First-month rankings, while valid to a certain extent, are in their infancy and can’t quite factor in everything. There’s no way of knowing what every wrestler in the state has worked on or hasn’t worked on behind the scenes. And that makes upsets all-the-more likely to happen.

In King of the Mountain’s case, two Express area athletes – Bellefonte’s Jackson Long and Dawson Lomison – made a case for their rankings to be doctored come this week, responsible for some of the biggest upsets of the third-weekend tourney. They took down top-ranked wrestlers with plenty of postseason accolades, some which were favored to compete for gold.

Long – ranked No. 18 in the state in Class AAA – entered King of the Mountain with five guys in the 189-pound bracket ranked ahead of him. Having taken fifth at last year’s event, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if he failed to set a new personal best on Saturday.

However, in one of the toughest brackets of the entire tourney, Long went above and beyond to surpass that placement, reaching his first career King of the Mountain first-place bout. And based on the last few paragraphs, it’s implied that it wasn’t because he avoided those matchups.

RALPH WILSON/For The Express Bellefonte's Jackson Long wrestles Montoursville's Hayden Harvey at 189 for first place in the final rounds on the King of the Mountain high school boys wrestling tournament at Central Mountain on Saturday.

In championship quarters, Long ran into No. 3 seed Jayden Imler (Chestnut Ridge), a wrestler ranked No. 7 in the state in Class AA that was coming off a PIAA trip where he reached the blood round. Long fell behind initially as anticipated, giving up an early takedown and struggling from bottom. But after a reset midway through the second, he created his opening and made the most of it.

After standing up, he walked forward with Imler still hanging on, used that forward momentum to perform a switch and got Imler in a reverse-half nelson before flipping over him for a reversal. From there, it was just a matter of working the pin, which he secured shortly after, shutting down Imler’s elevator attempt in the process.

His next match featured a similar story.

Facing returning state place-winner Tyler Ulrich (Warrior Run) – a wrestler seeded No. 2 in the tourney and state-ranked No. 5 in Class AA, Long fell behind 3-0 in the first period and 5-2 in the second. But rather than cut his losses and shoot for bronze, the two-time regional medalist kept searching for opportunities.

In the third period, he’d get out of bottom to narrow the gap to two. Then, he’d land a lateral throw that completely turned the tide of the match, turning the throw into a seven-point move. Although, in this case, it wouldn’t result in a pin, he’d hold firm to secure the 10-5 decision, diminishing the fluke implications of his previous upset.

RALPH WILSON/For The Express Central Mountain's Aiden Kunes wrestles Bald Eagle's Dawson Lomison at 145 for first place in the final rounds on the King of the Mountain high school boys wrestling tournament at Central Mountain on Saturday.

Even with his run coming to a close with a 5-2 loss in the first-place bout to Montoursville’s Hayden Harvey – a wrestler who posted an emphatic semifinal upset in his own right, there was plenty for Long to be proud of when it was all said and done. He had high expectations for himself, but even he was pleasantly surprised.

“I think I proved myself a little bit. Had a lot of people that said that I was in for a rough tournament, and I came in here and got second,” said Long.

“I, myself, knew I could beat them. I was wrestling the whole time, not giving up. I got taken down early in both matches on my way to the finals. I was down and just continued wrestling. Anything can happen.”

When it comes to what fueled the run, it wasn’t a matter of any crazy offseason activities.

Long wrestled occasionally throughout the summer, ultimately crediting any improvements made to hard work in the wrestling room from the start of the regular season onward. It helps having guys like Jack McHail (172) and Luke Hockenberry (215) that are improving alongside him. And alongside that, an improved mindset has also had a large impact.

RALPH WILSON/For The Express Central Mountain's Aiden Kunes wrestles Bald Eagle's Dawson Lomison at 145 for first place in the final rounds on the King of the Mountain high school boys wrestling tournament at Central Mountain on Saturday.

“I’ve struggled a lot with the mental side of things in the last couple of years,” said McHail. “Started wrestling more freely, and it’s helped tremendously. It’s just that and grinding it out in practice, going against the best people in the room, extra conditioning and stuff like that.”

Through his three years heading into his senior season, the Red Raider had seen success, racking up 86 wins, three District 6 medals and two regional medals. But he hasn’t quite made that jump to a PIAA bid, falling one win short last season.

Going into his senior season with a different mindset, the hope is not to just break through that barrier but shatter it. He’s looking to close things out on the podium in Hershey come March and with continued strides like the ones he showed on Saturday, that goal certainly isn’t unplausible.

“This doesn’t prove anything yet,” said Long. “I could get second here and be satisfied with that, but it doesn’t mean anything for postseason. It’s about continuing to work. This is a good accomplishment, so build off that and keep getting better.”

A WIN TO REMEMBER

Following a breakout sophomore campaign that saw him reach states for the first time, Bald Eagle Area junior Dawson Lomison remained in high gear over the offseason.

The Eagle worked on his freestyle mechanics, competing in the wrestling style for the first time. And at one of the nation’s biggest freestyle tournaments of the summer in Fargo, he had success, going 3-2 and reaching the Round of 16.

While not the style PIAA operates under, that hard work in freestyle has had an impact on his abilities in folkstyle. Prior to his first loss of the season in the 145-pound King of the Mountain final, Lomison won 13 matches in a row to kick off the campaign, with perhaps the most notable win of his career coming in the event’s championship semifinals.

Trailing 4-1 in the third period, Lomison – ranked No. 9 in the state in Class AA – cut the deficit to two with an escape before using a Jonesy Tilt to secure a takedown and take a 5-4 lead, one which he’d hold to finality. That 5-4 decision win came against Council Rock South’s Patrick Woloshyn, a wrestler ranked No. 3 in the state in Class AAA that’s coming off a fourth-place finish at states.

“That win in my semifinal match was definitely the biggest in my career so far. The kid being committed to Drexel and a PIAA medalist, it’s pretty big, and I was super amped up about that,” said Lomison on the win. “I knew I had a tough one this morning and was just trying to take it one match at a time and visualize.”

Ultimately, it wasn’t a perfect tournament, as the junior fell to one of his best friends in Central Mountain’s Aiden Kunes to close out his King of the Mountain run with silver. But it’s a run he justifiably took pride in, one he feels he can build on as he looks to accomplish more goals.

In pursuit of the first PIAA medal of his career, the gears are certainly turning early in the season. With just under two months to go until individual postseason and two two-time PIAA medalists in Tanner Guenot (139) and Caden Judice (152) alongside him, there’s plenty of potential for continued improvements to come.

“We have three in a row here at Bald Eagle that can rival anyone in the state – me, Tanner and Caden,” said Lomison. “We all push each other, and we have a good staff here at Bald Eagle. In my opinion, we have one of the best staffs in the state.”