The third-ranked Pitt-Johnstown wrestlers got off to a slow start and fell behind 9-0, but stormed back, with falls from true freshman Chris Eddins', fifth-ranked Cody Law, and top-ranked Tyler Reinhart fall on their way to a 27-18 victory at West Liberty (WV) University in Tuesday's 2016-17 dual meet opener.
 
After Pitt-Johnstown's Sam Holandez battled back with a late takedown to force overtime, West Liberty was able to take an early 3-0 lead when ninth-ranked Zach Brown used a takedown of his own in the extra period to defeat Holandez, 5-4, at 125 lbs.
 
Then, at 133 lbs., the Hilltoppers pulled off a huge upset to make it 9-0 with Bryce Humphreys' fall over defending National Champion Nick Roberts with just four seconds remaining in the first period.
 
The Mountain Cats answered at 141 lbs. with Eddins' fall over Cameron Zuber at 3:40 to narrow the gap to three, before Super Region No 4-ranked Cole Landowski defeated Josh Cornell, 8-2, at 149 lbs. to knot it up after four bouts.
 
Pitt-Johnstown kept it going and got a falls from Law at 157 lbs. and Reinhart, the defending National Champion at 165 lbs.  Law pinned Cade Bates at 3:49 to give the Mountain Cats their first lead of the night, before Reinhart pinned Tryston Kessler in just 57 seconds to extend the lead to 21-9.
 
West Liberty responded with another upset.  This time at 174 lbs., when Milton Kobaly pinned ninth-ranked John Blankenship at 2:57 to get the Hilltoppers back in it.
 
The teams exchanged decision victories at 184 and 197 lbs. Pitt-Johnstown's Levi Niebauer got a takedown with a minute left in regulation and used a point for riding time to defeat Nathan Dawson, 5-3, at 184 lbs., but West Liberty's Logan Kemp scored a 6-4 win over Tyler Oliver at 197 lbs. to make it 24-18 entering the final bout of the night.
 
However, the Mountain Cats sealed the nine-point victory when eighth-ranked D.J. Sims dealt Chris Cook an 11-4 loss at 285 lbs.
 
With the loss, the Hilltoppers slipped to 1-1 to begin the season.
 
The Mountain Cats open the PSAC schedule at Kutztown on Wednesday, before making their 2016-17 home debut with a conference match against East Stroudsburg on November 22 at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.