From the bottom, North Schuylkill's Alex Deritis stacks Pine Grove's Taylor Enge for the fall at 2:10 of their bout at 127 pounds Monday night at the Cesari-Hope Gymnasium. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)

FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — Cadyn McGraw had one word on his mind: “Escape!”

Tied with Pine Grove’s Zach Kurtz heading into the ultimate tiebreaker of their 215-pound bout Monday, the North Schuylkill senior had one objective: Get to his feet and get out. It took McGraw most of the 30 seconds to break free, but he did so at the edge of the mat to pull out a 5-4 decision and clinch the Spartans’ 33-27, non-league victory over Pine Grove at the Cesari-Hope Gymnasium.

McGraw’s victory, North Schuylkill’s seventh of the night, put the Spartans up 33-21 with one bout left. Pine Grove’s Scout Frantz scored a pin at 285, but it wasn’t enough.

The showdown at 215 set up as the featured bout of the night, and it didn’t disappoint. After a scoreless first period, the two powerhouses went t0 work on the mat. McGraw escaped in the second period for a 1-0 lead. Kurtz answered with a reversal in the third period, but McGraw escaped again for a 2-2 tie after six minutes of regulation.

Neither wrestler scored during the 1-minute sudden-victory period, setting up two 30-second tiebreakers. Kurtz got a second reversal, but McGraw responded with a pair of escapes to knot the bout 4-4 and send the match to a 30-second ultimate tiebreaker.

“That was something,” North Schuylkill coach Corey Fetterolf said of McGraw’s match. “I said to him during that break, I think it was during blood time in the second period, I told him, ‘Take this (match) deep because we scored first.’ I knew he could come out (off bottom), and he knew he could come out. If he just played it deep, we were going to get the final choice in that sudden victory (ultimate tiebreaker), and it worked out. He broke away with about nine seconds left. He gutted that out for his team and for himself. It was awesome.”

Throughout the dual, Pine Grove (2-1) and North Schuylkill (7-2) traded haymakers — and settled nothing heading to the final two bouts.

North Schuylkill had the early edge, getting a fall from Gaige Mentusky at 107 and a forfeit win by Evan Miernicki at 114 for a quick 12-0 lead. Pine Grove worked its way back into the dual by taking five of the next eight bouts.

Chase Nagle got the Cardinals on the board with a fall at 121, but North Schuylkill’s Alex Deritis, in his first varsity match of the season, scored a huge swing at 127. Deritis scored the first takedown and led 3-0 after the first period. Choosing bottom, Deritis scooped Taylor Enge’s head with both hands and stacked Enge’s shoulders on the mat. The defensive pin at 2:10 gave North Schuylkill an 18-6 lead.

Back came the Cardinals as Drew Hikes (133) notched a takedown and four back points in the third period to decision Noah Leib 12-5.

The teams split the next six bouts — two technical falls, two major decisions, two regular decisions.

North Schuylkill’s Brock Holmes (139) started the series with a 15-0 technical fall in 5:52 over James Hoy. Three takedowns and two sets of back points ended the match. Pine Grove’s Colby Townley (145) responded with four takedowns and six back points in an 18-3 technical fall in 3:06 over Bode Gates.

The Cardinals’ Aaron Osatchuck (152) shut out Kaden Tavares 10-0 to cut North Schuylkill’s lead to 23-18 with five bouts left. Osatchuck had three takedowns in the major decision. The Spartans’ Bryce Kile (160) matched that with a 16-7 major decision over Austin Frantz. Kile scored four takedowns in the victory, including a blast, double-leg takedown with 13 seconds left that gave him the major decision.

Isaiah Miller (172) kept Pine Grove’s hopes alive by topping Ben Carr 7-0 behind a pair of takedowns. At 189, North Schuylkill’s Connor Dower made one takedown stand up in a 5-1 decision over Logan Troup. The Spartans led 30-21 with two matches to go.

That set up McGraw’s 8-minute, 30-second marathon victory over Kurtz. For the season, McGraw improved to 10-4; Kurtz dropped to 6-3.

“That’s old-school North Schuylkill-Pine Grove wrestling,” Fetterolf said. “I didn’t expect anything else than that. That’s why I asked them at weigh-ins if we wanted to go old school and start at the bottom and work our way up to the heavies, and they were all for it.

“Kudos to them. They’re a well-coached program,” Fetterolf added. “We’re working through some injury bugs right now, so we’re playing around with our lineup. The kids know it’s going to take a little extra in some spots.”

 North Schuylkill 33, Pine Grove 27

107 — Mentusky (NS) pinned Witherow, 1:43

114 — Miernicki (NS) won by forfeit

121 — Nagle (PG) pinned Hoover, 1:07

127 — Deritis (NS) pinned Enge, 2:10

133 — Hikes (PG) dec. Leib, 12-5

139 — Holmes (NS) tech. fall Hoy, 15-0, 5:52

145 — Townley (PG) tech. fall Gates, 18-3, 3:06

152 — Osatchuck (PG) maj. dec. Tavares, 10-0

160 — Kile (NS) maj. dec. A. Frantz, 16-7

172 — Miller (PG) dec. Carr, 7-0

189 — Dower (NS) dec. Troup, 5-1

215 — McGraw (NS) dec. Z. Kurtz, 5-4 UTB

285 — S. Frantz (PG) pinned Wysoski, 2:29

JV Score: Pine Grove 10-3

Blue Mountain 70, Schuylkill Valley 6

ORWIGSBURG — Blue Mountain (7-2) blasted Schuylkill Valley (1-9) in a non-league dual meet. No summary was reported.

Schuylkill League Boys’ Wrestling

Through games of Dec. 22

DIVISION I

DIVISION II