BETHLEHEM – Joe Killar was eager about his team’s prospects entering the season.

Killar knew his Northwestern squad would be talented. He also was certain the Tigers would be deeper, with a strong core returning to pair with an impressive influx of underclassmen.

Northwestern’s rise has resulted in an impressive season, one that continued Saturday at Freedom High School as the Tigers punched their ticket to states with a runner-up finish in the District 11 2A team tournament.

It marked another step forward for Killar and his program.

“We’re getting there,” said Killar. “I thought we wrestled pretty well. In that last match we got beat up. But the kids are competing. They’re learning to fight.”

Northwestern finished the one-day event with a 2-1 mark, falling to top seed Saucon Valley 59-12 in the finals.

The Tigers, seeded second, topped Palmerton 43-28 in the semis and recorded a 44-26 victory over Pen Argyl in the quarterfinals. The third-seeded Bombers edged North Schuylkill 33-31 in the quarters.

Lehighton posted a 35-27 victory over Pine Grove in the quarters. The fourth-seeded Indians fell to Saucon Valley 55-18 in the semis.

In the final, the Tigers took a 12-10 lead after four matches following back-to-back pins by junior Luke Fugazzotto – the two-time TN Wrestler of the Year – at 189 pounds and Jackson Bailey at 215. But Saucon won the final nine matches, which included six pins, to cruise to its first title since 2019-20.

“We’re a young team, but I feel like we’ve really progressed with wrestling more aggressively,” said Bailey, one of just two seniors in the Tigers lineup against the Panthers. “At the beginning of the season we weren’t as aggressive, and I think we’ve also improved our technique and conditioning throughout the season.

“And I think just having more confidence helps. You need to have that to do well.”

Freshmen Nolan Koehler, Vinnie Fugazzotto and Weston Killar, along with sophomore Braydon Uricchio and senior Jackson Huber, had pins against the Green Knights, while freshman Chase Sukanick won by tech fall.

While Northwestern’s day ended with a disappointing result against the Panthers, the Tigers showed the heart Coach Killar is looking for in a tough win over a talented Palmerton team in the semis.

Back-to-back pins by both Bailey and fellow senior Jackson Huber at 215 pounds and 285 gave Northwestern a 23-10 lead after six matches.

The Bombers responded with a fall from Thomas Pasquariello at 107 pounds over another gifted freshman Logan Uricchio – who had defeated him twice earlier this season – to trim the deficit to 23-16.

But Weston Killar delivered a clutch overtime 5-4 decision at 114 pounds to give the Tigers momentum.

“I think the guys are starting to fight, starting to believe in themselves a little more,” said the coach. “What we’re looking for is a good effort every match. We’re just trying to put effort into every match.”

Jaxs Miller came through with a pin at 121 pounds in the next bout to trim the deficit to 26-22. But Northwestern got a pin from Braydon Uricchio at 127 pounds, and a technical fall from Sukanick at 133 to make it 37-22 with just two matches left.

“I think they’ve just really been wrestling hard,” Killar said. “They believe they can win some big matches, and they’re competing hard against the better guys.”

The Tigers also got a technical fall from Nolan Koehler at 160 pounds in the match.

Dillon Lombardi had a major decision at 172 pounds for the Blue Bombers, and Vincent Taglieri recorded a pin at 139.

“I’m happy with where we are,” said Palmerton head coach Justin Petersen. “We’ve come a long way over the last decade or so that I’ve been here. It’s bittersweet. We’re making progress and it’s noticeable progress, but at the same time, you’re never satisfied. You always want to get to the next step. We thought we had a good path to do that in this match, but we came up short. But they wrestled tough. It certainly wasn’t because of a lack of effort. Give credit to Northwestern. They wrestled really well.

“It’s good to put them in these moments, these bigger moments. You can’t replicate those in the room. The more times you’re in those situations, the better you get with them, the better you know how to handle them and things like that. The fact that we can get ourselves in those situations more often will help us down the line, and that’s important. I was proud of them. I don’t think the moment was too big for them.”

