Hunter or hunted, the role seemed to suit them just fine.

Lehighton’s Aidan Gruber and Reese Balk entered the Schuylkill League wrestling tournament at Jim Thorpe with targets on their backs as defending champions and top seeds in their weight classes.

Jim Thorpe’s Stephen Korte has been stellar all season, and entered Saturday’s event with a point to prove as the second seed.

The trio delivered, and did so in impressive fashion, with Gruber and Balk both registering pins in the finals and Korte taking down the top seed with a major decision to claim his first league crown.

Gruber’s triumph in the final also secured the 100th victory of his career.

“It really does mean a lot,” Gruber said of the accomplishment. “I’ve been wrestling since booster club ... 100 wins is like the biggest accomplishment for a high school kid. I’ve been trying to get a state medal, and still have this year. But I was really mainly focused on getting 100 wins. I felt like that was more in my league for something to do. But it makes it 10 times better that it was at this tournament, where I got the 100th win in the finals. It just made me really happy having everybody there supporting us.”

A state qualifier two years ago, Gruber (19-2) has had a stellar career. And his senior season is shaping up to be his best.

The top seed at 114 pounds, Gruber powered to the title with a technical fall (18-2, 2:59) against North Schuylkill’s Alex Deritis in the semifinals before pinning Blue Mountain’s Cooper Leibold in 1:07 in the finals, where he secured a takedown just five seconds into the match.

Gruber made sure his final league tournament - and Lehighton’s last in the Schuylkill League before moving to the Colonial League next season - would be a memorable occasion.

“You definitely benefit, with a lot of kids coming out here because it’s all the teams around in the league. It’s everybody you’ll see throughout your years,” said Gruber. “It just really gets you ready for the next couple tournaments. It just prepares you a little bit. And obviously, it’s nice being able to say you’re the league champ. It’s been a good day, been a good weekend.”

Balk faced Williams Valley’s Cameron Green in the 285 pound finals, a rematch of the heavyweight title tilt of the Jim Thorpe Christmas Tournament in late December, where Balk recorded a fall in just 43 seconds.

After a scoreless first period, Green took a 3-0 lead with an escape and a takedown in the second. But Balk (20-1) quickly recovered with a reversal before finishing the match with a pin in 3:28.

“Going into a match with a kid I’ve wrestled before, obviously he’s going to know a lot of the key moves I do, so I have to change it up a bit, which puts me out of my comfort zone but it’s a good spot to be, out of your comfort zone to try to get better even when someone knows what you’re going to do,” said Balk. “I tried taking shots. One worked, one didn’t.”

After receiving a bye in the first round, Balk dispatched Tri-Valley’s Jeffrey Petzold in 0:54 to reach the semis.

In his semifinal bout with North Schuylkill’s Neeko Caraballo, Balk trailed 4-3 entering the third period. But the senior got an escape and a takedown to go ahead 6-4 and held on for the win.

“There’s a time to be on offense and there’s a time to be on defense,” said Balk. “So it depends what situation you’re in. You can be up by five and you might want to be more on the defensive side going into the third then being on offense and risk being taken down.”

Balk showed throughout the tournament he was content to wrestle however he needed to to get the win.

The same can be said for Korte, who dominated his three matches, outscoring opponents 37-9 en route to the 121 pound championship.

In the finals, Korte (23-4), who was seeded second, knocked off top seed Kaden Casey of North Schuylkill 13-5. The sophomore had three takedowns in the first period and added two more in the second to build a commanding 11-3 lead.

“I think it’s an absolutely massive win for me,” said Korte. “This is Jim Thorpe’s last year in the Schuylkill League, and I get to put my name on that banner, and that’s a huge accomplishment for me.”

Korte’s performance against Casey, who qualified for regionals after placing third at districts a year ago, showcased the strides the sophomore has made after an impressive freshman campaign.

“Over time, you really start to kind of get the hang of it,” said Korte. “When I first started, I was kind of really nervous. Now I’m more comfortable, but I was still nervous before this match. But I went in with a game plan, knew what I was going to do, try to rack up all the points and keep trying to go for it, not get caught in anything that’s really dangerous. Just keep up that mental, physical toughness.”

