Finding competition and filling the void created by the loss of regular season tournaments has created some unique opportunities for several wrestling teams.

Lehighton hosted Tamaqua and Pine Grove in a Schuylkill League tri-match on Saturday, giving all three programs the chance to maximize their time on the mat.

The Indians swept the Blue Raiders in a doubleheader, 39-34 (league match) and 39-36 (non-league) while also posting a 71-6 victory over the Cardinals, who had just two wrestlers.

Tamaqua posted a 54-9 victory over Pine Grove.

“You look forward to those tournaments where kids can kind of wrestle for some kind of accolade, or a Schuylkill League championship, or a Christmas tournament title or placement,” Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown said of the events that have been staples on the team’s schedule. “And we don’t have that this year. But we just have to be happy we’re getting matches, and hopefully getting as many as we can so we can get to the postseason and hopefully have success there.”

While there were no trophies or medals handed out, there was still plenty to wrestle for.

“There’s pride, there’s your personal record, there’s your team record,” said Brown. “All those things that we can use as motivation across the board.”

The Indians benefited from several forfeits against the Blue Raiders in both contests, getting five in the first match and four in the second. But they also got big bonus points with a pin from Lukas Ferguson (132), and a tough decision victory by Steven Fritzinger (138).

Ferguson finished the day with two pins, both coming in less than 40 seconds, while also receiving a forfeit against Pine Grove.

“I’m in a pretty good spot right now,” Ferguson said. “I have a couple of big matches coming up against Pottsville and Jim Thorpe. Hopefully, I can do the same thing I did out here today, but we’ll see.”

Fritzinger’s 7-5 decision against Jacob Schlier was his first of two back-and-forth battles. He also prevailed in the second match, 3-2.

“They were going hard both times,” Brown said of Fritzinger and Schlier. “Those kids got a great workout today. Both matches went right to the buzzer at the end where anybody could have scored. They were both really exciting.

“That’s great for conditioning, and gives him a lot of confidence.”

Fritzinger broke a 1-1 tie with a takedown in the third period to take control in the second match. A reversal in the third period helped Schlier pull within two, but he wasn’t able to go ahead.

Even in matches they didn’t win, the Tribe had strong efforts. That was especially true in the first contest, where Jon Ahner surrendered a major decision to Randy Steigerwalt at 145 pounds, giving up just four points instead of the six that comes with a pin with only one match remaining.

“We had a hard week of practice, and I know the one thing coach was preaching all week was that every match we’ve lost as a team this year, as individuals, were all by pin,” said Lehighton senior Richard Fronheiser. “In that first match, Jon Ahner wrestled a good Randy Steigerwalt and didn’t give up a pin.

“We all knew that was going to be a big turning point for us in the match because it was toward the end of the match, and giving up two pins at the end could have been the reason we lost, and he didn’t. We all wrestled really well that match.”

Fronheiser (172) got a pin in the second match against Tamaqua’s Cole Eberts.

The Blue Raiders found plenty of success on the mat against the Tribe, winning six of the eight contested bouts in the first match, and five of the eight in the second.

Nate Wickersham (215), Aaron Coccio (152) and Gabe Erbe (106) all had two pins for Tamaqua. Randy Steigerwalt (145) had a major decision and a pin.

“The guys have been doing a really great job with everything we’ve asked of them,” said Blue Raiders head coach Jim McCabe. “All we can focus on is what we can control, and they have been doing a very good job with that.

“Today was another chance for a lot of our guys to go out and get more experience and get better, and I think they did that.”

PINE GROVE … Lehighton’s Aidan Gruber won by technical fall (16-0, 5:48) against the Cardinals’ Aidan Geist at 113 pounds. Ashton Owens had two pins for Pine Grove, topping the Tribe’s Reese Scaturro at 120 pounds (0:34) and Tamaqua’s Nick Wall (2:53) at 126.

DOUBLE THE FUN … Both Tamaqua and Lehighton have more doubleheaders scheduled this season. The Indians will wrestle Jim Thorpe twice on Jan. 27, while the Blue Raiders are set to face Blue Mountain (Jan. 27), Tri-Valley (Jan. 30), Hamburg (Feb. 4) and Mahanoy Area (Feb. 9) in a pair of matches.

Lehighton 39, Tamaqua 34

160 - Reese Szabo (T) pinned James Traylor in 2:38; 172 - Richard Fronheiser (L) won by forfeit; 189 - Cole Eberts (T) pinned Kai Phillips in: 14; 215 - Nate Wickersham (T) pinned Gauge Hartney in 3:08; 285 - Michael Yeakel (L) won by forfeit; 106 - Gabe Erbe (T) pinned Andrew Versuk in: 46; 113 - Aidan Gruber (L) won by forfeit; 120 - Reese Scaturro (L) won by forfeit; 126 - Nicholas Zeigenfuss (L) won by forfeit; 132 - Lukas Ferguson (L) pinned Zaidyn Walker in: 37; 138 - Steven Fritzinger (L) dec. Jacob Schlier, 7-5; 145 - Randy Steigerwalt (T) major dec. Jon Ahner, 14-3; 152

- Aaron Coccio (T) pinned Chance Neeb in 1:45.

Lehighton 39, Tamaqua 36

126 - Nicholas Zeigenfuss (L) won by forfeit; 132 - Lukas Ferguson (L) pinned Zaidyn Walker in: 25; 138 - Steven Fritzinger (L) dec. Jacon Schlier, 3-2; 145 - Randy Steigerwalt (T) pinned Jon Ahner in 1:25; 152 - Aaron Coccio (T) pinned Chance Neeb in 2:27; 160 - Reese Szabo (T) won by forfeit; 172 - Richard Fronheiser (L) pinned Cole Eberts in 3:29; 189 - John Buday (T) pinned Kai Phillips in: 31; 215 - Nate Wickersham (T) pinned Gauge Hartney in 1:31; 285 - Michael Yeakel (L) won by forfeit; 106 - Gabe Erbe (T) pinned Andrew Versuk in: 22; 113 - Aidan Gruber (L) won by forfeit; 120

- Reese Scaturro (L) won by forfeit.

Lehighton 71, Pine Grove 6

106 - Andrew Versuk (L) won by forfeit; 113 - Aidan Gruber (L) tech. fall Aidan Geist, 16-0 (5:48); 120 - Ashton Owens (PG) pinned Reese Scaturro in: 34; 126 - Nicholas Zeigenfuss won by forfeit; 132 - Lukas Ferguson (L) won by forfeit; 138 - Steven Fritzinger (L) won by forfeit; 145 - Jon Ahner (L) won by forfeit; 152 - Chance Neeb (L) won by forfeit; 160 - James Traylor (L) won by forfeit; 172 - Richard Fronheiser (L) won by forfeit; 189 - Kai Phillips (L) won by forfeit; 215 - Gauge Hartney (L) won by forfeit; 285

- Michael Yeakel (L) won by forfeit.

Tamaqua 54, Pine Grove 9

106 - No match; 113 - Aidan Geist (PG) dec. Gabe Erbe, 10-9; 120 - No match; 126 - Ashton Owens (PG) pinned Nick Wall in 2:53; 132 - Zaidyn Walker (T) won by forfeit; 138 - Jacob Schlier (T) won by forfeit; 145 - Devin Schlier (T) won by forfeit; 152 - Randy Steigerwalt (T) won by forfeit; 160 - Aaron Coccio (T) won by forfeit; 172 - Reese Szabo (T) won by forfeit; 189 - Cole Eberts (T) won by forfeit; 215 - John Buday (T) won by forfeit; 285

- Nate Wickersham (T) won by forfeit.