Eleven weight class battles into Tuesday’s varsity wrestling match between Brown County and Seymour, both teams were deadlocked, and local fans were looking at another possible repeat of this past year’s tiebreaker showdown.

Instead, the hosts reeled off three-straight pins, including the clincher by Aaron Lanfair, to push Brown County to a 45-27 victory.

“I wasn’t surprised at all that we were tied that late,” Eagles coach Mark Bruner said. “We have had some close matches with Seymour. Last year, we won with a tiebreaker, and I thought that we might need that again.”

Knotted at 27-all, the Eagles regained control of the action when freshman Phillip Palmer shouldered Keenan Bohall with just 38 seconds remaining in the 152-pound battle. Usually a wrestler in the 138 class, Palmer gave up more than a dozen pounds to Bohall but still managed the key win.

Lanfair then followed at 160 pounds and quickly sealed the team triumph by pinning Seymour’s Marcus Baurle in just 37 seconds, the quickest pin of the evening.

Junior Steven Buttz then closed out the match with a 1:43 pinfall against the Owls’ Richard Rohde.

Like Palmer, Lanfair also wrestled in a heavier weight class to keep the Eagles from having to forfeit.

“I’m very impressed with Aaron,” Bruner said. “He wrestled for the team tonight and came away with a huge win. He set an example I hope our other wrestlers saw.”

Seymour actually had an 18-3 advantage four battles into the meet but couldn’t hold off the hosts, who featured a few more experienced wrestlers.

“We are about one-half freshmen,” Owls coach Curt Schleibaum said. “We knew Brown County is always a good match for us, but you can never tell what can happen with young wrestlers.”

Opening the duel at 182 pounds, Seymour’s Tristan Sitterding won by forfeit to put his team in front 6-0. The Owls then increased their lead to 15 points just three battles later after Tyler Loud pinned the Eagles’ Andrew Gardner in just 47 seconds, followed by Adam Wolka shouldering Brown County’s Ty Broussard in only 54 seconds.

Jacob Mickley’s forfeit win at 106 pulled the hosts to within 18-9, and then Bruner’s crew went in front after quick pins by Austin Ely and Austin Walsh. Ely put away the Owls’ Josh Rohde in just 42 seconds in the 113 class, while Walsh needed just 47 ticks to shoulder Jackson Lentni at 120.

The closest showdown of the evening featured seniors Levi Hill of Seymour and Turner Voland of Brown County at 126. Both wrestlers were deadlocked 1-1 until Hill pulled off a reversal with 1.7 seconds remaining to win 3-1.

Cody Leeper (132) and Bristen Dial (195) were the other two winners for the Eagles, while Zefe Trejo (138) and Matthew Ruddick (145) captured the other wins for Seymour. It was Ruddick’s 12-4 major decision against Dylan Quackenbush that knotted the action at 27, setting up the exciting finale.