After a week-long break from competition, Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown had his grapplers dialed in Thursday night in Slatington.

Using the time to rest, recover and focus on their conditioning, the Indians displayed their strength in a solid team win against Northern Lehigh.

The contest opened at 106 pounds with the Indians’ Chase Lobasso gaining a forfeit win, giving Lehighton an early 6-0 lead.

The Bulldogs responded fiercely in the following two bouts, as Noah Gosart at 114 pinned Lehighton’s Michael D’Amico at 4:46, tying the team score at 6-6, and Cody Mazzocca, at 121, delivered a well-rounded performance over Jack Lucykanish, securing a 10-3 decision and briefly giving Northern Lehigh the lead.

From there, Lehighton went on to win the next seven bouts as Danny Edgar earned four team points for the Indians after his major decision over Andrew Rudolph at 127, bringing the team score to 10-9 in favor of the Tribe.

Lehighton then went on a hot streak, earning pins in its next five matches.

Connor Dugan took just 27 seconds to secure a win over the Bulldogs’ Autumn Khuu at 133. At 139, Lukas Croizier was all business, dispatching Zachary Gosart in just 55 seconds.

“Looking at the bigger picture tonight, I wanted to work quickly and be efficient,” Croizier said. “It’s a big week with leagues on Sunday, so not risking anything and being smart was most important tonight and helping my team get this win.”

At 145, Evan Wentz picked up his 19th win of the year in his match against Skylar Loos at 3:16. Konnor Nalesnik kept the streak going against the Bulldogs’ Mason Rothrock at 152, earning his pin at the 4:54 mark. Finally, Aiden Dugan took just 1:18 to lock up his win against Jaxon Bower, extending the team total to 40-9.

“I felt really good about my performance,” said Dugan. “Wrestling varsity, coming up from JV, has been a challenge against higher-level opponents. I hit a headlock, and when I saw his shoulder start to go up, I thought to myself, I need to adjust before he gets out.”

Lehighton’s Jacob Ferguson gave the Indians another five team points at 172 when he tech-falled Northern Lehigh’s Grady Newhard, giving the visitors a comfortable 45-9 lead.

In the match of the night, the Bulldogs’ 189-pounder Dawson Newhard survived an early onslaught in a slugfest with Lehighton’s Deven Armbruster to earn his fifth consecutive win, and ninth victory of the season.

“After the first 30 seconds, he got injury time, and we noticed he was breathing heavily,” Newhard said. “Coach Snyder and Coach Green told me he was tired and to go after him.”

The freshman used his long-time love of wrestling to be patient and weather a tough storm in the early part of the bout. Armbruster sought to control the match with his physical prowess, but the savvy Newhard kept his cool and waited for his moment, pinning the Indian at the 3:39 mark.

“He’s really strong, he picked me up in the air at the end of the first, and I was a bit scared going back in there,” Newhard added. “But yeah, I know I’ve been doing this for 10 years, so I know I work hard in practice, and I know my technique is solid.”

Bulldogs Coach Scott Snyder was impressed with his freshman, saying, “Dawson Newhard battled hard tonight — a come-from-behind victory to get the fall. That was awesome to see. This will be good for his confidence. As he mentioned, he’s won five in a row now and is feeling pretty good about himself, which is a great sign going into the tournament on Sunday.”

Rounding out the night, Lehighton’s Connor Roetz — coming back from concussion protocol — secured a tech fall over Isaac Jackovitz 19-1 at 215.

“I’ve been practicing my throws with my partner Marc, who’s a little heavier than me,” Roetz said. “I’m feeling good going into the Colonial League tournament on Sunday.”

Lastly, the Tribe’s heavyweight Marc Macias used all three periods to topple Cyrus Kinchen for a 7-3 decision, making the final team score 53-15.

“I thought we wrestled well,” said Brown. “I thought there were a couple of toss-up matches where we fortunately got wins. Overall, I thought this was a good stepping stone moving into the weekend with our Colonial League tournament.

“Coming off this rest period, we were motivated tonight – motivated this whole week to wrestle. Hopefully, it carries into leagues on Sunday.”

Looking forward to the Colonial League tournament, Coach Snyder hopes his team can take away the positives from their win and apply them to Sunday’s performances.

“Our kids work hard,” said Snyder. “I see them growing and improving each day they’re in the room. I think they’re getting better, it’s exciting. It’s starting to click for them, and I do think they’re going to put together some good matches at leagues.”

DOWN THE ROAD ... Both Lehighton and Northern Lehigh will participate in the Colonial League tournament Sunday at Catasauqua. The Indians have two more dual meets to end their season, heading to Palisades on Thursday and lastly on Wednesday, Feb. 5, when they host Jim Thorpe. The Bulldogs end their season against Palmerton on Thursday.

Lehighton 53, No. Lehigh 15

107 - Chase Lobasso (L) won by forfeit; 114 - Noah Gosart (NL) pinned Michael D’Amico in 4:46; 121 - Cody Mazzocca (NL) dec. Jack Lucykanish, 10-3; 127 - Danny Edgar (L) major dec. Andrew Rudolph, 15-1; 133 - Connor Dugan (L) pinned Autumn Khuu in :27; 139 - Lukas Croizier (L) pinned Zachery Gosart in :55; 145 - Evan Wentz (L) pinned Skyler Loos in 3:16; 152 - Konner Nalesnik (L) pinned Mason Rothrock in 4:54; 160 - Aiden Dugan (L) pinned Jaxon Bower in 1:18; 172 - Jacob Ferguson (L) tech fall Grady Newhard, 20-3 (3:42); 189 - Dawson Newhard (NL) pinned Deven Armbruster in 3:39; 215 - Connor Roetz (L) tech fall Isaac Jackovits, 19-1 (3:28); 285 - Marc Macias (L) dec. Cyrus Kinchen, 7-3.

Records: Lehighton (10-6); Northern Lehigh (4-8).