The Lehighton-Palmerton rivalry has expanded into girls wrestling, and Tuesday night’s meet was another showcase of that rivalry among two teams with high expectations.

The visiting Bombers got off to a hot start, and managed to hold off a late surge from the Indians for a 39-27 victory.

With four starters out of Lehighton’s lineup, the Indians were already at a disadvantage on paper, and Palmerton took full advantage of that from the start.

After a double forfeit and Bomber forfeit win, Palmerton rattled off three straight pins and a decision win for a 27-0 lead. Paige Kibler went toe-to-toe against Zoey Diedel at 112, and got the first of the three Palmerton pins with just 10 seconds remaining in their match.

“It was a very hard match; the pin was hard to get,” Kibler said. “It was a long match as well. I was very tired, but I knew I had a lot in me to get that pin, and I knew she was getting tired as well, so I was very confident in my pin.”

Izabella McFarland (118) and Alexxa Winger (124) followed with the next two Bomber falls — both coming in the first period — and Cassidy Merkel went the distance against Blayr Strawser at 130. Merkel got an early takedown, and managed to outlast Strawser for a 3-2 victory.

“I definitely gave it my all and put all my effort in,” Merkel said. “I thought I did really well with holding on, and it was just a very good match overall, and experience wise, I think both of us did very well.”

Lehighton did not back down despite the huge deficit, as its girls took five of the remaining seven matches. During that stretch, Lillian Klotz (142) overcame an early deficit with a reverse and pin in under three minutes, and Alivia Reed (170) picked up another.

Unfortunately for the Indians, the two Palmerton wins over that sequence were also pins, as Nickayla Tomsic (148) and Kyleigh Jennings (190) put the contest out of reach.

That was the game plan from the beginning for Bomber head coach Josh Rake, who knew his team needed pins to earn the victory.

“We knew that we had to go out and get pins, and the girls went out and did what we said,” he said. “They went out and found some pins in that early lineup. We’d like to see those girls go out and find their takedowns and find their shots, but sometimes you just don’t, and you’ve got to hang on and just wait for your opponent to make a mistake.

“That’s kind of what happened in a couple of those matches. At the end of the day, it was experience that won out. Those girls came to wrestle, and I could not be prouder of them tonight.”

Despite the team loss, the heavyweight matchup (235) was a thriller for the home crowd. Kailey Evans of Lehighton earned a 5-2 decision over Nicole Jennings after coming back with a late third period takedown to go in front.

Overall, Indians head coach George Ebbert liked the effort of his team but was also impressed with the Bombers’ performance.

“Palmerton was just a very physical team,” he said. “They were really aggressive with their power half, and our kids didn’t respond well. I’m impressed with Palmerton and they did a great job, and it was kind of shocking for us the way they came out (so) aggressive.”

LOOKING AHEAD … Palmerton moves to 3-0, and will now have some time off before participating in Hanover’s Holiday Classic Tournament next Saturday. Lehighton suffered its first loss, and looks to get back on track at Tamaqua’s Blue Raider Tournament on Friday.

Palmerton 39, Lehighton 27

100 - Double Forfeit; 106 - Sophia Amorim (P) won by forfeit; 112 - Paige Kibler (P) pinned Zoey Diedel in 5:50; 118 - Izabella McFarland (P) pinned Kennedy Gallagher in 1:40; 124 - Alexxa Winger (P) pinned Hailey Hughart in 1:20; 130 - Cassidy Merkel (P) dec. over Blayr Strawser, 3-2; 136 - Kennedy Quinn (L) won by forfeit; 142 - Lillian Klotz (L) pinned Lea Schaible in 2:53; 148 - Nickayla Tomsic (P) pinned Keza Moyer in 2:37; 155 - Cassidy Litts (L) won by forfeit; 170 - Alivia Reed (L) pinned Abigail Baker in 4:41; 190 - Kyleigh Jennings (P) pinned Karlye Kintz in 1:58; 235 - Kailey Evans (L) dec. over Nicole Jennings (5-2).

Records: Palmerton (3-0); Lehighton (2-1).