All season, Newton-Conover head wrestling coach Ed Clark has relied on his heavyweight classes to pull him through tough matches. On Tuesday in the state 2A dual-team tournament, he got his much-needed push from the lowerweights.

Austin Setzer started a string of four Newton-Conover pins in five matches to help give the Red Devils a 39-36 win over Wilkes Central in the second round of the state dual-team tournament at Newton-Conover Middle School.

Setzer pinned his 112-pound opponent, Luke Richardson, in 31 seconds to give the Red Devils back the lead at 21-18. Following Setzer’s pin was a pin from Ben Reinhardt at 119 pounds over Scotty Royal in 2 minutes, 20 seconds. The pin gave Newton-Conover some breathing room at 27-18, and some momentum heading into the final few matches.

Wilkes Central’s Grayson Cohn answered with a pin over Eric Oesterling at 125 pounds in 35 seconds to pull the Eagles to within three points at 27-24. But Newton-Conover answered with two more pins at 130 pounds (Charlie Avis) and 135 pounds (Randy Ortega) to seal the deal.

“(The lower weight classes) all came through there,” Clark said. “We got pinned in a couple of matches I didn’t think we were gonna get pinned in.”

Those matches were the Red Devils’ bread and butter, the upper classes.

At 189 pounds, Wilkes Central’s Vincent Beam earned a 9-4 decision over Gilbert Rodriguez, pulling the Eagles to within three points at 9-6. Andrew Reinhardt, the Catawba Valley Athletic Conference wreslter of the year, returned the favor with a pin of Andy Benesh in 39 seconds, giving the Red Devils a 15-6 lead.

But Julian Cernuda followed suit in the heavyweight match (285 pounds), by pulling his Wilkes Central opponent, Colton Williams, on top of him, resulting in the 1:27 pin. The pin gave the Eagles some momentum, and they took the lead 18-15 after Cole Johnson pinned Kenny Roundy at 103 pounds in 2:51. In that match, Roundy was actually leading in points, when Johnson surprised him. “It’s not good momentum-wise when you lose a match you’re winning by a pin,” Clark said.

But Setzer would pick him up, along with Ben Reinhardt, Avis and Ortega to send the Red Devils to the sectional round, which will be on Thursday. “(Setzer) did a wonderful job for us today, and he’s starting to come into his own (as a wrestler),” Clark said. “This time of the year, the name of the game is to survive. (From here on out), we’re going to have to strap it up there, and fight even harder.”

The first round win over North Henderson was relatively easy for the Red Devils. They jumped out to a 43-10 lead after Ben Reinhardt pinned his opponent in 5:10, and went on to win 43-31 after North Henderson won the final four matches—two of which were forfeits by the Red Devils.

To advance to the second round, Wilkes Central knocked off South Iredell 45-24.

The Red Devils will be in the sectional and possible regional rounds on Thursday. Opponents for the  match, and its location, will be determined by geography once the second round winners have all been announced.