By GARRETT CARR

Sun-Gazette

Correspondent

With just four matches to follow and Montoursville trailing by seven against Selinsgrove on Thursday night in their season-opener, the Warriors needed a win from talented freshman Blake Fry in his high school wrestling debut.

Fry was welcomed to high school wrestling in a hurry, falling behind 5-0 quickly after a takedown and two nearfall points by Selinsgrove’s Cain Carter. But Fry kept his composure, found a way to escape and then notch a takedown of his own to bring the deficit to 5-4 after the first period.

The rest of the match was all Fry, as he scored 14 of the last 16 points of the match en route to a 14-7 win to get the Warriors within 24-20.

Ultimately, however, it wouldn’t be enough, as a pin by Seal Jack Peters at 285 pounds in the final bout of the night clinched a 33-32 dual meet for Selinsgrove at Montoursville.

“That showed character. You’re a freshman out here battling, and you get thrown early, and you don’t let that rattle you and stay the course,” Montoursville coach Matt Yonkin said. “He is a better wrestler and that showed. He came back. It showed a lot of maturity and a lot of character. I’m really proud of him. It’s gonna be a fun year with him.”

The Warriors were one of the state’s last teams to open up their schedule on Thursday night, 13 days after the first allowed competition date. And that rust showed numerous times throughout the night. Montoursville missed opportunities to either save or score more bonus points, lost two crucial swing matches, and put themselves in a tough position down the stretch of the dual meet.

“We just didn’t perform well tonight. This was our first competition of the year, and it showed we got a lot of stuff we got to work on,” Yonkin said. “We got to work harder. And it showed from the bottom to the top tonight.”

Montoursville got off to a perfect start as freshman Ethan Amato needs just 29 seconds to pin Landen Messimer in his varsity debut. Sophomore and returning state qualifier Branden Eisenhour picked up a fall himself at 114, using a tight cradle just before the midway point of the match to quickly put Montoursville up 12-0.

The Seals scored a huge win at 121 when Anthony Snook built a big lead and then held off a late charge from Coltyn Wagner to win 14-12. Montoursville forfeited 127 to put a crucial six points on the board for Selinsgrove and draw the dual to 12-9.

The teams traded technical falls at 133 and 139 when Montoursville’s Teli Bobotas won 19-4 over Cael Badman, and Alex Dadryna won 17-2 over Haze Mullen. And at 145, Selinsgrove’s Ryan Harpster gave the Seals the lead for the first time with a 10-2 major decision over freshman Kaden Kleinman to put Selinsgrove up 18-17. When Gabe Paradis pinned Hunter Gee in the first period at 152, the Seals had their largest lead of the match at 24-17.

Fry’s win followed, and returning state-runner-up Gage Wentzel and returning state-qualifer Hayden Harvey both posted first-period pins to give the Warriors a 32-24 lead with two bouts left.

But Selinsgrove’s Crue Carter pulled off a huge win in a toss-up match against Mason Murray at 215 to set up returning state qualifier Jack Peters with a chance to win the dual with a pin. He did just that, taking Gabe Vanderwall to his back early in the second period, sending the Seal faithful into a frenzy.

“We preach constantly, that it’s not where we start, it’s where we finish. We know we’re going to be a better team later in the season, and we’ll come back and we’ll rebound from this. A blessing in disguise,” Yonkin said. “I don’t know about that, but an eye oponer, maybe. We have got to do better, and we’ll learn from this. We’ll make sure of that. As coaches, will make sure that they learn from this experience and this type of adversity will pay off later in the season.”

Selinsgrove 33, Montoursville 32

107: Ethan Amato (M) pinned Landen Messimer, 0:29. 114: Branden Eisenhour (M) pinned Colton Kratzer, 2:55. 121: Anthony Snook (S) dec. Coltyn Wagner, 14-10. 127: Gavin Rebuck (S) by forfeit. 133: Teli Bobotas (M) tech fall Cael Badman, 19-4, 5:40. 139: Alex Kadryna (S) tech fall Haze Mullen, 17-2, 3:07. 145: Ryan Harpster (S) maj. dec. Kaden Kleinman, 10-2. 152: Gabe Paradis (S) pinned Hunter Gee, 1:20. 160: Blake Fry (M) dec. Cain Carter, 14-7. 172: Gage Wentzel (M) pinned Hunter Der, 1:16. 189: Hayden Harvey (M) pinned Alex Modawar, 1:49. 215: Crue Carter (S) dec. Mason Murray, 9-4. 285: Jack Peters (S) pinned Gabriel Vanderwall, 2:17.