That’s when Furman could hear his coaches telling him just pick up one point at a time. And slowly but surely, Furman did exactly that.

“I dug myself in a little bit of a hole obviously,” Furman said. “I heard my coaches say ‘one point at a time’ and I really took that to heart. I was able to battle back and get the win.”

And Furman got the win in exciting fashion.

The Red Raider overcame a four-point deficit in the third period, battling for every point he could and tied up the match to go into overtime. That’s where Furman won with three points in overtime to win, 10-7 SV.

Liam Seeley of Montgomery wins his match against Hunter Berry of Sugar Valley during their match at 114 pounds at the PIAA District 4 AA Central Sectional at Hughesville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“It’s one step at a time, one point at a time and it keeps getting better,” Furman said on winning gold over Hartman.

Montgomery has talent on its roster top to bottom, and that was on display Saturday afternoon. The Red Raiders had 11 wrestlers qualify for next week’s District 4 championships.

Entering the third period and down by four points, Furman knew he had to get points slowly but surely, and was able to be methodical and score when needed and didn’t try to force anything offensively and make mistakes.

“I was just trying to open it up and get to my attacks,” Furman said. “I was able to score right at the end of the period and I knew I had a little momentum going into overtime.”

Furman wasn’t at all surprised with the team success on Saturday and having 11 wrestlers qualify for districts.

Liam Seeley of Montgomery takes down Hunter Berry of Sugar Valley during their match at 114 pounds at the PIAA District 4 AA Central Sectional at Hughesville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“We’re a tough team. We’re going to go out and battle every match. Coach (Denny) Harer is a great guy. He’s been doing it for a long time and knows what he’s talking about,” Furman said. “He really knows how to preach to us kids that we’re going to be able to step on the line and work and compete every day.”

Montgomery had four sectional champions in Liam Seely (114), Brandt Harer (139), Furman and Coy Bryson (189) while Manny Stoltzfus (107) and Coy Wagner (127) were both runners-up at their respective weights.

AJ Kroft took bronze at 133 and taking fourth-place finishers were Porter Hall (121), Raiden Felix (160), Evan Hugar (215) and Ethan Hugar (285).

“Our team’s special. We have a lot of talent on our team,” Harer said. “Our guys are putting forth the effort and we’re seeing that. … That’s a great accomplishment for our team (to send 11 to districts).”

Harer was nothing shy of absolutely dominant on Saturday. The No. 1 ranked wrestler in Pennsylvania at 139 pounds and No. 5th ranked wrestler in the entire country needed just 29 seconds to pin Bloomsburg’s Cayetano Smith in the quarterfinals. That was followed by two dominating tech fall victories, first beating Montoursville’s Karter Stone 21-6, in 66 seconds and then needing just 45 seconds to secure a 19-4 tech fall against Sugar Valley’s Jarren McCloskey.

Coy Bryson of Montgomery wins his match against Owen Kleinman of Montoursville during their match at 189 pounds at the PIAA District 4 AA Central Sectional at Hughesville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“Obviously my goal is to score as many points as possible and do the best I can and give just 100% effort, and that’s what I’ve been doing,” Harer said.

Harer noted that his goal isn’t to go out and earn tech falls, but it just so happens that’s how it works out.

“I don’t really just try to tech fall people, I just go out there and do what I do best and whatever points rack up, that’s just what happens,” the Red Raider said.

Stoltzfus lost a tough matchup at 107 to Montoursville freshman Branden Eisenhour, falling in overtime 7-4 after Eisenhour secured three points in the extra period after tying it in the third at 4-4.

“Just get to my attacks. At the end of it on the edge, I tried that slap by because I was on the edge, I knew if I was in trouble I could get out of the way, so I just tried it and it worked,” Eisenhour said of wrestling a standout like Stoltzfus, a returning state qualifier. “I believe that I could get the slap by and I could just move and get through this period.”

David Kennedy of Montoursville takes down Carden Wagner of Hughesville during their match at 127 pounds at the PIAA District 4 AA Central Sectional at Hughesville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

At 114, Seeley pinned Sugar Valley’s Hunter Berry 11 seconds into the second period to win gold. After Harer and Furman won back-to-back golds at 139 and 145, respectively, Montgomery’s next win came at 189. That’s where Bryson wrestled Montoursville’s Owen Kleinman and was able to continuously put up points en route to a 16-3 victory.

Brandt Harer of Montgomery and Jarren McCloskey grapple during their match at 139 pounds at the PIAA District 4 AA Central Sectional at Hughesville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Manny Stoltzfus of Montgomery is taken down by Branden Eisenhour of Montoursville during their match at 107 pounds at the PIAA District 4 AA Central Sectional at Hughesville High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette