POTTSVILLE - Martz magic?

Maybe.

They’re the type of moments that make the Mecca feel monumental.

And Saturday’s Schuylkill League Wrestling Tournament at Martz Hall provided a platform that did not disappoint.

Lehighton towered over the competition, with Aidan Gruber and Reese Balk winning individual gold to highlight the Tribe’s run to the overall team title.

Tamaqua’s Aiden Schlier capped a stellar tournament with a dominant run to the 107-pound title.

In addition to Gruber and Balk, Lehighton also placed Connor Dugan and Evan Wentz into the championship round. The Tribe’s depth helped them secure the title with 12 wrestlers placing in the top six to help the team finish with 217.5 points ahead of Pottsville (211).

“It’s nice. Hopefully this is kind of a getting over the hump type of thing for us,” said Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown. “We haven’t won any titles in wrestling in a long time, and it was nice to get a league title.

“Coming in, I was hoping we would keep it close. Our guys, throughout the lineup, just wrestled really well today.”

The Indians have been solid throughout the season, with their only regular season dual loss not in a tournament coming to Pottsville (44-25) on Jan. 4.

Saturday’s showing continued that success, as Gruber picked up an 8-3 decision over North Schuylkill’s Noah Gilgore in the 114-pound final while Balk held on for an 8-7 victory over Tri-Valley’s Justis Troutman to win the 285-pound title.

A state qualifier last season, Gruber (22-2) started fast against Gilgore (14-5), scoring twice in the first 30 seconds to build a 4-0 lead. Gruber got another takedown in the waning moments of the first period to push his lead to 6-2. “When you’re in the finals like that, coming out hot is one of the main things you want to do,” said Gruber. “And if you come out fired up, get the first takedown, it usually gets in their head, and it helps the person who scores, and feel more confident for the match, because you get that first two (points), and then it gives you some more momentum to keep going the rest of the match.

“Both of us were getting tired near the end (of the period), it’s just about who is the person who puts the most effort in at the end, who has the bigger gas tank and who can push the hardest. I felt like, when we were getting towards the end, I was able to give some spurts of energy, and spun behind, got to an attack, or something like that. Since freshman year, I feel I’ve definitely been improving each year and trying to get better.”

The junior got another takedown near the edge of the mat in the second period, and kept Gilgore down for the remainder of the period with an 8-3 lead.

Gilgore wasn’t able to generate any offense in the third period, as Gruber held on for the win.

Gruber, who had a first-round bye, wasn’t on the mat for a minute combined in his first two matches. The junior pinned Panther Valley’s Tevin Walsh in 0:10 in the quarters before finishing Williams Valley’s Xzavion Tennis in 0:48 to reach the finals.

Balk (20-4) showed his mettle against Troutman (22-3), a regional qualifier last season.

The junior erased a 2-0 deficit in the second period, tying the match with a reversal before building an 8-2 lead with back points on two occasions.

“I knew what he was capable of, and just had to have the mindset of not letting him break you,” said Balk. “You just have to have the mindset that you can compete.”

With the pair starting the third period on their feet, Troutman cut Balk’s lead to 8-4 with a takedown. Troutman nearly pulled out the win at the wire. After a reset with 0:11 remaining and Balk starting from the down position, Troutman was able to turn Balk for three nearfall points as time expired to make it 8-7.

Balk wasn’t about to get pinned.

“I have 11 seconds, I need to play defense,” said Balk. “I don’t want him scoring any more, I don’t want him getting a major (decision). I just have to stay ahead in that situation.

“I knew I had to try to get off my back. I couldn’t give up. To come that far, you have to keep fighting.”

Balk was impressive after his first round bye. The junior moved past Williams Valley’s Cameron Green with a technical fall (16-0, 4:00) and reached the finals by pinning Blue Mountain’s Trevor Manbeck in 0:41 in the semis.

“He wrestled hard, and he came into the tournament really confident,” Brown said of Balk. “He did a nice job as a junior, first year coming out for varsity (wrestling). He’s doing a nice job. He wrestled really well today.”

