Seneca Valley wrestler Louis Newell gets the better of Mars' Davis Luedtke in their 120-pound match Wednesday night. Newell won the match, 15-0.The Raiders won the overall dual, 49-16.

ADAMS TWP — The 10 bouts in which Seneca Valley's wrestlers scored first were the 10 bouts won by the Raiders in Wednesday night's Section 3A match at Mars.

Coincidence? Not according to SV coach Kevin Wildrick, who watched his team pin a 49-16 loss on the Planets.

“Your chances of winning go up if you can score first,” he said. “We like to stay on the offensive, stay on our toes.”

The Raiders (8-1, 4-0) earned five pins, including Dylan Chappell, Jason Geyer, Ty Gross, John Michael Siwiak and Kevin Meeder.

“The guys did a good job tonight of staying focused and doing their thing within our offense,” Wildrick said.

Mars opened the match with Anthony Grieco's major decision over SV's Nick Funovits at 220 pounds.

“That stood out a bit because he (Grieco) was at 195 for us and bumped up,” said Mars coach Jason Wilk.

It would be a while before the Planets (3-1) tasted victory again, however. The Raiders reeled off seven straight wins to open up a commanding 34-4 lead. Included in that run was Antonio Amelio's 1-0 decision over Aidan Leshinsky.

“We both wrestle club for Young Guns (in Murrysville) and drill and practice with each other all the time,” said Amelio. “I knew right away that it was going to be low-scoring. We both used good base defenses.”

Amelio scored the bout's lone point with an escape in the second period, then held off Leshinsky, who was not able to answer with an escape of his own in the third.

“I just tried to keep his hips down and keep pressure on him,” Amelio added. “I could not allow him to get it.”

Mars finally started to close the gap when senior Alex Hornfeck took the mat for the 145-pound bout. He decisioned Nick Montalbano, 5-1, thanks to takedowns in the first two periods. The win sparked a Mars run.

The Planets received a 6-2 decision from Mitch McMarlin and a pin late in the first period from Jake Richardson to cut their deficit to 34-16 with three bouts remaining. They could still have forced a tie on the scoreboard at that point, but Gross clinched the win for the Raiders with a pin of Charlie Luedtke at 170 pounds.

“Seneca Valley has a tough lineup from top to bottom, but they are strongest from 106 to 145,” said Wilk. “All we asked of our kids was to give it their best and they did. I was happy with the battle.”

Seneca Valley hosts Musselman (W.Va.) Thursday while Mars travels to Pine-Richland next Wednesday to close the section slate.

Seneca Valley 49, Mars 16

(Match started at 220 pounds)

106-Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (SV) major dec. Noah Hunkele, 13-0; 113-Dylan Chappell (SV) pinned Anthony Maiure, 1:16; 120-Louis Newell (SV) tech. fall Davis Luedtke, 15-0; 126-Jason Geyer (SV) pinned Nolan Wicker, 1:16; 132-Antonio Amelio (SV) dec. Aidan Leshinsky, 1-0; 138-Drew Vlasnik (SV) major dec. Max Lamm, 10-1; 145-Alex Hornfeck (M) dec. Nick Montalbano, 5-1; 152-Mitch McMarlin (M) dec. Michael Adamson, 6-2; 160-Jake Richardson (M) pinned Conor Hayes, 1:59; 170-Ty Gross (SV) pinned Charlie Luedtke, 1:24; 182-Patrick Johnson (SV) dec. Sean McElhinney, 1-0; 195-John Michael Siwiak (SV) pinned Kevin Soergel, 1:07; 220-Anthony Grieco (M) major dec. Nick Funovits, 11-3; Hwt.-Kevin Meeder (SV) pinned Jeff DeSantes, 3:04