UPDATED Thursday night recap 1/12

North Star's Tanner Revak looks for points against Berlin's Trace Heffner
during their 152-pound bout on Friday night. Revak's 5-2 victory helped
the Cougars secure a closer-than-expected win over the Mountaineers.

There were some interesting matchups tonight - mainly North Star at Berlin Brothersvalley and Northern Bedford at Chestnut Ridge in my coverage area. Even though I wasn't covering it for The Tribune-Democrat, I went to the NS-BB match. It was much closer than I expected. I'll provide an in-depth analysis below and add the other boxes as I get them, though I'm not sure what time I can get to them on Friday. Might be later in the day before everything is posted.

North Star 35, Berlin Brothersvalley 30

195-Max Strasiser, NS, maj. dec. Kody Martin, 11-1.

220-Brett Benedict, NS, pinned Stew Trulick, 1:51.
285-Jacob Craig, BB, pinned Shane Supanick, 1:09.
106-Tommy DeArmitt, BB, pinned Colton Gennett, 4:34.
113-Tyler DeArmitt, BB, pinned Lenny Beeman, 4:43.
120-Nick Robert, NS, maj. dec. Chris Miller, 14-1.
126-E.J. Custer, BB, dec. Tayte Mostoller, 9-3.
132-Tevin Mostoller, NS, forfeit.
138-Luke Lepley, NS, pinned Cole Butler, 2:46.
145-Austin Connor, NS, pinned Blake Miller, 2:18.
152-Tanner Revak, NS, dec. Trace Heffner, 5-2.
160-Bryce Fochtman, BB, dec. Lance Shawley, 3-2.
170-Ben Miller, BB, dec. Neil Yoder, 10-6.
182-Andre Dauphinais, BB, dec. Thomas Miller, 3-2.
Records: North Star 2-2. Berlin Brothersvalley 5-6.

Analysis: This is the fourth time I've seen Berlin and I have no idea what to expect from them. After seeing North Star roll over Conemaugh Township on Tuesday, I really thought a Mountaineers squad missing three starters would be no match.
The first three matches went pretty much as expected, but the DeArmitt brothers surprised me when the lineup turned over. Tommy dominated Colton Gennett at 106 and Tyler provided a perfect microcosm of the Mountaineers' season. He jumped ahead of Lenny Beeman 5-0, then gave up seven straight points before getting a takedown and fall in the third period.
Nick Roberts was dominant as usual, but could only come up with two nearfalls in a major decision over Chris Miller.

See more photos at TKO Photos.

Then came another surprise. E.J. Custer's 9-3 victory over Tayte Mostoller was closer than it sounds - it was 4-3 in the third - but I'm sure it will open plenty of eyes around the area.

Berlin's E.J. Custer beat Tayte Mostoller 9-3 at 126 pounds
in one of the night's many intriguing outcomes.

North Star went ahead 32-21 heading into the 152-pound match. That's where Tanner Revak met Trace Heffner in what I saw as a toss-up match. In the second period, Revak escaped, then took advantage of an ill-fated trip attempt by Heffner that eventually resulted in a takedown. Heffner escaped in the third, but Revak sealed the win and all but locked up the dual.
But there were some surprises still to come. I really thought Bryce Fochtman would score more points than he did against Lance Shawley at 160, but as was pointed out to me, he's a freshman who's trying to cut to 145 and wrestling 160, so he's got his hands full.
I thought North Star would win the final two bouts, but Ben Miller wrestled a solid match in beating Neil Yoder at 170 and Andre Dauphinais - a senior who never wrestled before this season - edged Thomas Miller at 182.
In reality, all that mattered for North Star was winning the dual. They still need to win two of three matches against Meyersdale, Portage and Somerset to qualify for the district duals.
Berlin, which will likely be without Austin Thompson and Mitchell Walker for the remainder of the season, should have an easier time with Shade and Portage in the next two duals, but it's hard to tell what you're going to get with this team.

Chestnut Ridge 49, Northern Bedford 24

106-Cody Guyer, NB, dec. Sam Shank, 6-0.

113-Derrick Claar, CR, pinned Matthew Gochnour, 1:31.

120-Mason Replogle, NB, pinned Trent Crouse, 5:52.

126-Zach Etterman, CR, pinned Alex Defibaugh, 1:49.

132-Colby Hillegass, CR, maj. dec. Brendan Over, 14-6.

138-Shane Pfaunmiller, CR, dec. Damian Corle, 6-2.

145-Drew Gartland, NB, pinned Dustin Bence, :24.

