HERSHEY - First match.

First win.

Lehighton sophomore Aidan Gruber and Northern Lehigh senior Matt Frame showcased the form that has been on display throughout the postseason Thursday morning at the PIAA Championships.

Gruber posted a 7-5 win over Chestnut Ridge’s Brock Holderbaum at 113 pounds while Frame rallied for a 7-6 win over Southmoreland’s Anthony Govern at 215.

In their first appearance at the state tournament, Gruber and Frame were calm, cool and collected.

“Main idea for me to try and block out everything and just focus on the match,” said Gruber. “You start feeling pressure from all the other people and then you start not going as hard, and you’re not sure what you want to do.

“I just wanted to stay focused and keep my eyes on the kid in front of me and just wrestle hard.”

Gruber got the first takedown against Holderbaum, who got a reversal in the final seconds to tie it 2-2 at the end of the first period.

“He was tough on bottom. He was a strong kid,” said Gruber. “Getting the takedown at the beginning gave me some motivation to keep going, not give up.”

Holderbaum got an escape and a takedown in the second period to build a 5-2 advantage, before Gruber closed it to 5-4 with a reversal.

At the start of the third period, Gruber chose bottom, and eventually turned it into a reversal.

“Usually when I go bottom, I’m not the best at standing up and getting out, but I’m good at finding reversal points,” said Gruber. “I’m good at looking for a leg and just hanging on to it. I was a little unsure to go neutral or bottom, just because I was down by one so I needed the points.

“Bottom was definitely the right choice.”

Tough riding on top the rest of the period sealed the match.

“You just have to keep your body weight on top of him, keep trying to roll his wrist back,” said Gruber. “He can’t stand up without a base.

“I was just focused on getting this first one down so I could make it to the next day. Just have to prepare for the next one.”

Gruber’s win set-up a first round match with Saegertown’s Hunter Robison in the first round.

After a runner-up finish at districts and a fifth-place results at regionals, Gruber is hitting his stride down the stretch.

“Getting that first win is such a huge confidence boost,” said Indians’ coach Floyd Brown. “He’s been pretty good this week. Last weekend he was a little nervous. This week, I feel he’s calmer.

“But he went out and got that first takedown, and that took any of the jitters away that he had. That was a great start. We talked to him last night about getting the first one, and to just wrestle and have fun; let it fly. You’re here for a reason. Just go out and do it.”

Trailing 6-4 in the third period, Frame got an escape with 1:11 to go and a takedown with 0:15 left.

“He qualified and now he has a win,” said Bulldogs’ coach Scott Snyder. “He knows he’s coming back tomorrow.

“For his first time out here, sometimes you look into their eyes and they seem terrified. But Matty looks focused. He had a good practice yesterday and now he has his first match out of the way, now he’s here. He’s in the tournament and we’re here to stay until tomorrow at least, and we’ll see if he can keep climbing and get a medal.”

Northwestern’s Dalton Clymer suffered a 3-2 loss to Eisenhower’s Gannon Jaquay in his 152-pound preliminary match.

Clymer got the first takedown to take a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Jaquay responded with an escape and takedown in the second period.

Northwestern’s Lucas Miller fell 1-0 in his preliminary match at 172 pounds against Bald Eagle’s Caleb Close, who used and escape in the third period to seal the win.

Clymer and Miller will wrestle in the consolation round later today.

First round bouts are also Thursday morning, followed by first round consolations at 1:15 p.m.