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Eisenhower's motto this season has been "just find a way."

The Knights put that motto into action again Tuesday, benefiting from three Youngsville forfeits and winning just enough on the mat for a 39-33 victory over the Eagles in an intense county clash at Youngsville High School.

"You always want to win the county matches," said Eisenhower coach Kris Black, whose Knights beat Warren a week ago. "(Youngsville) came out pumped and gave us everything we wanted and more, but we just found a way to get it done. Different guys keep stepping up and all of our wins have definitely been team efforts."

The Knights got off to a red-hot start in Tuesday's match that began at 119 pounds. Tommy Fedorchuk shook off an early deficit and logged a pin of Youngsville's Michael Darling in the second period. The visitors pushed the advantage to 12-0 after an Eagles forfeit at 125 pounds.

By the time the match was four bouts old, the Knights' lead had swelled to 24-0. Jeff Parker earned a first period pin at 130 pounds and Mitch Wilston wrestled up to 135 pounds and decked Youngsville's Kevin Seeley early in the second period.

The Eagles settled down, however, and got on the board at 140 pounds as Nick Lucas came out a house of fire and pinned his opponent Dillon Farrell.

Things wouldn't stay in Youngsville's favor as the Knights picked up what would prove to be an important victory at 145 pounds. The Eagles' Bobby Rouche received a penalty point in the second period and made the 1-0 lead hold up until the waning seconds of the match when Logan Head scored a reversal and escaped with a 2-1 victory to push the Knights' lead to 27-6.

Unbeknownst to the Knights, that would be the final match they would win on the mat as the Eagles won the next six bouts, scoring 27 points in the process, to take a 33-27 lead after heavyweight.

The Eagles' run started with a Brad Lucas major decision and Josh Lewis was ultra impressive in his victory via pin. Robbie Bero followed at 171 pounds with a major decision and Griffin Jackson scored several late takedowns to register a major decision of his own at 189 pounds.

At 215 pounds, Youngsville's Stephen Beattie and Eisenhower's Kenny Peters wrestled to a scoreless tie deep into the third and final period before Beattie was able to take Peters to his back for three back points and the 3-0 victory that tied the match at 27-27.

The final match of the night to take place on the mat didn't disappoint with Youngsville's Aaron Niemeyer squaring off with Eisenhower's Dan Monticue. Niemeyer opened up a 1-0 advantage and held it until late in the third period when Monticue scored a takedown to ease ahead, 2-1. Niemeyer fought to escape and did so at the final buzzer of the match, leaving things tied as the wrestlers fell to the mat exhausted. The hotly-contested bout would not see overtime, however, as Monticue was injured as time expired and unable to continue, giving Niemeyer the victory via injury default and the Eagles a 33-27 lead.

However, with the Eagles out of wrestlers, the Knights got forfeit wins from Jeb Fedorchuk at 103 pounds and Kirk Fedorchuk at 112 pounds allowing Ike to leave Youngsville with the victory.

Youngsville coach Philip Knapp chose to look past the forfeits his team gave up and focus on the effort his guys put forward on the mat.

"Forfeits will kill you, but we can't really do anything about that," said Knapp. "The guys wrestled hard and did all they could, but we gave up too many bonus points and weren't able to secure enough of our own."

Both teams are back in action Thursday with the Knights visiting Union City and the Eagles visiting Maplewood.

Eisenhower 39, Youngsville 33

119: Tommy Fedorchuk (E) p. Michael Darling (Y), 2:53

125: Dylan Baker (E) wbf.

130: Jeff Parker (E) p. Hunter Proctor (Y), 1:10

135: Mitch Wilston (E) p. Kevin Seeley (Y), 2:08

140: Nick Lucas (Y) p. Dillon Farrell (E), 3:34

145: Logan Head (E) d. Bobby Rouche (Y), 2-1

152: Brad Lucas (Y) md. Scott Hodges (E), 17-6

160: Josh Lewis (Y) p. Jonathan Camp (E), 1:50

171: Robbie Bero (Y) md. Kenny Stuart (E), 15-3

189: Griffin Jackson (Y) md. Jake Johnson (E), 12-4

215: Stephen Beattie (Y) d. Kenny Peters (E), 3-0

285: Aaron Niemeyer (Y) inj. def. Dan Monticue (E)

103: Jeb Fedorchuk (E) wbf.

112: Kirk Fedorchuk (E) wbf.

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Junior varsity match

Tyler Stanbro (E) p. Zack Battko (Y), 0:42