MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Seventh-ranked Pitt-Johnstown kept its lock on the top of the PSAC standings by defeating No. 8 Millersville 35-5 Friday night in Pucillo Gymnasium. 

The first top-10 Division II match-up in Pucillo Gymnasium was controlled by the Mountain Cats, who are now 43-3 in PSAC dual action over the last seven years. The Mountain Cats improved to 9-0 overall and 2-0 in PSAC action. UPJ entered the night with five nationally-ranked wrestlers to Millersville's three and took nine of the 10 bouts including five bonus point wins. 

The Marauders' lone win was produced by the 133-pound Devin Flannery, ranked No. 1 in Division II. He scored a 23-7 technical fall as the second period ended, improving him to 19-2 on the season. The other two bouts that pitted nationally ranked wrestlers went the Mountain Cats' way with No. 1 Jacob Ealy topping No. 8 Craig Cook at 149 and No. 11 Dillon Keane scoring an upset of No. 6 Brandon Connor at 165. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Flannery gave the Marauders an early 5-4 lead with his sixth tech fall of the season. Flannery started the match with urgency, driving Dajauhn Hertzog from his feet to his back 20 seconds into the match, and immediately picked up two nearfall points. In full control of the action, Flannery would score two and then cut Hertzog loose before quickly pressing the attack. He did that seven times before getting another takedown in the closing seconds of the second period, ending the match early. 
• In what could be a preview of the late round of the Super Region 1 Championships or nationals, the unbeaten Ealy ran his record to 18-0 after a challenge from Cook. Cook had been undefeated against Division II competition in his weight class, but Ealy turned away all of Cook's early efforts to score. Leading 6-1 late in the match, Ealy caught Cook's ankle, and in an instant turned the takedown into a pin. 
• Connor and Keane faced off for the third time in less than 365 days, and Keane earned his second win, avenging his loss to Connor at the 2022 NCAA Championships. The turning point of the match came in the second period. Connor started from the down position and nearly scored a reversal, but the scramble was won by Keane, as he turned Connor to his back for four nearfall points and a 5-2 lead. Connor started the third period on top and could not reciprocate the back points. Connor conceded the escape point with 30 seconds left in an effort to score a takedown, but Keane's defensive wrestling kept Connor at bay. 

REACTION FROM COACH JERRY BOLAND
• On what can be learned from the dual: "I think we knew what to expect. Nothing that happened tonight caught our guys by surprise. From a dual meet perspective, Pitt-Johnstown is much better than No. 7 in the country. They beat the fourth-ranked team pretty handily, so that goes to show the strength that they have. Our guys battled tonight. What we take away from it is how we prepared, and I think we prepared well. We'll take that and build on it."
• On trying to beat a deep lineup like UPJ: "To win that match, a lot of things would have to go our way. There were seven really good matches tonight and they got the better end of each one."
• On the matches at 149 and 165: "Both guys got caught in situations, and when you get in that spot against wrestlers of that caliber it is going to be hard to recover. For Craig, he got caught on his back against a kid that strong and that good. For Brandon, he initiated that whole sequence. He got his leg caught underneath and the kid stayed with that Turk for a minute and a half. Neither one of them lost from a lack of effort or lack of skill. They were caught in bad situations, and we need to learn from that."
• On Flannery's performance: "He's at the top of his game right now. Our job as coaches is to keep him there and keep him focused. I had a talk with him the other day about this--his plan, his mentality, his routine. I just think he has one goal in mind and takes everything day by day."

RESULTS
125: Trevon Gray (UPJ) over Bryce Beatty (MILL) (MD 13-3) 
133: Devin Flannery (MILL) over Dajauhn Hertzog (UPJ) (TF 23-7 5:00) 
141: Caleb Morris (UPJ) over Timothy Uhler (MILL) (Dec 5-1) 
149: Jacob Ealy (UPJ) over Craig Cook (MILL) (Fall 6:24) 
157: Nathan Smith (UPJ) over Jonathan Parrilla (MILL) (Dec 3-1) 
165: Dillon Keane (UPJ) over Brandon Connor (MILL) (Dec 6-2) 
174: James Weber (UPJ) over Andrew Vogelbacher (MILL) (MD 9-1) 
184: Brock Biddle (UPJ) over Braden Newby (MILL) (TF 15-0 3:09) 
197: Dakoda Rodger (UPJ) over Lucas Doyle (MILL) (Dec 5-2) 
285: Isaiah Vance (UPJ) over Jordan Espinosa (MILL) (MD 8-0)

UP NEXT
• Millersville travels to Kutztown for a PSAC dual on Jan. 18 and returns home to host Seton Hill on Jan. 21.