The Bombers put together a big run to upend North Schuylkill in the semis. Connor Messinger started the surge with a technical fall at 114 pounds, before Miller came through with a clutch 4-3 decision over Easton Edwards to trim the Spartans’ lead to 25-24 with three matches remaining.

“I want to give a shout out to Jaxs Miller. He got teched by that kid in December and was able to come out here and beat him, that won us the match,” said Petersen.

The momentum stayed with the Bombers, who got pins from Josh Merkel (127) and Aidan Ortiz (133) to take a 33-25 lead before North Schuylkill secured a pin in the final bout.

Five straight wins helped the Indians surge past the Cardinals in the quarters. Trailing 21-8 after six matches, Marc Macias picked up a pin at 285 pounds. After Chase Lobasso got a forfeit at 107, Lehighton got bonus points from Michael D’Amico with a pin at 114, Jack Lucykanish coming up with a tech fall at 121 and Danny Edgar’s major decision at 127 to make it 35-21 Tribe with two matches left.

“Today was actually the healthiest we’ve been all season,” said Lehighton coach Floyd Brown. “It was nice to get Jacob (Ferguson) back. He’s a senior and he’s missed some time, so we’re trying to get him ready for districts, and it’s great for all of our guys to get here and get some extra matches against good competition. I was really excited to get Jacob back.”

Ferguson, a state qualifier last year, had a tech fall against Pine Grove, while sophomore Lukas Croizier won by decision.

In the semifinal match against Saucon, Ferguson, Croizier and Evan Wentz all had pins for Lehighton.

“Saucon is always a tough draw,” said Brown, whose team lost to the Panthers 65-6 in the seasons’ first match. “I thought we could have had one more win in there today, but it didn’t work out. But it was a good day.”

CHAMPIONS ... Bethlehem Catholic won its fifth straight Class 3A crown, topping Nazareth 36-24.

MOVING ON ... Northwestern (14-7) will face District 12 champ Conwell Egan (15-2) Tuesday in the PIAA Class 2A preliminary round at Boyertown High School at 5 p.m. The winner will face District 1 champion and two-time defending state champ Faith Christian (10-1) in a first-round match at 7 p.m.

District 11 Class 2A

Team Tournament

Finals

Saucon Valley 59, Northwester 12

160 – Cole Hubert (SV) tech fall Nate Geiger, 17-0 (1:30); 172 – Jared Rohn (SV) tech fall Vinnie Fugazzotto, 20-4 (3:33); 189 – Luke Fugazzotto (NW) pinned Brit Ash in 1:05; 215 – Jackson Bailey (NW) pinned Nickolas Sheasley in 2:18; 285 – Ezekiel Deily (SV) pinned Jackson Huber in 2:38; 107 – Gavin Chunko (SV) pinned Logan Uricchio in 3:13; 114 – Carter Chunko (SV) tech fall Weston Killar, 17-2 (2:27); 121 – Gabriel Baer (SV) pinned Eli McCown in 2:45; 127 – Mack Santoro (SV) pinned Braydon Uricchio in 4:47; 133 – Aiden Grogg (SV) tech fall Chase Sukanick, 16-1 (4:14); 139 – Hector Mateo (SV) pinned Noah Griffith in 0:18; 145 – Braden Rohn (SV) dec Hunter Greenawalt, 12-5; 152 – Jackson Albert (SV) pinned Nolan Koehler in 0:27.

Semifinals

Northwestern 43, Palmerton 28

107 – Thomas Pasquariello (P) pinned Logan Uricchio in 3:38; 114 – Weston Killar (NW) dec Connor Messinger, 5-4 (TB2); 121 – Jaxs Miller (P) pinned Eli McCown in 2:41; 127 – Braydon Uricchio (NW) pinned Josh Merkel in 4:34; 133 – Chase Sukanick (NW) tech fall Aidan Ortiz, 17-1 (4:44); 139 – Vincent Taglieri (P) pinned Noah Griffith in 3:08; 145 – Hunter Greenawalt (NW) won by forfeit; 152 – Derek King (P) won by forfeit; 160 – Nolan Koehler (NW) tech fall Dillon Anthony, 23-7 (5:50); 172 – Dillon Lombardi (P) maj dec Vinnie Fugazzotto, 15-7; 189 – Luke Fugazzotto (NW) won by forfeit; 215 – Jackson Bailey (NW) pinned Anderson Garcia in 1:25; 285 – Jackson Huber (NW) pinned Domenick Brown in 2:26.

