0-2).