Korte won by major decision in each of his three matches Saturday. The first was a 12-3 victory over Williams Valley’s Xzavion Tennis in the quarterfinals, which was followed by a 12-1 victory over Tamaqua’s Aiden Schlier – the champion at 107 pounds a year ago – in the semis.

In the finals

A total of nine Times News area wrestlers advanced to the finals at Saturday’s league tournament.

Lehighton led the way with five finalists, which included Gruber, Balk, Evan Wentz (139), Jacob Ferguson (160) and Wyatt Sherer (215).

No. 3 seed Nathan Sterner (15-4) of North Schuylkill topped Wentz (17-5), the top seed at 139 pounds, 10-3 in the finals. Wentz had a bye before pinning Tri-Valley’s Hunter Troutman in 5:32 in the semis.

Top seed Nick Kunstek (25-1) of Pottsville pinned Ferguson (16-7), who was seeded second, in 2:27 for the 160-pound title. Ferguson pinned Panther Valley’s Racer McGuire in 0:43 in the quarters and topped Schuylkill Haven’s Andrew Zimmerman 6-4 in the semis.

Schuylkill Haven’s Aiden Myers (16-3), the third seed, topped Sherer (12-5), who was the fourth seed, 7-3 in the 215-pound final. Sherer pinned Pine Grove’s Robby Schaeffer in 3:35 in the quarters, and won by injury default of Jim Thorpe’s Aiden Sterling in the semis.

The Indians, champions of the event a year ago, placed fourth in the team standings with 152.5 points. Pottsville won the team title with 195 points.

“It was nice to get five in the finals,” said Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown. “I thought Evan wrestled really well, Wyatt Sherer did a nice job. And Ferguson had a tough match with an Ohio State commit (Kunstek). But I’ll tell you what, I was happy with the way he wrestled. He tried stuff, he battled, he didn’t backdown from him and went after him. He wrestled hard, and that’s all you can ask.”

Tamaqua’s Gabe Erbe (127) and Evan Temarantz (107) both reached the finals.

Top seed Ryan Fisher (20-3) edged Erbe (16-7), seeded second, 3-2 in the finals. Fisher led 2-1 after the first period, and added an escape in the second period to make it 3-1. Erbe made it 3-2 with an escape early in the third, but Fisher held on for the win.

Erbe pinned North Schuylkill’s Stanley Padakowski in 2:55 in the quarters before pinning Lehighton’s Jacob Hall in 3:55 in the semis.

Temarantz (15-7), a freshman and the fourth seed at 107 pounds, posted a 14-1 major decision against Pine Grove’s Drew Hikes in the quarters before getting past top seed Ethan Nothstein of Lehighton by injury default. In the finals, Tri-Valley’s Owen Wolfgang (14-6), who was seeded third, secured the title with a 9-4 win.

“I learned to be more offensive with sprawling and stuff,” said Temarantz, who got the first takedown and trailed 3-2 after the first period. “I just have to work a little harder. But my confidence has really gone up since the start of the season. I have really worked on my takedowns a lot, because I feel like if you get the lead you can kind of set the tone of the match. It just becomes easier and easier.”

Another talented freshman, Panther Valley’s Rory Dixon advanced to the 152-pound final. Seeded third, Dixon (18-3) pinned North Schuylkill’s Bradlee Smith in 2:27 in the quarters and recorded an impressive 11-2 major decision against No. 2 seed Chase Stephen of Tri-Valley, who was sixth at districts last year.

In the finals, Dixon battled top seed Parrish McFarland (24-3) of Pottsville. The bout was scoreless through the first period, but Mcfarland, the tournament’s outstanding wrestler, quickly got an escape and a takedown early the second before finishing the match with a pin in 2:15.

It was another opportunity for Dixon to face stellar competition. McFarland was third at districts in Class 3A and fifth at regionals.

“It makes you better, and gives you a ‘why’ on why you want to keep going,” said Dixon. “It gives you a goal of someone you want to catch up to. It’s a big motivating thing.”

Hunter or hunted, they embrace the challenge to be the best.

Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships

Championship Finals

107 - Owen Wolfgang (Tri Valley) dec. Evan Temarantz (Tamaqua), 9-4; 114 - Aidan Gruber (Lehighton) pinned Cooper Leibold in 1:07; 121 - Stephen Korte (Jim Thorpe) maj. dec. Kaden Casey (North Schuylkill), 13-5; 127 - Ryan Fisher (Mahanoy) dec. Gabe Erbe (Tamaqua), 3-2; 133 - Luke Sterns (Pottsville) dec. Bryce Bodenberg (Blue Mountain), 2-0; 139 - Nathan Sterner (North Schuylkill) dec. Evan Wentz (Lehighton), 10-3; 145 - Owen Woll (Blue Mountain) pinned Jimmy Weikel (North Schuylkill) in 2:35; 152 - Parrish McFarland (Pottsville) pinned Rory Dixon (Panther Valley) in 2:15; 160 - Nick Kunstek (Pottsville) pinned Jacob Ferguson (Lehighton) in 2:27; 172 - Terrell McFarland (Pottsville) dec. Bradley Renninger (Blue Mountain), 6-3; 189 - Augustus Warke (Schuylkill Haven) pinned Hunter Blankenhorn (Blue Mountain) in 5:25; 215 - Aiden Myers (Schuylkill Haven) dec. Wyatt Sherer (Lehighton), 7-3; 285

- Reese Balk (Lehighton) pinned Cameron Green (Williams Valley) in 3:28

Third Place

107 - Gaige Mentusky (North Schuylkill) pinned Stephen Karinch (Pottsville) in 0:36; 114 - Alex Deritis (North Schuylkill) dec. Chris Dembinsky (Pottsville), 5-4; 121 - Aiden Schlier (Tamaqua) pinned Jaxson Bruso (Tri Valley) in 0:33; 127 - Christopher Jacobacci (Jim Thorpe) dec. Jacob Hall (Lehighton), 6-5; 133 - Noah Hanlon (Tri Valley) dec. Kaden Tavares (North Schuylkill), 5-0; 139 - Kaden Brish (Blue Mountain) pinned Hunter Troutman (Tri Valley) in 4:07; 145 - Colin Crisswell (Williams Valley) maj. dec. Carson Yourey (Tri Valley), 11-1; 152 - Chase Stephen (Tri Valley) dec. Payton Fasnacht (Blue Mountain), 4-2; 160 - Andrew Zimmerman (Schuylkill Haven) pinned Cael Heaney (Jim Thorpe) in 2:05; 172 - Ricky Halford (North Schuylkill) dec. Nikolas Schwartz (Jim Thorpe), 5-3); 189 - Brayden Evans (Pottsville) dec. Kyler Quick (Mahanoy), 8-6; 215 - Drew Seaman (Pottsville) def. Lukas Kauffman (Blue Mountain) by injury default; 285

- Brian Welser (Panther Valley) maj. dec. Lukas McNamara (Pottsville), 10-2

Fifth Place

107 - Magnus Monger (Williams Valley) def. Ethan Nothstein (Lehighton) by injury default; 114 - Gage Cleary (Pine Grove Area) tech. fall Garrett Leitzel (Tri Valley), 16-0 (4:15); 121 - Daeson Hasenauer (Schuylkill Haven) dec. Anthony Amari (Lehighton), 7-4; 127 - Colin Kline (Pottsville) maj. dec. Aaron Osatchuck (Pine Grove), 11-2; 133 - Micahel Cobb (Panther Valley) pinned Brody Boyce (Tamaqua) in 3:32; 139 - Drew Buffington (Williams Valley) pinned Matthew Spino (Panther Valley) in 2:28; 145 - Max Pfeifer (Jim Thorpe) dec. Chase Zeigenfuss (Tamaqua), 3-1; 152 - Austin Martin (Pine Grove) pinned Bradlee Smith (North Schuylkill) in 0:58; 160 - Lenny Zack (Mahanoy) pinned Carson Lengle (Pine Grove) in 3:59; 172 - Jacob Hehn (Tamaqua) pinned Hunter Updegrave (Tri Valley) in 0:23; 189 - Zach Kurtz (Pine Grove) dec. Asher Traylor (Lehighton), 3-1; 215 - Cadyn McGraw (North Schuylkill) def. Aiden Sterling (Jim Thorpe) by forfeit; 285

- Neeko Caraballo (North Schuylkill) dec. Trevor Manbeck (Blue Mountain), 8-2