It was a moment Anderson Garcia had envisioned.

Seeing it come to fruition might have been even sweeter than the Palmerton junior could have predicted.

Garcia delivered a clutch pin on a night the Bombers came up big to secure a 36-28 victory over rival Lehighton.

The junior’s win at 215 pounds Tuesday was the kind of momentum-swinging match the Bombers needed. And exactly what Garcia was looking for.

“I was looking for a win,” Garcia smiled. “I was in the locker room before the match imagining a win. That’s exactly what I came to do.”

Garcia took a 3-0 lead in his match with the Indians’ Connor Roetz, getting a takedown near the edge of the mat. He led 5-3 in the third period, before securing the fall in 4:57 to push Palmerton’s lead to 27-17, and send the Bombers’ into a frenzy.

“It was really big,” said Garcia. “Last year I got pinned by him, it was my first wrestling match every last year, and I bumped up weight. I knew this year I wanted to do better, and I wanted to show how much I improved, and that’s what I was able to do.”

The match was back-and-forth early on, with Danny Edgar securing a pin in the first contest at 127 pounds, before Josh Merkel answered with a fall at 133 to tie it at 6-6.

Lehighton secured back-to-back wins after Merkel’s victory, with Blake Muffley coming through with a decision at 139 pounds, and Evan Wentz earning a major decision and bonus points at 145 to give the Tribe a 13-6 lead after four bouts.

Derek King earned a 7-2 decision over Lehighton’s Lukas Croizier at 152 pounds to trim the deficit to 13-9. King got an escape to start the third to tie it at 1-1, and was able to score a pair of takedowns in the period to win a match between two talented wrestlers.

The Bombers (7-1) continued that momentum in the next two matches, with Dillon Anthony coming up with a big first-period pin at 160 pounds to put Palmerton ahead 15-13, and Dillon Lombardi delivering a fall at 172 to push the advantage to 21-13 after seven matches.

Deven Armbruster answered with bonus points for the Tribe (4-4), getting a major decision at 189 pounds to cut Palmerton’s lead to 21-17.

But Garcia quickly swung momentum back to the Bombers with his fall at 215 pounds.

“I just told the kids, this is a perfect example of a great team win,” said Palmerton head coach Justin Peterson. “We had a starter (Braden Strohl, 189/215 pounds) that was hurt. He’s obviously a key contributor for us, so we needed to pick him up. Trevor Anthony, who is a first-year kid comes in and does a great job not getting pinned (at 189 pounds), and that’s just a big energy boost for us. Then you have a guy like Anderson (Garcia), who is a second-year kid, and is wrestling really well this year and has made a lot of improvements, and he stepped up big for us. Even if some of our other guys who are more experienced didn’t have their best matches, we got picked up by our other guys.

“It was a great team win because everybody is contributing. And you can see the atmosphere with the team, they’re all in it for each other. It’s great to see.”

Marc Macias – who is having a tremendous season for the Tribe at 12-2 – got a pin at 285 pounds in just 0:38 to bring the score to 27-23 with three matches left.

Thomas Pasquariello responded with a decision for the Bombers at 107 pounds to make it 30-23, and Connor Messinger received a forfeit at 114 to push the lead to 36-23 with just one match left.

Jack Lucykanish won by technical fall for the Indians in the last match at 121 pounds to set the final score.

“Tonight was a match where we could really be competitive, and it gave our kids a chance to go out and compete, and they did,” said Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown. “It was a great environment; the girls (who defeated Palmerton 60-12 earlier in the evening) got a lot of energy going and we tried to carry that over.

“We lost in one or two spots where their guys came through, and that turned the tide a little bit. Coming into it, we knew it was going to be a pretty tight match. On paper I had it really close. Guys knew that they needed to score as many points as they could to try to get some bonus points, and that was great experience to be in that situation for later in the year. But overall, we had guys step up and do the best that they could do, and that’s all you can ask for.”

LOOKING AHEAD ... Lehighton visits Catasauqua Thursday, while Palmerton will be at the Bill Scott Memorial Tournament in Florida this Friday and Saturday.

Palmerton 36, Lehighton 28

107 - Thomas Pasquariello (P) dec. Chase Lobasso, 10-4; 114 - Connor Messinger (P) won by forfeit; 121 - Jack Lucykanish (L) tech. fall Jaxs Miller, 19-3 (4:28); 127 - Danny Edgar (L) pinned Kellen Trotter in 1:27; 133 - Josh Merkel (P) pinned Garrett Heiland in 2:25; 139 - Blake Muffley (L) dec. Aidan Ortiz, 8-5; 145 - Evan Wentz (L) maj. dec. Vincent Taglieri, 14-2; 152 - Derek King (P) dec. Lukas Croizier, 7-2; 160 - Dillon Anthony (P) pinned Konner Nalesnik in 1:15; 172 - Dillon Lombardi (P) pinned Brok Solt in 3:01; 189 - Deven Armbruster (L) maj. dec. Trevor Anthony, 14-1; 215 - Anderson Garcia (P) pinned Connor Roetz in 4:57; 285 - Marc Macias (L) pinned Dominic Brown in 0:38.