The Warriors held a 28-21 lead after the 215-pound bout and knew they couldn’t afford to let up big points to the Rams at either 285, 107 or 114.

A narrow 3-0 decision gave Montoursville some breathing room at 285 when Gabriel Vanderwall beat Brenden Wells for three points, extending the Warriors lead to 10 with two bouts to go.

And at 107, Branden Eisenhour of Montoursville put the match away and sealed Montoursville’s state berth. The Warrior shot low against Logan Wood, turning into a cradle and then controlling on top, getting both of his shoulders down for a pin 45 seconds in and giving the Warriors the win.

Eisenhour’s victory, coupled with a pin by Montoursville’s Coltyn Wagner at 114 in the first period, gave the Warriors a 43-21 win in the District 4 Class AA Duals third-place match.

FRANK DIMON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Mason Murray battles Williamson's Riley Ball during the District 4 Class AA Duals quarterfinals.

The win ensures a state tournament berth for Montoursville as the Warriors compete on Tuesday in the first round in a pig-tail match against the District 7 fourth-place finisher. The winner then wrestles against the District 3 champion.

“The upside is it buys us a couple more matches, gives us a chance to wrestle some really good competition,” Montoursville coach Matt Yonkin said. “It’s great for the team for the opportunity to spend more time together, bond, travel, compete. We’re looking forward to that.”

Yonkin was confident with his lineup in the upper weights and into the lower weights. Prior to Vanderwall’s matchup, the Warriors had standouts Gage Wentzel wrestling at 189 and Hayden Harvey at 215 and then closed out with Branden Eisenhour at 107 and Coltyn Wagner at 114.

What that meant was a lot of confidence for Yonkin and the Warriors.

“It felt good knowing that we were sending him out in that close match knowing that he was bookend by four matches we were comfortable in with Wentzel and Harvey, and following with Eisenhour and Wagner,” Yonkin said. “So we really felt good about where we were in that moment and I think that took a lot of stress and pressure off him and allowed him to wrestle well.”

FRANK DIMON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Hayden Harvey tries to get behind Southern Columbia's Cayden Noblit during the District 4 Class AA Duals consolations.

Wentzel secured a 2:38 fall over Ethan Vanderpool at 189 for six points for the Warriors. The win for Wentzel was his 174th, putting him just two from tying Gavin Hoffman for the school’s all-time record.

After Harvey’s 19-2, 2:12 tech fall, Vanderwall beat Brenden Wells via decision, 3-0.

“This sport is so much about matchups. I don’t want to say you predict a lot of them, but you can kind of see the match play out sometimes. I think coaches and wrestlers they don’t panic when they get into those situations because they know or have an idea where things are going to play out,” Yonkin said. “That was a really nice win for Gabe. He showed a lot of toughness and a lot of grit. He’s come a long way this season in developing a solid heavyweight wrestling style. The kid only weighs 215, so to wrestle those bigger kids he had to work on his positioning, his technique. Super proud of him.”

Following Bostyn McMicken’s win at 127 for Wyalusing, which gave Wyalusing a 9-0 lead, Wyalusing won just two bouts the rest of the way, doing so at 139 (Cole Patrick) and 160 (Jonathan Earle).

In the semifinals against Southern Columbia, the Warriors led 21-6 after five bouts, but Southern Columbia battled to eventually take a lead.

FRANK DIMON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Gabe Vanderwall ites up Southern's Braylin Smith during the District 4 Class AA Duals consolations.

The Tigers’ Gavin Richard (145) and Brayden Andrews (152) posted back-to-back tech falls for 10 big points to trail by just five points. Then at 160, Talon Piatt battled and racked up 16 points before being able to secure a pin in the third period over Brady Evans and gave the Tigers a 22-21 lead.

Montoursville and Southern Columbia would exchange leads over the next three bouts. Gage Wentzel earned his 173rd career win by pinning Caius Morrow at 172 in 1:23 for a 27-22 Montoursville lead before Southern’s Greg Fulmer had a great cradle on Mason Murray at 189 to reclaim the lead, 28-27.

The bout at 215 would be the turning point in the match and secured it for the Warriors. After leading 13-2 in the first 58 seconds, Montoursville’s Hayden Harvey turned Cayden Noblit for a pin for a huge six-point performance to take a 33-28 lead with only one contested bout remaining.

“We’ve talked all week through the whole process, every team point is going to matter throughout the course of the day. Everyone had to do their job and wrestle their best six minutes for themselves and for the team,” Yonkin said. “Where that would put us is where that would put us. Super proud of the kids. They showed a lot of toughness and a lot of resilience.”

The result at 285 wouldn’t matter for Southern Columbia, however, as the Tigers had no 107-pounder, meaning Montoursville was guaranteed six points following the 285 contest.

FRANK DIMON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Gage Wentzel lifts Montgomery's Raiden Felix during the District 4 Class AA Duals semifinals.

Harvey’s win at 215 helped prevent the Tigers from rallying and shifting away momentum and eliminating the Warriors.

Montoursville fell in the championship semifinals against Montgomery, a team the Warriors had faced earlier in the year. The Warriors lost that regular-season matchup in a close dual, 33-30, but the Red Raiders had a strong performance to secure a 44-23 win over the Warriors.

Part of that performance was a string of six of seven wins in contested matchups from 121 through 160, which included an 8-6 decision by AJ Kroft over Kaden Kleinman at 139.

Trace Furman (139), Brandt Harer (145) and Josh Knoebel (160) all had pins in the first period in 49 seconds, 11 seconds and 1:11, respectively. Teli Bobotas of Montoursville secured a 48-second fall at 133 against Carter Finck.