Instead, the freshman battled his way back, securing a takedown at the end of the stanza and outscoring Selinsgrove’s Matt Snook 6-1 to give himself a chance late. And amidst a scramble midway through third, his chance came and he capitalized, securing a momentous pin and receiving an ovation from the crowd.

“I just wanted to come back here and wrestling strong and get some more wins on my record,” said Packer. “My goal this year is to get 20 wins and I’m trying to work up to that.”

That win marked the sixth of his season and by the end of the night, it also stood as the most memorable of the team’s eight pins against the Seals. Aiden Kunes and Bryce Brungard posted state-ranked wins and the team won a total of 11 competitive victories, earning its second dominant dual win of the week by a score of 57-9.

With dual wins of 70-5 and 57-9 fresh on their minds, Central Mountain (8-0) heads into this weekend’s Mid-Winter Mayhem with confidence. It continues to see growth in terms of well-rounded ability and resilience, with head coach Biff Walizer expressing pride in those aspects when discussing the win.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Central Mountain's Dakoda Packer wrestles during the team's dual match against Selinsgrove on Thursday at Central Mountain. The Wildcats won 57-9.

“I’m pretty pleased with the effort, especially in places where we gave up that first takedown, gave up those first points,” said Walizer. “They didn’t get dissuaded from what they went out there to do. They kept after it and ended up taking advantage later in matches and getting wins there, especially those last three matches.”

Packer’s win was one of those three. It was a win that saw the most action from the home crowd, with his second-period takedown and continued aggression in the third being met with consistent cheers.

After going down 10-6 early in the third, he’d get a takedown out a neutral reset, nearly carrying it into a pin then and there. The more experienced Snook found a way out of it, coming a move or two away from a pin of his own. But Packer quickly got back into a position to pin, with one adjustment sealing the deal.

“It kind of happened all at once,” said Packer on the final sequence. “I got him on his back and then he reversed it. And then I was able to turn it back around.”

The last two came from Dalton McDermott and Brungard. McDermott saw a similar, albeit quicker, turnaround win to Packer’s, going down 5-3 early in the second by way of reversal before securing a reversal of his own and converting it into a pin.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Central Mountain senior Bryce Brungard wrestles against Selinsgrove's Ethan Miller during the teams' dual match on Thursday at Central Mountain. The Wildcats won 57-9.

And despite facing a state-ranked foe in No. 22 Ethan Miller, Brungard never appeared fazed. The pair traded takedowns and escapes in the first period to go into the second with a 4-4 lead.

Then, with a 6-5 lead heading into the third, Brungard took complete control.

Starting in bottom, the senior worked tirelessly to avoid surrendering points, finally earned an escape 80 seconds into the period before evading a shot and wrapping around Miller for a match-sealing takedown to cap off an exceptional win for the Wildcats.

“In the last ten seconds, I was just fighting for my life basically, not letting anything get by me and not letting him take me down. He shot off the whistle and I knew it was coming,” said Brungard on the sequence.

“I’m really proud of what I did. I was just trying to stay calm through the match, that’s the main thing. Get worked up in the room but we have a guy who comes in, helps us stay calm, confident, relaxed. I was just repeating that before the match, trying to stay calm.”

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Central Mountain's Collin Bauman wrestles against Selinsgrove's Anthony Snook during the teams' dual match on Thursday at Central Mountain. The Wildcats won 57-9.

Collin Bauman and Aiden Kunes pulled off the team’s other two decisions, each doing so in impressive fashion. Against Anthony Snook, Bauman would overcome deficits of 3-0 and 4-3, posting a reversal, escape and takedown to chip away at and ultimately, take the lead. Then, he’d fight tooth-and-nail to keep Snook from escaping out of bottom, holding the Seal scoreless from the end of the second to the end of the match.

And despite facing a state-ranked opponent in a weight class above his own, Kunes had the upper hand from the jump. Against No. 20 Alex Kadryna at 133, the sophomore built an 8-0 lead through second period alone, holding firm once Kadryna’s shots started connecting on his way to a 9-3 decision.

“Kadryna’s a tough kid, so Aiden went out and got on his stuff and looked pretty sharp,” said Walizer on Kunes. “He’s got a tough weight class coming up this weekend, so hopefully we can use that as kind of a boost going into this weekend.”

Freshman Kai Fravel secured a first-period pin at 215 to kick off the match, with Cael Dorman (107) and No. 12 Gavin Heverly (114) making it three in the first four bouts of the evening. No. 2 Dalton Perry (145) secured a fall off an immediate shot to start his second period, Patrick Tarantella (139) scored one out of top to kick off his third and Luke Ananea rounded out the team’s pin on the night, with that trio racking up 34 combined points.

It was a well-rounded night overall for Central Mountain, as it capped off its first month of dual competition with its eighth straight win against a previously undefeated team. Following the match, the team immediately geared up for its long bus trip to IUP, set to compete in the 53-team Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament beginning on Friday.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Central Mountain sophomore Aiden Kunes gets his hand raised after defeating Selinsgrove's Alex Kadryna during the teams' dual match on Thursday at Central Mountain. The Wildcats won 57-9.

“I’m just proud of everybody, win or lose tonight,” said Brungard. “These three days, we have back-to-back-to-back. This is our warmup for team states, so I’m excited.”

Central Mountain 57, Selinsgrove 9

215: Kai Fravel (CM) pinned Rayshawn Warren (S), :54. 285: No. 3 Jack Peters (S) tech fall Hayes Henry (CM), 17-1 (5:55). 107: Cael Dorman (CM) pinned Colton Kratzer (S), :39. 114: Gavin Heverly (CM) pinned Mike Zettlemoyer (S), 1:09. 121: Collin Bauman (CM) dec. Anthony Snook (S), 6-4. 127: Cael Badman (S) maj. dec. Luke Garman (CM), 13-4. 133: No. 5 Aiden Kunes (CM) dec. No. 20 Alex Kadryna (S), 9-3. 139: Patrick Tarantella (CM) pinned Ryan Harpster (S), 4:15. 145: No. 2 Dalton Perry (CM) pinned Nathan Martin (S), 2:13. 152: Luke Ananea (CM) pinned Cain Carter (S), 3:37. 160: Dakoda Packer (CM) pinned Matt Snook (S), 5:04. 172: Dalton McDermott (CM) pinned Elijah Billheim (S), 3:02.189: Bryce Brungard (CM) dec. No. 22 Ethan Miller (CM), 10-5.

Records: Selinsgrove 3-1 (1-1 HAC-I); Central Mountain 8-0 (2-0 HAC-I).

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Central Mountain's Luke Ananea works a pin during the team's 57-9 win over Selinsgrove on Thursday at Central Mountain.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express The Central Mountain wrestling team cheers following Dakoda Packer's pin during the team's 57-9 win over Selinsgrove on Thursday at Central Mountain.