The Dragons gave up forfeits at 113 and 126, so in actuality, the match was even closer than the score would indicate.

“To give up two forfeits, to give up 12 points when they walk into the gym says a lot about our young team,” said Warren coach Paul Streich. “It’s early in the year, and we still have work to do.”

There were a couple of big storylines that emerged for the Dragons, and freshman Josh Letko was at the top of the list.

After going 4-1 at the Eisenhower JV tournament, Letko needed just 1:20 to pin the Bulldogs’ Alex Carlson in his first varsity match.

Warren’s Ryan Madigan gets his hand raised in victory after his first period pin fall.

“Josh Letko, big pin in front of the home crowd,” noted Streich. “I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Jamo Douvlos, who was injured in his first match of the season last year against Redbank Valley’s Hutson Martz, got some sweet revenge.

Douvlos needed just 38 seconds to pin Martz, the 15th ranked wrestlers in Pennsylvania at 182 per FloWrestling.

“Jamo Douvlos, wrestling a boy he wrestled last year and broke his ankle, first match, that’s a big pin,” Streich said.

For the Dragons, there was no drama with Ryan Madigan, Joey Arnold and Zack Zinger, as they also earned first period falls.

“Hunger,” Streich said of what his he is looking for early in the season. “I want the guys that are willing to commit and give everything. Coach (Dean) Johnson says we need to get a little bit better every day and we’ve got a great place to start.”

In the most exciting match of the night, Warren’s Donovan Fiscus got a third period reversal to beat Dalton Shaffer, 4-2.

This was a strong Redbank Valley team to face in the opener, one that was coming off a good start to the season at the Hickory Tournament.

Among Redbank’s other state-ranked wrestlers are Ethan Wiant, who earned a pin over Kyle Swick at 152.

“They’ve got a very solid team, top to bottom,” Streich said of the Bulldogs. “They almost all placed at the Hickory tournament over the weekend. You could see it tonight, they came for a battle. They’ve had a whole tournament to get ready and this was our first experience and we’re only going to build from here.

“This sets the bar for us. We’re going to see tough competition all year long. Our schedule is filled with tough competition. This is going to pay off down the road for all these guys.”

The Dragons return to action next Wednesday, hosting Meadville.

– – –

REDBANK VALLEY 48, WARREN 33

220 – Caresn Rupp (R) pinned Jake Hayes, 2:14

285 – Koby Bonnano (R) pinned Tristan Dolan, 1:22

106 – Cole Bish (R) pinned Christian Papalia, 4:32

113 – Ridge Cook (R) won by forfeit

120 – Josh Letko (W) pinned Alex Carlson, 1:20

126 – Trenten Rupp (R) won by forfeit

132 – Ryan Madigan (W) pinned Jacob Kundick, :35

138 – Donovan Fiscus (W) dec. Dalton Bish, 4-2

145 – Kris Shaffer (R) pinned Alex Anderson, 2:57

152 – Ethan Wiant (R) pinned Kyle Swick, 1:26

160 – Joey Arnold (W) pinned Noah Anderson, 1:19

170 – Zack Zinger (W) pinned Coltin Bartley, 1:40

182 -Jamo Douvlos (W) pinned Hutson Martz :38

195 – Aiden Gardner (R) pinned Brandon Daugharthy, 1:29

– – –

JV

Gabe Carroll (R) pinned Hunter Seelinger, 2:50

Dustin Yarger (R) pinned Donovan Davies, :49

Ray Schreckengost (R) pinned Easton Hultberg, 4:23

Landon Douvlos (W) tech fall Aiden Lehnortt, 5:20