Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt Warren’s Alex Weston lifts Eisenhower’s Sam Holt off the mat during their 132-pound match Friday at Warren Area High School. Weston ended up winning via pinfall in overtime to help the Dragons pull out a 42-27 team victory.

Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt
Eisenhower’s Alex Barnett flips Warren’s Nick DeSimone during 160-pound action Friday.

Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt
Eisenhower’s Garrett Head looks up during his match with Owen Balas.

Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt
Warren’s Jake Engstrom and Eisenhower’s Spencer Head square off in Friday’s 152-pound match at WAHS.

Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt
Eisenhower’s Nate Holt wrestles with Warren’s John Fankhouser.

Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt
Warren’s Dominic Caprino wrestles Eisenhower’s Justin Hagberg at 195.

Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt
Eisenhower’s Sam Holt and Warren’s Alex Weston listen to instructions from the referee prior to overtime in the 132-pound bout.

Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt
Ike’s John Bortz and Warren’s Matt Ristau go at it.

Friday’s wrestling match between county rivals Warren and Eisenhower certainly lived up to its billing.

When the dust settled, the Dragons walked away with a 42-27 win in front of a packed house at the Joseph A. Massa Gymnasium. The action on the mat would have been plenty on its own, but the teams also participated in “Clash for Cancer” night, in which they combined to raise over $1,500 for the Cancer Care Center of Warren through t-shirt sales, concessions and a 50-50.

Fans didn’t have to wait long for things to heat up as Warren’s Alex Weston and Eisenhower’s Sam Holt opened the night with a bang at 132 pounds.

Weston and Holt were tied 1-1 heading into the third period, where Weston scored two takedowns and Holt escaped three times with a one-point penalty to send the match into overtime. There, Weston was able to reverse and ended up pinning Holt at the 7:55 mark for the win.

At 138, Thomas Baran opened with a takedown and led after one period before Warren’s Jamo Douvlos battled back to take the lead and eventually scored a pinfall in the third.

Eisenhower got on the board at 145 with Garrett Head taking down Owen Balas in the third period and holding on for a 6-5 win. Warren’s Jake Engstrom got those points back at 152 pounds, scoring all five of his points in the second period en route to a 5-2 win over Ike’s Spencer Head.

Nick DeSimone kept the momentum rolling for the Dragons with an 11-4 decision victory over Eisenhower’s Alex Barnett in the 160-pound match, and Blake Ristau wasted little time pinning Brian Fedorchuk at 0:31 to extend Warren’s lead.

John Hummel helped swing the momentum in favor of the Knights with a 6-3 win in a back and forth match against Warren’s Liam Stevenson at 182. At 195, Warren’s Dominic Caprino and Justin Hagberg traded near falls until Caprino came away with the pin late in the second period.

The rest of the upper weights belonged to Eisenhower as Matt Huling pinned Riley Zaffino in under a minute at 220 and John Bortz pinned Matt Ristau late in the second period of the heavyweight match. On the turn, Logan Jacquay took 35 seconds to pin Ryan Madigan at 106 and pull Eisenhower within a match of tying the team score at 30-24.

That was as close as the Knights would get as Alex Anderson pinned Ike’s Austin Lundmark in the first period of the 113-pound match and Jake Fankhouser did the same to Josh Bortz in the second period at 120.

Jake Fankhouser’s win wrapped up the team victory for Warren despite Eisenhower’s Nate Holt closing things out with a 2-1 overtime decision over John Fankhouser at 126 pounds.

The Dragons are set to host Corry on Wednesday for their final dual match while Eisenhower’s focus now turns to the postseason, beginning with sections in two weeks.

Warren 42, Eisenhower 27

132 — Alex Weston (W) p. Sam Holt (E), 7:55

138 — Jamo Douvlos (W) p. Thomas Baran (E), 4:47

145 — Garrett Head (E) dec. Owen Balas (W), 6-5

152 — Jake Engstrom (W) dec. Spencer Head (E), 5-2

160 — Nick DeSimone (W) dec. Alex Barnett (E), 7-4

170 — Blake Ristau (W) p. Brian Fedorchuk (E), 0:31

182 — John Hummel (E) dec. Liam Stevenson (W), 6-3

195 — Dominic Caprino (W) p. Justin Hagberg (E), 3:32

220 — Matt Huling (E) p. Riley Zaffino (W), 0:53

285 — John Bortz (E) p. Matt Ristau (W), 3:41

106 — Logan Jacquay (E) p. Ryan Madigan (W), 1:25

113 — Alex Anderson (W) p. Austin Lundmark (E), 1:18

120 — Jake Fankhouser (W) p. Josh Bortz (E), 3:33

126 — Nate Holt (E) dec. John Fankhouser (W), 2-1