Photos by Ryan Brennecke / The BulletinMountain View’s Kevin Wright throws Bend’s Justin Vinton to the mat during the 160-pound match.

Within 10 seconds of Thursday night’s Civil War, momentum shifted twice.

Late in the first 30-second overtime tiebreaker at 160 pounds, Mountain View’s Kevin Wright logged an escape and an immediate takedown to take a 7-4 lead. Bend’s Justin Vinton quickly answered with a reversal and two near-fall points just before the buzzer to grab an 8-7 advantage. In the second 30-second tiebreaker, Vinton earned another point and held on for a 9-7 victory.

That win put the Lava Bears ahead 15-9, and a fall at 170 pounds by Bend’s Tucker Pies over Mountain View’s Toby Arndt — Pies’ first career victory over Arndt at any level, according to Lava Bears coach Luke Larwin — guided the Bears to a 48-21 wrestling dual win at Bend High.

“It was a great win for us,” Larwin said. “Our last regular-season match, it’s always a big deal to beat Mountain View and win the Civil War dual. Our kids showed up, they competed hard, and they stuck to the plan. They got after it and wrestled with confidence.”

“We thought we could win this dual,” Mountain View coach Les Combs said. “But everything had to fall right. Their kids (the Lava Bears) wrestled great. They had a great night.”

Kasey Beuschlein recorded a pin at 126 pounds to kick off the dual, and Austin Palmer fended off a late rally to book a 11-7 decision to help the Lava Bears build an early 9-0 edge.

Mountain View’s Kaleb Winebarger picked up a third-period pin, however, and Tracy Pitcher logged a 13-8 decision to even things up 9-9.

In the 152-pound match, Bend’s Dacoda Crane defeated the Cougars’ Jimmy Radaford 8-6, and he was followed by Vinton’s thrilling win at 160 and Pies’ pin at 170. It was Pies’ 170-pound match that Larwin pointed to as a game-changer.

In the early stages of that tilt, Pies was on his back, fighting to avoid a pin by Arndt. A takedown and three near-fall points put Pies in a 5-0 hole, but the Lava Bear junior recorded a reversal and quickly finished Arndt with a fall.

“He just got over the flu,” Larwin noted about Pies. “He’s just a great competitor. It just shows that wrestling can equalize anybody if you’re tough.”

After two straight forfeits extended Bend’s lead to 42-9, Mountain View’s Conner Duhn and Zack Howe registered pins at 106 and 113 pounds, respectively. But Chance Beutler capped the Lava Bear victory, pinning the Cougars’ Tristan Baker at 120 pounds.

“The program mantra we have is don’t let winning or losing get in the way of getting better,” said Combs, whose team — along with Bend, Redmond and Summit — gears up for the Class 5A Special District 4 regional tournament next week at Bend High. “We wanted to wrestle well. We wanted to win. But that’s just the way wrestling is. You take your loss and move on.”

“This is a huge confidence booster,” Larwin said. “This is emotionally such a great win for us going into the regional tournament. It makes the kids really believe in how they’ve improved and believe in their abilities and know that, ‘If I do my best, no matter what, good things are going to happen.’”

—Reporter: 541-383-0307,glucas@bendbulletin.com.