A strong start by Lehighton was too much for Jim Thorpe to overcome in Schuylkill League Division 1 wrestling action on Wednesday night.

The Indians, who have proven to be strong in the middle of their lineup this season, took the first seven bouts on their way to a 49-27 victory."It's always important to get off to a nice start and we were able to get the early momentum with a couple of pins," said Tribe head coach Floyd Brown. "The guys who we expect to have success this season all went out and got the win, and our other guys competed pretty well. Overall, I was happy with the win."Isaiah Wetzel, at 132 pounds, was the first Lehighton wrestler to get on the board in actual mat competition with a pin at the 1:51 mark. Next up, Tyler Schock put on a dominant display at 138, leading the entire match for a 9-0 decision. At 160, Cody Scherer followed suit and kept the Tribe train chugging with a pin in 2:25.Of the first seven matches, the Olympians forfeited four times, while the Tribe took care of business on all three of its three opportunities, giving up just one point in that stretch."We competed really well tonight, even in the matches I thought where they had the more experienced wrestler, our kids hung in there," said Brown. "We knew they had some tough heavier weights, so starting with momentum was key."Austin Williams got Thorpe on the board at 182 pounds when he came away with a pin at the five-minute mark. Ethan Mordaunt followed with a 1:26 pin at 195 pounds, before what may have been the most entertaining match of the evening.At 220, Lehighton's Brett Gasker and Thorpe's Steven Counterman put on an entertaining three-period battle. After flip-flopping on the scoreboard throughout the match, Gasker took a 10-6 lead after two takedowns in the third. Counterman made his best attempt to comeback, but fell to Gasker 10-8. That win propelled Lehighton to a 43-12 lead.Jim Thorpe would finish strong even after the tough loss at 220 with three straight wins to end the match. Ryan O'Rourke took home an 11-4 decision at 285, and William Schwartz at 106 and John Newhall at 113 both walked off the mat with pins."We knew this match had the potential to be two different matches with the first half and second half of the lineups," said Jim Thorpe head coach Shawn Albert."We're a young and inexperienced team, and our experience is in the upper-half of our lineup, which showed. We just have to keep developing as we gain experience."ON THE MAT.. The Olympians won five of the nine bouts actually contested, but were hurt by forfeits. "We gave up 30 points in forfeits, so you're looking at a 27-19 edge for us in the bouts that were wrestled," said Albert.TALE OF TWO MATCHES .. Lehighton won the first seven bouts, while Thorpe won five of the final seven.Lehighton 49, Jim Thorpe 27126- Nathaniel Lucykanish (L) won by forefeit.132- Isaiah Wetzel (L) pinned Chase Lynd in 1:51.138- Tyler Schock (L) maj. dec. Jason Walck 9-0.145- Chris Whiteman (L) won by forfeit.152- Grant Wetzel (L) won by forfeit.160- Cody Scherer (L) pinned Justin Emery in 2:25.170- Dylan Schock (L) won by forfeit.182- Austin Williams (JT) pinned Alex Zeigenfuss in 5:00.195- Ethan Mordaunt (JT) pinned Jack Zimmerman in 1:26.220- Brett Gasker (L) dec. Steven Counterman 10-8.285- Ryan O'Rourke (JT) dec. Will Smith 11-4.106- William Schwartz (JT) pinned Emma Liguori in 1:47.113- John Newhall (JT) pinned Lucas Sangiuliano in 4:10.120- Nathan Kemmerer (L) won by forfeit.