After fourth-ranked Dave Fogle (125 lbs) got things started with a forfeit win, Ashland answered with a 9-3 decision by third-ranked Michael Labry over Luke Palamides at 133 lbs. to make it 6-3
 
Back-to-back decision wins by the Mountain Cats increased it to 12-3.  Eighth-ranked Dave Cawley earned a 13-8 victory over Robert Mason at 141 lbs., and Sam Hanau followed with an 8-4 win over J.J. Burns at 149 lbs.
 
The Eagles got a win at 157 lbs. to cut the deficit in half, but John Blankenship held off Jake Piatt, 5-3, at 165 lbs. to extend the Pitt-Johnstown advantage to 15-9.
 
Again, Ashland responded.  This time with Luke Cramer's 9-3 decision over Nikos Garafola at 174 lbs. that setup the battle between the second and third-ranked wrestlers in the country at 184 lbs.
 
In that bout, third-ranked Bryson Hall scored a 4-2 decision over second-ranked Travis McKillop in the first tie breaker to get the Eagles to within three at 15-12.
 
However, Bennett put the match away for Pitt-Johnstown when he recorded his sixth first-period fall in six victories since joining the Mountain Cats for the second semester.  Bennett pinned Ray Canale at 2:01 to put Pitt-Johnstown in front, 21-12 with just one bout remaining.
 
With the match already decided, Ashland got a 3-0 win by Tyler Houska over Josh Duplin at 285 lbs. that set the final at 21-15.
 
With the loss, the Eagles slipped to 5-4.
 
Pitt-Johnstown continues a stretch of five straight road matches to start the second semester at Tiffin (OH) University on Saturday.  The Mountain Cats will wrestle their next home match on January 25 when Millersville University visits the Sports Center for an 11 a.m. start.
 
125 – #4 Dave Fogle (UPJ)  Won By Forfeit  6-0 UPJ
133 – #3 Michael Labry (AU)  Decision  Luke Palamides (UPJ)  9-3  6-3 UPJ
141 – #8 Dave Cawley (UPJ)  Decision  Robert Mason (AU)  13-8  9-3 UPJ
149 – Sam Hanau (UPJ)  Decision  J.J. Diven (AU)  8-4  12-3 UPJ
157 – Kyle Burns (AU)  Decision  Sam Molina (UPJ)  4-1  12-6 UPJ
165 –John Blankenship (UPJ)  Decision  Jake Piatt (AU)  5-3  15-6 UPJ
174 –Luke Cramer (AU)  Decision  Nikos Garafola (UPJ)  9-6  15-9 UPJ
184 – #3 Bryson Hall  Decision  #2 Travis McKillop (UPJ)  4-2 TB1  15-12 UPJ
197 – Zac Bennett (UPJ)  Fall  Ray Canale (AU)  2:01  21-12 UPJ
285 – Tyler Houska (AU)  Decision  Josh Duplin (UPJ)  3-0  21-15 UPJ