SOUTHINGTON — His team is ranked in the top 10 in the state and had just won its 14th dual meet of the season, yet Southington High School wrestling coach Derek Dion was not a happy man Wednesday night.

If it wasn’t for three forfeits, all coming in the heavier weight classes, the Blue Knights might not have emerged victorious against a rugged South Windsor side as Southington took a 40-31 result, improving their dual meet record to 14-1, but Dion wasn’t satisfied.

"It was a terrible effort on our part tonight, we came out flat," he said. "They [South Windsor] had some weight classes where they had some real studs, but today, our guys just didn’t battle that hard. If I could pinpoint it [problem], I would guarantee it wouldn’t happen again."

South Windsor (10-2) took control early on and appeared to be on track to winning the night as they jumped to a 24-10 lead.

Things then took a turn for the better for the ninth-ranked Blue Knights as the Bobcats forfeited the 195, 220 and 289-pound classes. The holes in the Bobcat lineup were due to two wrestlers recently quitting the team and the third class not being able to be filled. This put the hosts in charge, 28-24, as they would not look back, despite things getting a bit tense in the final matches.

With Southington holding a 34-28 advantage, South Windsor’s Justin Healy defeated Alex Richardson at 120 pounds, 9-2, pulling the Bobcats to within 34-31 with the final match of the night, the 128-pound class being the determining one.

Southington junior Nate Solomon would get the job done, easily pinning Ivor Peles in 1:11 as the normally junior varsity competitor was clearly no match for Solomon.

"Nate Solomon is going to come out strong for us every time," said Dion. "He was a real bright spot for us tonight, but I really didn’t like the effort from a bunch of the guys. Tonight was a wake-up call for quite a few kids.

"They need to come out more aggressive," Dion continued. "We were fortunate to take a wake-up call tonight without getting a loss on our record, because it feels like a loss to me."

Southington was not able to compete in the highly touted and much-anticipated Timberline Invitational last weekend in New Hampshire due to the snowstorm that hit the region, meaning the team had not had a match for a week since it knocked off Newington, 46-21.

Senior tri-captain Noah Sheffy agreed that the Blue Knights had an off night.

"We were a little flat out there tonight," he said. "Everyone has flat wrestling days, maybe I would have been flat today, too. It’s just something that happens."

Sheffy has been sidelined for the past two matches after suffering a concussion during the Greater Hartford Open two weeks ago when he was knocked unconscious in the semifinal round of the 132-pound class, a match he was winning, 7-0 at the time. The takedown his opponent used was borderline illegal, but either way, Sheffy has been forced into a observer role, despite hoping to return in time for the LL tournament.

"I saw some intensity from some guys I usually don’t tonight," he said, "but we were flat as a team. Sometimes, if you win a tournament at the weekend, you would think it would have an adverse effect, but we didn’t wrestle this [past] weekend. Hopefully it will help us get ready for this weekend."

On Saturday, Southington hosts the third-annual Mass-Conn Fusion invitational tournament which features 12 teams from Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Blue Knights return to dual-meet action on Wednesday when they host seventh-ranked Farmington (6 p.m.) in what they consider their biggest match of the regular season.