Arlington won the final four matches to come from behind and defeat the visiting Oak Harbor High School wrestling team 45-29 Tuesday, Dec. 10.

The Eagles, trailing 29-21, rattled off three first-round pins and a decision at the end to win the season opener for both schools.

The two teams traded leads throughout the match with Oak Harbor taking the first lead with a 13-4 major decision by Jeremy Vester (132 pounds) and a 11-4 decision by his brother Jahleel (138).

Arlington went up with a pair of pins over Zach Aketch (145, 5:38) and Sebastian Ceaser (152, 2:08).

Then the Wildcats countered with a pin from Mark Johnston (160, 2:33) and a 14-2 major decision by Kekai Tarrant (170).

Arlington and Oak Harbor traded pins over the next four matches, setting up the Eagles’ fast finish.

Winning by falls for Oak Harbor were Jacob Dugin (195, 5:15) and Jackson Constant (285, :22); those losing were Matt Zafra (182, 2:30) and Kenny King (220, :45).

Arlington won the final four matches over Garrett Stahl (106, 1:02), Christian Bertram (113, 7-2), Rebecca Holloman (120, 1:36) and William Stuntz (126, :26).

First-year Oak Harbor coach Peter Esvelt said, “Not the way we wanted to come out and wrestle. Should be a wake up call for our intensity, not just live wrestling, but in the drills that make us better wrestlers.”

He added, “The match becomes much closer if we stay off of our backs. The bonus pin points hurt our chances of a comeback.”

On the positive side, Esvelt said he was impressed by the performances of Johnston and Dugin.

The Wildcats join 17 other schools at the Edmonds Invitational at 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at Edmonds-Woodway High School.