Since Pitt-Johnstown joined the PSAC in 2013, it's come down to Pitt-Johnstown and Mercyhurst for the conference dual meet championship, and 2016-17 was no different.  On Saturday, the fourth-ranked Mountain Cats made the trip to Erie to take on No. 7 Mercyhurst and used a pin from No.1-ranked Cody Law (157 lbs.) and a major decision from Levi Niebauer (184 lbs.) to build a 19-11 lead, then held off the Lakers 19-18 to claim Pitt-Johnstown's second straight PSAC Dual Meet Championship.
 
Pitt-Johnstown wrapped up the regular season with a 14-2 overall record and a 7-0 mark in the PSAC.
Mercyhurst started fast with No.1-ranked Willie Bohince's 15-0 technical fall at 5:00 over Sam Holandez at 125 lbs., but the Mountain Cats came right back with a 7-3 decision by Tanner Cahill over Jeff Sisk at 133 lbs., and a 5-0 win by Chris Eddins over to Braden Flinn at 141 lbs. to take their first lead at 6-5.
 
After Logan Grass held off Cole Landowski, 4-2, to give the lead back to the Lakers, Law made short work of Cole Gavin at 157 lbs.  Law pinned Gavin in 1:29 to give Pitt-Johnstown a 12-8 advantage and set up a match-up at 165 lbs. between the top-two wrestlers in the country in Mercyhurst's #1-ranked Fran Mizia and Pitt-Johnstown defending National Champion and No. 2-ranked Tyler Reinhart.
 
Reinhart got a late reversal to take a 4-3 lead after the first period.  An escape in the second period put Reinhart up 5-3 going into the third period, but Mizia battled back to defeat Reinhart, 8-6, and get the Lakers to within one at 12-11.
 
Wins at 174 lbs. and 184 increased Pitt-Johnstown's lead to 19-11 with two bouts left.  At 1774 lbs., No. 12 John Blankenship secured a 7-1 decision over Kevin Holman, and Niebauer built an 11-1 lead after two periods on his way to a 16-4 major decision win over Nick Konyk.
 
Mercyhurst stayed alive and narrowed the deficit to four with Wes Phipps' 8-0 major decision over Nico Pecora, but the Lakers need bonus points from fourth-ranked Andy Welton if they had any chance of sharing the PSAC title.
 
Pitt-Johnstown's two-time NCAA National Qualifier D.J. Sims didn't allow that to happen.  Sims suffered a 3-1 loss to Welton, but his efforts preserved the one-point Mountain Cat victory and the second straight PSAC Championship.
 
With the loss, Mercyhurst dropped to 10-5 overall and 5-2 in the PSAC.
 
Pitt-Johnstown travels back to Mercyhurst for the 2017 Super Regional I Tournament on February 24 and 25 and the NCAA Division II National tournament in Birmingham, Ala. On March 10-11.