Schlier was electric in his run to the title. The sophomore took control of his final match against Dugan early with a takedown for a 2-0 lead and created more separation with two back points before the end of the first period for a 4-0 lead.

The momentum carried over into the second period, where Schlier needed 0:24 to finish the match and secure the title.

“I just went at him,” said Schlier. “I usually go calm into matches, but that one I came aggressive and got a takedown and scored some back points.

“This gives me a lot of confidence for future tournaments, knowing that I can win, and compete against the best kids around my weight.”

Schlier (20-6) had a bye in the first round before picking up a pair of technical falls in his next two matches. The sophomore topped Blue Mountain’s Cole Fry (15-0, 3:33) in the quarters and dispatched Jim Thorpe’s Samuel Kenna (17-1, 2:14) in the semis.

“He’s been wrestling very aggressively,” Tamaqua head coach Jim McCabe said of Schlier. “And that’s a positive. You have to go on the mat believing you’re going to win. And when you score that first point, be it an escape or a takedown, you can’t sit back and say, ‘OK, now I have to preserve this score, and not allow my opponent to score any points.’ What ends up happening is, you don’t wrestle and the other kid does, and you lose.

“That didn’t happen with Aiden. Aiden scored a point, and he was looking to score point, after point, after point.”

After a first round bye, Dugan pinned Schuylkill Haven’s Carter Williams in 2:40 in the quarters before picking up an 11-4 decision against Tri-Valley’s Owen Wolfgang in the semis.

Wentz (14-7) advanced to the 133-pound final against Pottsville’s Connor Demcher.

Demcher (25-3) built a 7-2 lead in the first period with two takedowns and three near fall points, and increased his advantage to 14-2 in the second before finishing the match in 3:06.

Coming off a first round bye, Wentz recorded a 9-2 decision over Tamaqua’s Chase Zeigenfuss in the quarterfinals before pinning Pine Grove’s Aston Owens in 0:36 to reach the finals.

“I knew they had tougher matchups in the finals, but they went out and they battled,” Brown said of Wentz and Dugan. “Those guys wrestled really tough today. I was pleased with where they ended up. I’m proud of those guys, they did a really nice job.”

In addition to Schlier, Tamaqua’s Gabe Erbe (20-7) also advanced to the finals at 121 pounds against North Schuylkill’s Kaden Casey (15-5).

Erbe and Casey were scoreless after the first period. Casey went ahead 1-0 in the second period, and took a 3-0 lead with a reversal in the third period. He was able to keep Erbe down for much of the final period to secure the win.

“You just have to go back into the room, and continue to work on the things that we need to improve,” said McCabe. “It’s over. The match is over. You can’t dwell on it, or continue to think about it. It’s over, so now what do we do Monday at practice to get to the next step?”

Erbe reached the finals with a pair of pins in his first two matches. The junior topped Mahanoy’s Victor Hanley in 1:21 before pinning Lehighton’s Jake Hall in 1:01 in the semifinals.

TEAM SCORES

... Tamaqua placed sixth in the team standings with 107 points, while Jim Thorpe placed seventh with 70. Panther Valley was 11th with 34 points.

UP NEXT

... The annual Coal Cracker Tournament, which will feature all eight area teams, is set for next weekend. The varsity tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at Lehighton High School and Elementary School. The Coal Cracker Girls Tournament will be held at Jim Thorpe on Saturday. There will also be a full JV tournament Saturday at Lehighton. Look for more coverage of the event in Thursday’s Winter Sports Notebook.

