Conestoga beats Upper Darby first time in a decade behind controversial call

Upper Darby was runner-up in the Central last year after three straight league titles. With Conestoga’s league slate front-loaded, this win was imperative for any hopes at winning its first crown since 2006.

“It’s pretty cool because it reflects we’re getting better,” Johnson said. “It felt good to be the underdog and win it.”

The Pioneers climbed out of their early hole thanks to pins by freshman Mitch Baker (120) and Frederick Mucklow (138) and a major decision by Morgan Lofland (132). Conestoga won eight of the final 11 matches to pull away.

“Our first three guys are freshmen and this was their first experience in a high school dual meet,” Elicker said. “It’s different than middle school or youth. It’s a different atmosphere with a good team and there’s a learning curve. We’ll go back to the room and work on things we failed at.”

Upper Darby’s youth was executing early, but just didn’t have the firepower to win the close matches down the stretch. Still, Martin took some positives away from the competition.

“We’re really young,” Martin said. “We only have two seniors in the lineup. We showed some fight and the kids are getting better every day and hopefully we’ll be able to pull it together to make a run at the end of the year.”

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