SUNBURY — The inaugural Northumberland County Recreation Committee All-Star Wrestling dual meet on Tuesday night at Shikellamy High School was an event to honor some of District 4’s top seniors.

But it also had one of the most highly anticipated matches of the season, even if it was nominally an exhibition match.

When Class AA 119-pound state champion Tyler Erdman of Line Mountain and 130-pound PIAA champ Derek Reber of Lewisburg stepped on the mat for the final match of evening, both standouts were ready to provide a show for the fans.

“I think we both took this very seriously,” Erdman said. “I went my hardest.”

“We went hard at each other,” Reber said.

In the end, Reber was able to prevail in the battle of state champions, winning an 8-3 decision over the Line Mountain grappler. It was a match that had happened several times before, but never in front of a crowd.

“We both wrestle for the same club up at Bucknell University, so we’ve gone against each other before in a match setting,” Reber said.

Reber jumped on top early with two takedowns in the first period to open up a 4-1 lead. Reber extended his lead to 7-1 with another takedown and an escape in the second period. Erdman opened the third with a takedown to pull within 7-3, but couldn’t get Reber in a tilt, one of Erdman’s favorite scoring maneuvers.

“I knew I had to avoid (the tilt). I saw him do that to a lot guys this season,” Reber said. “I wanted to keep it on the feet as much as possible because that is where I’m best.”

Erdman went up two weight classes to meet Reber in the event.

“We both weighed the same, but he’s been that big all year and I think he was a little more used to the weight,” Erdman said.

Erdman’s advantage might have been conditioning. He’s been running track since wrestling season, but Erdman didn’t agree.

“There is a big difference between running shape and wrestling shape,” Erdman said.

The Reber-Erdman match wrapped up a night that featured eight other matches, five of which went to decision. Justin Erdman of Line Mountain, Colby Sprenkle of Shamokin, L.J. Ficks of Milton, A.J. Yingling of Shikellamy, James Mabus of Mifflinburg all won by decision.

Selinsgrove’s Aaron Ernst won by technical fall over Tyler Watson of Milton in a 160-pound bout. Levi Yost of Warrior Run won by fall over Caleb Vesnefskie of Shamokin in a 215-pound bout. Eric Willow of Selinsgrove picked up a pin of Matt Consentine of Hughesville in a 285-pound bout.