Wrestling at the Coal Cracker Tournament means swimming at the deep end. And that’s not a bad thing.

Staying afloat with a talent pool that seems to grow each year is no shallow accomplishment.

It’s also a good indicator of things to come as the waters get rougher in the postseason.

Four area wrestlers were able to ride the wave to a podium finish at the conclusion of the two-day event on Sunday at Lehighton’s Elementary Center.

Northwestern’s Luke Fugazzotto claimed third place at 174 pounds, while Lehighton’s Aidan Gruber placed fourth at 116 pounds. Jim Thorpe’s Stephen Korte was sixth at 123 pounds, and Reese Balk gave the Tribe two medalists with an eighth-place finish at 287.

Fugazzotto bounced back after a 4-3 loss to Brian Heard of Abington Heights in the semifinals with two impressive wins to claim third, and earn a bit of redemption after not placing at the event last season.

“I’m pretty happy, but not too satisfied, though,” Fugazzotto said. “I was really trying to make it to the finals, but my semifinal match didn’t really go my way, I didn’t wrestle my best. But it’s definitely way better than last year. I avenged a couple losses from last year, and honestly, third place as a sophomore, it’s not bad. But I was aiming to do better.”

Fugazzotto, who was seeded second at 174 pounds, showed his resolve in the consolation round with an 11-2 win over Gettysburg’s Jaxon Townsend to reach the third-place match. Townsend ended Fugazzotto’s tournament last year with a 13-9 victory.

“He did a good job coming back,” said Tigers’ head coach Joe Killar. “He dealt with the semifinal loss well and he came back with two pretty convincing wins. I was happy for him. He didn’t let the semifinals bother him too much. He does a really good job with his composure.”

Fugazzotto (28-2) finished his tournament with a bang, posting a 10-5 win over Wilson West Lawn’s Blaise Eidle to secure third.

The sophomore led his semifinal bout with Heard 2-1 after the first period.

“I got a nice re-attack, but overall I just couldn’t get out from him on bottom,” said Fugazzotto. “It’s just something I need to work on.”

But Fugazzotto - a state qualifier and the Times News Wrestler of the Year a season ago - has shown that he’s on the right track to not just make it back to Hershey, but finish with a medal this time.

“My overall goal is just to place at states,” said Fugazzotto. “There are just things I need to build on.”

Gruber (25-4) was impressive in reaching the semifinals at 116 pounds, where he was the top seed. The senior posted two technical falls and a pair of pins to reach the semis before being pinned by Shai Sabag of Germantown Academy in 4:10.

He bounced back, pinning Mason Vanderpool of Athens Area in 2:24 to reach the third-place match. Nikos Filipos of Wyoming Seminary was able to take bronze, pinning Gruber in 2:08.

“I think this tournament is definitely one of the best of the year competition-wise,” said Gruber, who earned his 100th-career victory in the finals at the Schuylkill League Tournament last week. “I get to see what kids are like throughout the state. It definitely helps for yourself to get better, and for everybody to get better, really. It’s just good competition. I’m disappointed I fell a little short, I wanted to get to the finals. But at the end of the day, I just had fun wrestling, just competing and trying to do better,”

A state qualifier two years ago, Gruber knows the value of being battle-tested at this point in the season.

“For a loss, I’m not going to beat myself up about it,” said Gruber. “I’m just going to train harder and try to beat him the next time. It’s my last year, and I’m just trying to do the best that I can.”

Not losing sight of that focus as the season starts to wind down is vital.

“He’s well versed and has a lot of experience in big matches,” Indians’ head coach Floyd Brown said of Gruber, a regional qualifier the last two years. “Hopefully moving into the postseason in his final year he’s able to use those experiences and get a medal (at states) or at least get there and give himself a chance to get a medal.”

Korte (27-7) has been tremendous during his sophomore season, claiming his first Schuylkill League title a week ago. He carried that momentum into the Coal Cracker, reaching the semifinals with two pins and a pair of technical falls.

Dale Corbin of Wyoming Seminary pinned Korte in the semifinals in 1:47. In his consolation semifinal match, Myles Grossman of Gettysburg pinned Korte in 2:04, and Mikhail Hartranft, a state qualifier from Catasauqua, pinned Korte in 2:39 for fifth.

“I know yesterday I had a really good day,” said Korte, who was seeded third. “Today just wasn’t my day.”

But Korte, who has now matched his win total from last year, is determined to keep pushing forward.

“I know what to work on now,” said Korte. “Go back to a building block and work on technique, speed. But I’m really looking forward to districts and hopefully placing high there. This is a good test for that.”

Balk (25-4), who reached the final at the Coal Cracker a year ago, navigated a tough 287-pound bracket, reaching the quarterfinals where he was pinned by eventual champion Mark Effendian of Faith Christian Academy in 1:26. Effendian was a state qualifier last season.

The senior pinned Tyler Gallo of Wallenpaupack in 2:52 in his first consolation match before falling 4-0 to Joshua Nittinger of Athens Area. Logan Kurzweg of Wilson West Lawn pinned Balk in 4:04 to capture seventh place.

“You can’t underestimate any of your opponents,” said Balk, who was seeded fifth. “The competition was a lot steeper than last year.”

But that’s the competition Balk and his competitors embrace at the Coal Cracker. They know these are the tournaments that will prepare them for what’s to come.

“After each of the matches, you know you just have to come back. If you lose a match, you just have to come back,” said Balk. “I went into these matches thinking I was going to put up the best effort I could. I fell short some matches, but obviously some of them I won.

“Out of 60 teams, top eight isn’t the worst thing in the world. It’s not what I was hoping for. But I came out of this knowing that there’s always bigger fish.”

And more motivated than ever to just keep swimming.

PINNING MACHINE

... Fugazzotto reached the semifinals with four first period pins, with two coming in under one minute. The time of each fall were 1:52, 0:40, 1:12 and 0:42. The sophomore now has 23 pins this season.

ON TOP

... Faith Christian Academy, the defending PIAA Class 2A team champions, claimed the title at the Coal Cracker with a whopping 319 points. Wilson West Lawn (204), Wyoming Seminary (187.5), Central Dauphin (186.5) and Gettysburg (172) rounded out the top five. Faith Christian had six individual champions and a total of 11 medalists.

DESTINATION WRESTLING

... The two-day event pulled in 53 teams from across Pennsylvania, and has become a marquee event for wrestlers - and fans - as one of the top events in the region. The event also featured a JV tournament, something that allows wrestlers to gain more mat time. “All our JV kids get matches. Some of our JVs wrestled five matches already today, which is awesome,” said Brown. “It gets our whole team a little bit better, not just the varsity kids.”

ON THE HORIZON

... The individual district tournament is set for Feb. 23 and 24, with regionals and states to take place the following two weeks. The district team tournament will be held Saturday, Feb. 3 at Freedom High School.