Saucon Valley 55, Lehighton 18

107 – Gavin Chunko (SV) pinned Chase Lobasso in 2:56; 114 – Carter Chunko (SV) tech fall Mike D’Amico, 17-2 (1:04); 121 – Gabriel Baer (SV) dec Jack Lucykanish, 9-5; 127 – Mack Santoro (SV) tech fall Danny Edgar, 17-0 (2:45); 133 – Aiden Grogg (SV) pinned Connor Dugan in 0:42; 139 – Lukas Croizier (L) pinned Jerik Lesser in 2:18; 145 – Evan Wentz (L) pinned Braden Rohn in 0:45; 152 – Jackson Albert (SV) pinned Konner Nalesnik in 1:30; 160 – Cole Hubert (SV) pinned Aidan Dugan in 0:20; 172 – Jacob Ferguson (L) pinned Brit Ash in 0:53; 189 – Jared Rohn (SV) pinned Deven Armbruster in 1:32; 215 – Nickolas Sheasley (SV) pinned Connor Roetz in 0:13; 285 – Ezekiel Deily (SV) pinned Marc Macias in 4:25.

Quarterfinals

Lehighton 35, Pine Grove 27

107 – Chase Lobasso (L) won by forfeit; 114 – Mike D’Amico (L) pinned Chase Nagle in 5:34; 121 – Jack Lucykanish (L) tech fall Drew Hikes, 19-3 (4:16); 127 – Danny Edgar (L) maj dec Gage Cleary, 11-2; 133 – James Hoy (PG) dec Connor Dugan, 5-2; 139 – Aaron Osatchuck (PG) dec Blake Muffley, 8-4; 145 – Lukas Croizier (L) dec Conan DeBruyn, 10-6; 152 – Isaiah Miller (PG) pinned Evan Wentz in 2:30; 160 – Austin Martin (PG) dec Konner Nalesnik, 12-5; 172 – Jacob Ferguson (L) tech fall Carson Lengle, 16-1 (5:40); 189 – Zachary Kurtz (PG) pinned Deven Armbruster in 5:12; 215 – Robert Schaeffer (PG) pinned Connor Roetz in 1:23; 285 – Marc Macias (L) pinned Scout Frantz in 5:47.

Palmerton 33, North Schuylkill 31

107 – Gaige Mentusky (NS) maj dec Thomas Pasquariello, 13-4; 114 – Connor Messinger (P) maj dec Alex Deritis, 12-0; 121 – Jaxs Miller (P) dec Easton Edwards, 4-3; 127 – Josh Merkel (P) pinned Noah Leib in 3:50; 133 – Aidan Ortiz (P) dec Stanley Padakowski, 9-4; 139 – Bryce Kile (NS) pinned Vincent Taglieri in 5:18; 145 – Nate Sterner (NS) pinned Matthew Gombert in 1:06; 152 – Dillon Anthony (P) tech fall Kaden Tavares, 17-2 (1:47); 160 – Derek King (P) won by forfeit; 172 – Dillon Lombardi (P) pinned Ben Carr in 1:33; 189 – Jaden Meyer (NS) pinned Jameson Trainer in 0:26; 215 – Cadyn McGraw (NS) dec Anderson Garcia, 6-3; 285 – Sander Stokes (NS) pinned Domenick Brown in 1:23.

Northwestern 44, Pen Argyl 26

107 – Isaiah Adams (PA) pinned Logan Uricchio in 1:17; 114 – Weston Killar (NW) pinned Blayke Lacey in 3:04; 121 – