Lehighton’s wrestling team got off to a good start to the season by rolling to a 50-22 non-league victory over rival Palmerton on Monday.

“I thought we wrestled pretty well,” Indian head coach Floyd Brown said. “Palmerton is well-coached and had a number of tough kids. For our first match of the season, conditioning-wise we did all right.

“We were aggressive, and won the matchups I thought we would.”

Palmerton got on the board first when Derek King pinned Konner Nalesnik in 4:21 of the 152-pound match. But Lehighton answered back by winning four of the next five matches to take the lead and gradually pulled away from there.

Jacob Ferguson began the Indians’ charge by pinning Bryce Smith in 3:25 of the 160-pound bout to tie the match at 6-6. The teams split the next two matches, with Brok Solt getting a decision for Lehighton, and Caleb Gaffney recording a fall for the Blue Bombers.

The Indians took the lead for good when Connor Roetz pinned Anderson Garcia in 2:23 in the 215 match.

“With only two weeks of practice, we start and then before we know it, it’s the first match,’ Brown said. “You’re balancing trying to teach the new kids, and keep the experienced kids interested in practice with what you’re showing.

“I’m glad to get the first one out of the way, but the two weeks of practice just isn’t enough. You do the best you can with it and get ready. Overall, I thought we did pretty well.”

Palmerton picked up four victories in the match, most notably Gaffney’s pin of Asher Traylor in the 189-pound match.

“Some kids stepped up,” Palmerton head coach Justin Petersen said. “Caleb Gaffney, he bumped up and only weighs 163 pounds and wrestled a kid that was well over 180, so he gave up almost 20 pounds. He went out there and stepped up for the team.

“We had guys who are young and new to the lineup who did good things. They’re going to keep battling, and I was appreciative of all their efforts.”

The 132-pound match was among the most exciting of the night when Palmerton’s Josh Merkel pinned Blake Muffley with 19 seconds left in the third period.

“We all had a short amount of practice time to start the season,” Petersen said. “It gets broken up with Thanksgiving, and it’s tough.

“We’re just starting to settle in. It’s tough, but everybody deals with the same stuff. We got to fight through it, and our kids will do that.”

THREE IN A ROW

... Lehighton won three straight matches in the 113, 120 and 126-pound classes that allowed it to clinch the win. Ethan Nothstein, Connor Dugan and Lukas Crozier produced that win streak.

GETTING BETTER

... Lehighton’s Brown was pleased with his team’s effort Monday night, but said there are some things the team needs to work on.

“We just have to keep getting better,” he said. “We have to get better on bottom and we need to be able to finish matches when we have those opportunities.”

Lehighton 50, Palmerton 22

106 – Thomas Pasqueriello (P) dec. Michael D’Amico 9-0; 113 – Ethan Nothstein (L) pinned Colton Becker in 0:54; 120 – Connor Dugan (L) pinned Kellen Trotter in 2:46; 126 – Lukas Crozier (L) pinned Matt Gombert in 1:07; 132 – Josh Merkel (P) pinned Blake Muffley in 5:41; 138 – Evan Wentz (L) pinned Aidan Ortiz in 2:42; 145 – Carter Hontz (L) pinned Vincent Taglieri in 1:44; 152 – Derek King (P) pinned Konner Nalesnik in 4:21; 160 – Jacob Ferguson (L) pinned Bryce Smith in 3:25; 172 – Brok Solt (L) dec. Dillon Anthony 8-4; 189 – Caleb Gaffney (P) pinned Asher Traylor in 4:42; 215 – Connor Roetz (L) pinned Anderson Garcia in 2:23; 285

– Reese Balk (L) won by forfeit.