As good as Central Dauphin's Garrett Peppelman is within his 160-pound weight class, it's clearly obvious that Chance Marsteller is at that infamous other level.
It was Marsteller-Peppelman II on Saturday night at Giant Center in the finals of the PIAA Class AAA wrestling championships. The first one in the District 3 finals on Feb. 23 ended at 7-2 in Marsteller's favor.
This one ended in a more convincing style as Marsteller rang up a 17-5 major decision.
Peppelman's tactic was to try to mix things up from the neutral position, try to get in better attacking position, try to go after his legs.
And he tried all of that, getting off the first shot that forced Marsteller to nearly do a split at the end of the mat to prevent Peppelman from converting on a possible double-leg takedown.
Many have tried against Marsteller; no one has succeeded in 125 straight matches.
"We thought we could get on his head a little bit and get in good position but he's just at another level,'' CD coach Jeff Sweigard said.
"We had a little different game plan and it is what it is. We were in twice on a shot and one was right on the edge. We tried to get him a little off balance. You know, it's Chance. What are you gonna do?''
Sweigard was able to explain what puts Marsteller, Saturday's night's Outstanding Wrestler Award winner, at that next level.
"His hands are great, he keeps his feet moving; you can't get in on his hands, he's constantly moving,'' Sweigard said. "The training he's done; he's trained at that higher level. His hand-fighting is like college.''
There's little doubt Marsteller is already at the college level. But he's enjoying high school while he can and won't make a college choice until next fall, spurning anxious Penn State fans who want him to sign on with the No. 1 Nittany Lions.
For now, he'll be content with being happy signing autographs for aspiring youth wrestlers and glad-handing with family and friends after a third state title.
He threw a hip toss at Peppelman that made the large crowd ooh and aah as Peppelman landed squarely on his back. "He came after me. I had to step it up and he was clamping down on my elbows and I needed to start scoring on him. The throw was just there, a nice little hip toss,'' Marsteller said.
"I started to open up on my takedowns and I think I started to break him.''
He said he heard the crowd's reaction after the throw. "Yeah, I can hear it and I was like, 'oh, it's go time from here.' It's always a good feeling.''
After the win he took his time to sign autographs on sweatshirts, on programs, everything but body parts. He posed for pictures and did some interviews.
"I enjoy it, it's probably the best part about it,'' Marsteller said about the post-match adulation.
"I like giving people a show, giving them what they want to see. That's the best part about it.
"Little kids signing autographs and taking pictures... I stocked up on some Sharpies this morning,'' he said with a laugh.
As for Peppelman, he'll be back; count on it.
"Garrett handles it well,'' Sweigard said. "I said, 'you good?' He said 'yeah, I'm fine; I tried the things we went over and it is what it is.'''