At this point in the season, the team score was the least of either side’s worries.

Entering the last match of Wednesday’s Allegheny Mountain League dual meet, however, Coudersport hadn’t yet sealed a win over Bradford.

The dual went quickly — only four matches were wrestled, as the Owls and Falcons combined for six forfeits and three weight classes were forfeited by both sides. Bradford’s Devon Poe finished the evening with a 7-3 victory over Bret Moss, but Coudy held on to win the meet, 30-27.

“I liked the effort,” said Bradford coach Stefan Chaussard. “We’re attacking, we just need to start setting the tempo on our feet. I think we’re letting opponents dictate too much. But I liked how we battled.”

Poe started the 126-pound match quickly — he hit Moss with a fireman’s carry for a first-period takedown. Poe then went to his tilts, but Moss kept his positioning on bottom, preventing Poe from adding near-fall points.

Poe quickly escaped from bottom in the second, then hit another fireman’s carry for two points. After Moss escaped, Poe took him down again with a blast double and rode him out the rest of the period.

The third period saw Poe attempt to turn Moss, who moved minimally on bottom but defended his back successfully. Poe picked the optional start on a reset with seven seconds left, but couldn’t find an angle from which he could attempt a throw.

“(Poe) just needs to work on closing the gap on his shots, but I thought that was good work,” Chaussard said. “Keep tightening things up and cleaning up the little details.”

The night kicked-off at 132 pounds, where forfeits to Coudy’s Nash Delp and Owen Deutschlander preceded a double forfeit at 145 and a forfeit to James Culvey at 152. Its first contested match came at 160, where Lucas Laktash went to work offensively.

Laktash scored three times on Coudy’s John Wright in the first period, first on a double near the edge of the mat, and then on a snap down after letting Wright to his feet. Laktash scored a third takedown on a snap-and-spin that countered a Wright shot attempt.

After escaping from bottom to start the second, Laktash used a blast double to take Wright to the mat, then stacking him up for a pin.

Bradford’s Christopher Rodriguez pinned Coudy’s Dylan Hajzus at 189.

In a scoreless first period, Hajzus tried to work out of a collar tie while Rodriguez countered with outside shots. As time ran out in the period, Rodriguez finally tripped Hajzus for what would have been a takedown if time hadn’t expired first.

“Even though (Rodriguez) didn’t score a takedown, I thought he put himself in positions to score in that period,” Chaussard said.

Rodriguez started the second period on bottom, attempting a standup off the whistle. As Hazjus returned Rodriguez to the mat, he attempted a merkle, but Rodriguez caught him on the way down and stuck him.

“He seems to find ways to pin kids like that,” Chaussard said. “We’re just trying to get him to be focused on what he wants to do out there. Develop a game plan to where he knows what he’s trying to go to. He seemed a little bit more methodical on his feet tonight, as far as setups and stuff go.”

Coudy’s Cooper Rossman pinned Chase Gray at heavyweight, but first added a takedown just before the end of the first period, as he gained elbow control and slid by Gray’s collar tie. Rossman started the second on top and turned Gray with a half nelson to secure a fall.

Angel Dominguez-Santiago (113) and Cascius Rissmiller (172) each also received a forfeit for Bradford, while Gavyn Ayers received a forfeit for Coudy at 215. The dual was each side’s final competition before Feb. 26’s district tournaments.

“I like to always have at least a week and a half before districts,” said Coudy coach Tom Storey. “We’re looking to avenge things that happened throughout the season, and to get better from the season. That’s kind of the way I’ve always taught them — the whole idea of going into districts is improve on what we’ve done so far, and the chips will fall where they do.”

Coudy will compete at the District 4/9 Class 2A tournament at Clarion, while Bradford will compete at the 3A tournament at Clearfield. The top five wrestlers from each weight class in each tournament will advance to regionals the following weekend.

“We just want to stay healthy and see what happens next week,” Chaussard said.

COUDERSPORT 30, BRADFORD 27 106 – Double fft. 113 – Angel Dominguez-Santiago (Bradford), forfeit 120 – Double fft. 126 – Devon Poe (Bradford) dec. 7-3 Bret Moss (Coudy) 132 – Nash Delp (Coudy), forfeit 138 – Owen Deutschlander (Coudy), forfeit 145 – Double fft. 152 – James Culvey (Coudy), forfeit 160 – Lucas Laktash (Bradford) pin 3:15 John Wright (Coudy) 172 – Cascius Rissmiller (Bradford), forfeit 189 – Christopher Rodriguez (Bradford) pin 2:21 Dylan Hajzus (Coudy) 215 – Gavyn Ayers (Coudy), forfeit HWT – Cooper Rossman (Coudy) pin 2:18 Chase Gray (Bradford)