Sometimes, a final score belies just how tense a contest truly was.

Wednesday night's Eastern Pennsylvania Conference match between East Stroudsburg South and Pleasant Valley proved to be an example of such a situation.Though the Bears won by a seemingly comfortable margin, 44-26, the Cavaliers were in position to alter the outcome several times had just a few bouts turned out differently.But Pleasant Valley showed its mettle throughout, much to the delight of head coach Justin Micklos."It was a great win and a confidence booster for us," the PV mentor said. "Hats off to East Stroudsburg South. They had a number of kids that were really tough and wrestled very well."But our kids came through when we needed them and we were able to pull out a big win."The deciding factor in the match proved to be Pleasant Valley's (10-3, 7-2) ability to come away with bonus points, which the Bears were able to do in all eight of their victories."I knew it was going to come down to getting bonus and not giving up bonus. It was that simple," said East Stroudsburg South head coach Randy Litts. "The way I had it figured out beforehand, I knew it was going to be that close."We just gave up bonus points when we didn't want to and didn't get them when we needed them. We had matches where we were close at the end and gave up back points and that really cost us."A perfect illustration of Litts' point came in the 138-pound match between the Cavaliers' Francesco Liciaga and Pleasant Valley's Anthony McCue.Trailing 4-3 late in the third period, McCue was able to execute a takedown on Liciaga before rolling the junior over to secure the pin with less than 20 seconds remaining in the match, giving the Bears six valuable points and a 20-11 lead at that point."We have so many kids on this team that will just battle," Micklos said. "There's always a chance they'll put someone to their back and get an extra couple points out of a match."That's a great thing to have, and he's (McCue) not the only one that's done it for us this season and I'm sure he won't be the last."Pleasant Valley's James Gehr and Jason Jacobi were also able to turn what could have been close matches into convincing wins.Leading only 2-0 after the first period, Gehr pulled out a 13-3 major decision win over Brendan Finn at 113 pounds, while Jacobi turned a 3-2 advantage after the first stanza into a 15-5 major decision triumph over Pierre Liciaga in his bout at 126 pounds.Those performances came at a critical time as the Cavaliers (7-8, 2-4) and Bears alternated wins and losses over the course of eight consecutive matches with ES South getting as close as 26-20 after Richard Nations' 4-3 decision over Garrett Gouger at 160 pounds.But Pleasant Valley put the match away with back-to-back wins by Brody Keefe (170) and Antonio Santana (182) that gave the Bears 12 points and a 38-20 lead, which was too much for the Cavaliers to overcome.Other winners for the Bears were Daniel Valdner (106), Trevor Dorn (152) and Ahmad Curtis (285).Pleasant Valley 44, ES South 26*106 - Daniel Valdner (PV) won by forfeit113 - James Gehr (PV) maj. dec. Brendan Finn, 13-3120 - Kevin Constantine (ESS) tech. fall John Klein, 16-0 (6:00)126 - Jason Jacobi (PV) maj. dec. Pierre Liciaga, 15-5132 - Justin McLaughin (ESS) pinned David Contreras in 4:00138 - Anthony McCue (PV) pinned Francesco Liciaga in 5:43145 - Tyler Delorenzo (ESS) pinned Tyler Dorn in 3:30152 - Trevor Dorn (PV) pinned Austin Sphar in 3:17160 - Richard Nations (ESS) dec. Garrett Gouger, 4-3170 - Brody Keefe (PV) pinned Edgardo Nevarez in 2:33182 - Antonio Santana (PV) won by forfeit195 - Kevin Alpaugh (ESS) dec. Trent Thomas, 8-2220 - Patrick Finn (ESS) dec. Nicholas Ammirato, 4-2285 - Ahmad Curtis (PV) pinned Joshua Fernandez in 3:51* - Match started at 106.