152-Matt Sollenberger, CR, pinned Teddy Albright, 4:19.

160-Bradie Bollman, CR, pinned Dylan Shipley, :39.

170-Matt Dull, CR, pinned Donald Airhart, 3:32.

182-Tyler Dibert, CR, forfeit.

195-Dan Albright, CR, pinned Duelin Douglas, 3:36.

220-Luke Fochtman, CR, forfeit.

285-Quinton Hixson, NB, dec. Austin Buttry, 7-2.

Records: Chestnut Ridge 13-4. Northern Bedford 4-5.

Analysis: No too many surprises here, although I don't know these teams as well as I do the Somerset County ones. I would have taken Mason Replogle to beat Trent Crouse at 120, but I didn't expect a fall. The middleweights went pretty much as I would have guessed, but I don't know many of the NB wrestlers. The heavyweight match looks like an interesting one (which is something I don't usually say). Quinton Hixson is ranked No. 1 in the state, but Austin Buttry's an underarted heavyweight. He's in great shape for a heavyweight and I'd guess he gave Hixson everything he could for six minutes.

Cambria Heights 48, Central Cambria 29

106-Michael Dautlick, CH, forfeit.

113-Ryan Dupas, CH, pinned Brad Taylor, 4:48.

120-Cameron Long, CC, pinned Jeff Brahim, 5:43.

126-Joe Davis, CH, pinned Coltin Makin, 1:22.

132-Ben Rager, CC, pinned Brad Thomas, 3:05.

138-Levi Niebauer, CH, pinned Tyler Karlinsey, 1:43.

145-Richard Legros, CH, maj. dec. Kevin Bednar, 11-3.

152-Tanner Bilonick, CC, pinned Travis Yahner, 1:45.

160-Tony Risaliti, CC, pinned Dalton Waskmusnki, 1:38.

170-Ross Inzana, CH, tech. fall Cody Slebodnick, 16-0.

182-Tyler Crawford, CH, pinned Calvin Crow, :23.

195-Jake Beach, CH, pinned Jordan O'Farrell, :41.

220-Aaron Gill, CH, dec. Luke Zearing, 2-0.

285-Evan Sikora, CC, forfeit.

Analysis: Not really too much to report on here. I wasn't sure if Brad Taylor, who had been wrestling well, might be able to hang with an established winner like Ryan Dupas at 113 pounds. With a pin, it's hard to tell from a box score if it was a close match before the fall or not. Other than that, I'd guess that most of them went according to - or at least close to - projections.

Bedford 48, Forest Hills 26

106-Triston Law, FH, dec. Jake Warren, 8-2.
113-Ryan Easter, B, pinned Jake Keiper, :54.
120-Garrett Thomas, B, forfeit.
126-Toby Brett, B, forfeit.
132-Kenny Corle, FH, dec. Caleb Grimes, 4-0.
138-Ean Bopp, FH, dec. Zach Dudek, 8-2.
145-R.J. Brydon, FH, pinned Jesse Martin, 2:52.
152-Tanner Williams, B, pinned Warren Gramling, 3:55.
160-Cody Law, FH, tech. fall Josiah Koontz, 19-4.
170-Zack Pinkas, FH, pinned Dylan Evans, 2:28.
182-Cody Yingling, B, pinned Jeff Leach, 3:20.
195-Mike Brett, B, pinned Sam Michuk, 1:12.
220-Jacob Krupa, B, forfeit.
285-Justin Easter, B, pinned Matt Marra, 2:34.
Records: Bedford 7-0. Forest Hills 1-7.

Analysis: The first thing I noticed about this box score was how (relatively) close the final score was. Bedford has simply been crushing teams, and the 26 points was the most points any team has scored on the Bisons since their season-opening win over North Star.
On second glance, it shouldn't have been such a surprise. The Rangers have some definite holes in the lineup, but they have certifiable studs in Cody Law and R.J. Brydon, who are first and third in their respective weight classes of the Pennsylvania Wrestling Rankings. Triston Law and Zack Pinkas are also having impressive seasons, so all four would have been expected to win.
After taking all that into account, the only result that really surprised me was Ean Bopp's 8-2 decision of Zach Dudek.
What might get lost in the shuffle is another scoring outburst by Cody Law. He's now 17-0 with a pin or at least 10 points scored in all but one of those victories.

Note: My original schedule had Somerset wrestling Greater Johnstown on Thursday night. Not really sure why that was, as the teams met on Dec. 22 with Somerset winning 58-18.