Needless to say, coaches have been forced to shuffle their lineups.

Included in the bunch were Upper Perkiomen’s Tom Hontz as well as Methacton’s A.J. Maida, who were wheeling and dealing throughout Saturday morning’s Pioneer Athletic Conference match.

For the record, Hontz came up with the better hand, or enough of one for a narrow 35-29 decision of the visiting Warriors in what has become one of the most competitive series in the PAC-10 in recent years.

The rivals split the 14 individual bouts right down the middle, but Hontz’s trump card — or cards — were two forfeits (against just one), a pin, two technical falls, and a major among the seven wins ... just enough to hold off the Warriors yet again, close out one very big week, and remain in the PAC-10 title chase by improving to 2-1 (9-4 overall).

“Everyone knew we had to work hard not to give up any pins today,” said Upper Perkiomen’s Dan Jordan, who used a takedown and near-fall in the final seconds of his match at 126 pounds to post one of those technical falls. “We just didn’t want to give up any big points.”

With three starters on the mend and off the mats, the Indians obviously couldn’t afford to surrender the bonus points. And, for the most part, they didn’t.

Methacton (1-2, 10-4) did get a pin from Tracey Green in the opener at 285, did get a technical fall from Joe Staley at 132, and did get a forfeit from Mike Baccaro at 195. But the remaining four wins were all regular decisions.

Not enough to counter the hosts’ productive efforts.

“You always want to be on the offensive,” Jordan explained. “You always want to score as many points as you can.”

But, as Jordan alluded to earlier and as Hontz reiterated, there are those other matches ... minimizing the losses.

“You just have to wrestle six minutes,” Hontz said. “Even if you’re out-gunned or out-matched, you have to go for six minutes. You have to wrestle tough. That’s hard at times.”

But both Owen Leister and Casey Cook persevered Saturday.

Methacton trailed just 22-14 at the halfway mark before Wolfgang McStravick’s pin at 145, Young’s thriller at 152 and Kyle Fellman’s major at 160 restructured Upper Perkiomen’s lead to 35-14 with four bouts remaining. Everyone in Methacton’s closing foursome was favored, too, but after Leister gave up just three in a 7-2 setback to Paul Russo at 170 and Cook gave up just three in a 9-5 setback to Devin Bradley, the 15-point deficit with only two bouts left was more than the Warriors could make up.

“We’re doing a better job (of staying off our backs),” Hontz said. “We seem to keep losing bodies (due to illness and injuries), but guys keep coming up with answers for us.”

Something Maida hasn’t lost sight of.

“Sometimes we go up against teams, especially Upper Perkiomen, where we’re giving up 12 points as soon as we see (the other team’s) singlet,” Maida said. “We can’t afford that. We have to get that mental confidence.

“There are situations when we want six (points) but can’t get it. (Other teams) have guys go out and get (the six points). But you have to give Upper Perkiomen’s kids credit for going out and being fighters. They’re just not going to give up the extra points.”

The Warriors were able to stay in contention by the halfway mark thanks to Green’s pin, Staley’s technical fall and Rupp’s 12-9 decision at 138 ...which appeared to be a major until Upper Perkiomen back-up Colby Carino’s five-point burst in the waning seconds erased the bonus points.

“Our kids are working hard, and I thought they came out and competed today,” Maida said. “But those kind of matches (like Rupp’s) are the kind we want the win with bonus points, not just stay close.”

“With all our injuries, honestly, we weren’t looking forward to this week (wrestling Boyertown on Wednesday and Methacton on Saturday),” Hontz said. “So coming away with two wins ... I’m just ecstatic.”

NOTES
Devin Bradley avenged a pin by Cook at last year’s District 1-AAA North Tournament with his 9-5 decision on Saturday. ... Barring any additional setbacks, Upper Perkiomen’s annual showdown at Owen J. Roberts (Saturday, Jan. 26) could determine if the Indians can grab no worse than a share of the PAC-10 title. ... Methacton is now 0-5 against Upper Perkiomen since joining the PAC-10.