Schuylkill League Wrestling Tournament

First Place

107 - Aiden Schlier (Tamaqua) pinned Connor Dugan (Lehighton) in 2:24; 114 - Aidan Gruber (Lehighton) dec. Noah Gilgore (North Schuylkill), 8-3; 121 - Kaden Casey (North Schuylkill) dec. Gabe Erbe (Tamaqua), 3-0; 127 - Luke Sterns (Pottsville) dec. Ryan Fisher (Mahanoy Area), 6-5; 133 - Connor Demcher (Pottsville) pinned Evan Wentz (Lehighton) in 3:06; 139 - Blake Bender (Pottsville) pinned Owen Woll (Blue Mountain) in 0:32; 145 - Dalton Monger (Pottsville) pinned Andrew Zimmerman (Schuylkill Haven) in 0:41; 152 - Parrish McFarland (Pottsville) pinned Cade Schneck (Pine Grove) in 1:06; 160 - Nick Kunstek (Pottsville) pinned Ricky Halford (North Schuylkill) in 1:11; 172 - Terrell McFarland (Pottsville) pinned Bradley Renninger (Blue Mountain) in 0:40; 189 - Jake Scheib (Tri Valley) pinned Aiden Myers (Schuylkill Haven) in 1:07; 215 - Jared Tinari (North Schuylkill) pinned Braxton Schwartz (Tri Valley) in 5:38; 285

- Reese Balk (Lehighton) dec. Justis Troutman (Tri Valley), 8-7

Third Place

107 - Cole Fry (Blue Mountain) pinned Gaige Mentusky (North Schuylkill) in 0:55; 114 - Colin Seefeldt (Blue Mountain) pinned Jaxon Bruso (Tri Valley) in 4:07; 121 - Bryce Bodenberg (Blue Mountain) pinned Jake Hall (Lehighton) in 0:46; 127 - Nathan Sterner (North Schuylkill) pinned Blake Muffley (Lehighton) in 2:04; 133 - Kaden Brish (Blue Mountain) dec. Hunter Troutman (Tri Valley), 3-0; 139 - Nicholas Zeigenfuss (Lehighton) dec. Jimmy Weikel (North Schuylkill), 5-2; 145 - Austin Martin (Pine Grove) pinned Ethan Barachie (Lehighton) in 1:17; 152 - Jacob Ferguson (Lehighton) dec. Jacob Schlier (Tamaqua), 7-4; 160 - Hunter Blankenhorn (Blue Mountain) dec. Bradley Whalen (Tamaqua), 4-2; 172 - Brok Solt (Lehighton) pinned Cael Quick (Mahanoy Area) in 2:45; 189 - Donovan Herman (Mahanoy Area) dec. Cadyn McGraw (North Schuylkill), 7-3; 215 - Wyatt Sherer (Lehighton) dec. Niko Carestia (Schuylkill Haven), 7-5 (SV) ; 285

- Yerrick Tlacuatl (North Schuylkill) dec. Cameron Green (Williams Valley), 5-1

Fifth Place

107 - Owen Wolfgang (Tri Valley) maj. dec. Samuel Kenna (Jim Thorpe), 9-1; 114 - Steven Korte (Jim Thorpe) maj. dec. Xzavion Tennis (Williams Valley), 14-2; 121 - Cole Wagner (Pottsville) pinned over Noah Geiser (Jim Thorpe) in 2:04; 127 - Christopher Jacobacci (Jim Thorpe) maj. dec. Wyatt Leitzel (Tri Valley), 9-1; 133 - Ashton Owens (Pine Grove) pinned Chase Zeigenfuss (Tamaqua) in 2:09; 139 - Carson Yourey (Tri Valley) pinned Max Pfeifer (Jim Thorpe) in 4:51; 145 - Richard Kenna (Jim Thorpe) medical forfeit (Blue Mountain); 152 - Sayyidakbar Akbarov (Blue Mountain) medical forfeit Aden Celani (Schuylkill Haven) ; 160 - Kyler Quick (Mahanoy Area) dec. Riyell Wann (Panther Valley), 8-2; 172 - Dawson Kleeman (North Schuylkill) medical forfeit Jacob Hehn (Tamaqua); 189 - Deven Armbruster (Lehighton) pinned Brayden Noecker (Blue Mountain) in 3:36; 215 - Tahlil White (Pottsville) pinned Joe Lagaza (Mahanoy Area) in 1:34; 285

- Trevor Manbeck (Blue Mountain) pinned Aidan Milkovits (Panther Valley) in 0:59