HERSHEY - Preparation has made Ryan Farber one of the best wrestlers in the state.

But nothing could have prepared the Northern Lehigh senior for the conclusion of his 160-pound semifinal Friday at the PIAA Championships.Trailing 6-5, Reynolds' Gavin Wilkerson got in on a shot for a takedown near the edge of the mat as time expired.But Bulldogs' head coach Scott Snyder questioned the call. And the officials waived it off, sending Farber to the finals in the Class 2A tournament with a 6-5 win."I was thinking how all of my goals were shattered if I lost," Farber said afterward.While Farber waited for a decision, the moment was just as tense for Snyder, in his first season as head coach."It seemed to me that he (Farber) was out of there and he kept moving," said Snyder. "To me, it was a matter of reaction time, and I think that's what kinda pushed them to discuss with the line judge. Thankfully, it went our way after they put their heads together."Farber also overcame a cut that opened above his left eye, one that will require stitches and forced him to use a significant amount of blood time during the match."This (cut) happened and threw me off a little bit. It wasn't anything you want to game plan for in a match like this, having that much blood time," said Farber. "Personally, I don't like stopping because it gives the other guy some time to rest. I like to go, go, go when they're tired; I feel like I have an advantage."Farber pushed the pace from the outset, scoring the first takedown and building a 5-1 lead in the second period before Wilkerson cut into the deficit in the third period.With the win, Farber will now face Wyalusing's Creighton Edsell in today's finals.Northwestern's Caleb Clymer enjoyed an equally successful, if less spectacular night Friday.Clymer got a slick defensive pin against Brookville's Caleb Hetrick, stacking the junior on his shoulders for a pin in 29 seconds in his 160-pound fourth round consolation match.The junior followed that with a 4-1 decision over Athens' Kaidon Winters for his 100th victory and his spot in the third place match."It means a lot," Clymer said. "It might not be the medal I wanted - I really wanted that gold medal - but it didn't turn out my way this year, and that's OK. Matches aren't always going to go your way, and you just gotta learn to live with that and move on and take the next best thing."Tamaqua's Tanner McHugh and Ellwood City's Tyler Alberts battled to a scoreless first period in a 132-pound fourth round consolation match before Alberts took a 1-0 lead with an escape in the second period.McHugh answered with an escape in the third period to make it 1-1. The Tamaqua senior scored in the sudden victory overtime period to prevail 3-1.The Blue Raiders' senior fell 5-2 to Pequea Valley's Gabe Miller in his fifth round consolation bout and will wrestle for fifth."It's a good feeling," McHugh said of wrestling for fifth. "I knew coming into the night I just wanted to win that match (against Alberts); I didn't want to go for seventh again (like last year). So I got that out of the way."I battled hard (against Miller) but there's nothing much you can do about it."After setbacks in Thursday morning's quarterfinals, McHugh and Northwestern's Clymer made the most of their opportunity in the afternoon's consolation bracket.McHugh bounced back from a loss to Athens' Brian Courtney with a 7-2 win over Benton's Colton Babcock in a 132-pound third round consolation bout.Following a 5-3 defeat to Ligonier Valley's Robert Patrick at 152 pounds, Clymer showed his mettle with a 4-3 win against Mifflinburg's Tyler Stoltzfus in their third round consolation match.While Clymer and McHugh stayed alive, the tournament came to an end for three other Times News area wrestlers.Palmerton's Jared Mooney saw his tournament come to an end with a 5-3 loss to Meyersdale's Christian Hutzell in the third round of consolation matches.Despite the loss, Mooney a back-to-back district champion, held his head high."This was a fun senior year," he said. "I didn't get my goal at the end of the year, but I won't base my whole year on one match. It was a fun year."For Northwestern's Baily Wehr, a stellar season that included appearances in the district and regional finals in back-to-back weeks, came to an end with a 6-4 loss to Reynolds' Andrew Ischo in a 120-pound third-round consolation match, a bout Wehr trailed 6-1."Going into the match, I just wanted to go hard," Wehr said afterward. "I just wanted to leave everything on the mat."Northern Lehigh's Jason Schaffer's run ended with a 5-2 loss to Southern Huntingdon's Nick Winfield in the 285 pound class.