by Tom Utescher With the outcome in eight of the 14 weight classes decided in last Friday's Inter-Ac League wrestling opener, host Springside Chestnut Hill Academy was leading 31-9, and the Blue Devils were due to pick up six more points when Penn Charter forfeited in the final class, 285 lbs. From the 160 lb. match on, though, the visiting Quakers did exactly what they needed to do to forge a 37-37 tie by the end of the proceedings. The teams were so evenly matched that meet officials had to go down to the eighth item on the list of tiebreaking criteria to determine the winner. The statute designated "H" involved the number of points each team scored first in the various individual matches. SCH had tacked a total of seven "first" points on the board in the 120, 138, 145 and 152 lb. weight classes, but Charter accumulated 11 at 132, 160, 170, 182, 195 and 220, thus emerging with the meet victory. Each team had been scheduled to open Inter-Ac competition against different opponents back on January 5, but inclement weather interfered. With last week's outcome, the Quakers improved to 6-3 overall in dual meets, and the Blue Devils came away with a 12-2 mark. At the light end of the scale, Friday evening's clash opened with a pair of forfeits; by Penn Charter at 106 pounds, and by Springside Chestnut Hill at 113. At 120 lbs., Quakers freshman Max Lentz stayed off his back, but SCH junior Simon Kioko steadily built up a large lead in a series of takedowns and escapes. Early in the final minute, a takedown by Kioko put him ahead 12-4 and gave him the eight-point margin needed for a major decision. Lentz staged one last escape, but Kioko posted his sixth takedown of the match and then maintained control to the end, winning 14-5. PC then forfeited at 126 lbs. to the Blue Devils' junior standout, Luke Purcell, and the hosts led 16-6 in the team score. In the first two periods of the 132 lb. contest, the only point scored came on an escape by Charter junior T.J. Henry. SCH sophomore Marco Goldberg matched it early in the third round, and after he fought off a takedown attempt by Henry, the match went into overtime at 1-1. With a dozen seconds left in the one-minute OT, Henry completed a takedown for a 3-1 victory. Another low-scoring encounter followed, and the third period at 138 began with Kyle Williams of the host team holding a 2-0 edge against fellow senior Jordan Steinhouse. Although Steinhouse escaped from the bottom in the third period, Williams took him down with 44 seconds remaining. A late escape by the PC wrestler ended the match with a 4-2 score in favor of the Blue Devils' Williams. Springside Chestnut Hill had now gained a 10-point advantage in the team tally, which stood at 19-9. The home team proceeded to spread the score to 31-9 with pins by two seniors at 145 and 152 lbs. First, a pair of takedowns sent Andrew Cramer into the second period with a 4-2 lead over visiting junior Sam Shemtov. Off a neutral start, Cramer registered a takedown, and after Shemtov scored a reverse, Cramer reversed him in turn. Back in control, Cramer notched a pin with 42 seconds to go. The SCH 152, Myles Hugee, took down PC freshman John Glomb with a resounding thud early in their joust, and the senior pinned the rookie wrestler with 33 seconds elapsed. Those six points, however, would be the last that the Blue Devils scored out on the mat. One of the Quakers' aces, senior 160 Alex Koenig, took down junior host Jamieson Wade and turned him twice for an 8-0 lead. Koenig wrapped things up with a pin with 31.5 seconds remaining in the first period, starting his team's climb back up the scoreboard. In the higher weight classes, SCH was missing several of its regular grapplers. Out of action were senior Sean Edling, who has competed in both the 195 and 220 lb. categories, and freshman Tyler Guzik, an experienced club wrestler who normally performs at 170. Penn Charter got back within a dozen points (31-19) with a major decision at 170. Senior Dante DiStefano began the third period on the bottom and with a 4-0 lead. He picked up a fifth point when SCH junior Joe McDermott was penalized for locking hands. Posting a sixth point with an escape, DiStefano was now just two markers shy of the margin needed for a major decision, worth four points instead of the regular three in the team score. In a meet where every point would count in the end, the Quakers senior got his major when he completed a takedown with just four seconds left, winning 8-0. The visitors quickly closed up the team score to 25-31 when 182 lb. junior Wayne Derkotch recorded a 38-second pin against Blue Devils sophomore Aatrox Wang, a novice wrestler. After an initial takedown at 195 by Charter sophomore Matt McGlinchey, Springside Chestnut Hill freshman Patrick Ferns was able to escape. Soon McGlinchey took down Ferns once again, this time right onto his back. With a pin with 43 seconds left in the first period, the Quakers had pulled even in the meet, 31-31. They would lead for the first time when the 220 lb. contest ended in 31 seconds thanks to senior Luke Mattice's pin of Blue Devils freshman Worth Osborne. In the last weight class, SCH senior 285 Sean McCann was the only wrestler to step into the ring, collecting six forfeit points to level the team score at 37-37. The referee, scorers and coaches then pored over the rule book and the scorebook, learning that criteria A through G would not resolve the issue. The "first points" tiebreaker H served the purpose, though, and Penn Charter chalked up an Inter-Ac League victory.