After falling behind early, the Mountain Cat wrestlers, ranked third in the country, got a technical fall from fifth-ranked Cody Law at 157 lbs. and a pin from defending National Champion Tyler Reinhart at 165 lbs. take a lead they would never give up in a 29-11 PSAC-opening victory at Kutztown University on Thursday.  With the win, Pitt-Johnstown improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC.
 
Kutztown jumped to out a quick 8-0 lead after two bouts.  Austin Petrill scored a 17-2 technical fall at 5:57 over Zeke Beatty to start and Lucas Miller outlasted Nolan Link, 4-3 at 133 lbs.
 
Pitt-Johnstown got on the scoreboard at 141 lbs. when Chris Eddins dealt Ryne Morrison a 10-5 loss, but the Golden Bears rebuilt their lead to 11-3 with Chris Haegele's 6-4 overtime win in the 149-lb. bout.
 
However, the Mountain Cats stormed back to quickly take the lead.  Law won a 19-4 technical fall over James Meyer at 157 lbs., and Reinhart pinned Connor Rogovitch at 2:15 to put Pitt-Johnstown in front, 14-8.
 
Pitt-Johnstown kept it going and never looked back.  Ninth-ranked John Blankenship downed Region No. 4 Joe Balboni, 11-5, at 174 lbs., and Levi Niebauer upset Region No. 3 Colin Schildt, 4-0, at 184 lbs. to increase it to 20-8.
 
Kutztown needed in the final two bouts with bonus points just to knot it up, but the Mountain Cats wouldn't let it happen.  Pitt-Johnstown kept the momentum and sealed the victory at 197 lbs. with Tyler Oliver's 8-2 decision over Christian Jenco.
 
Then Mountain Cats then capped it off in fine fashion with red-shirt freshman Allan Beattie's upset over sixth-ranked Ryan Appleby at 285 lbs.  Beattie held a 4-3 third period lead, then pinned Appleby at 4:52 to set the final a 29-11.
 
With the loss, the Golden Bears fell to 0-1 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC.
 
The Mountain Cats will make their 2016-17 home debut with a conference match against East Stroudsburg on November 22 at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center, before traveling to Nork York City to wrestle Johns Hopkins (MD) and LIU-Post in Madison Square Garden on November 27.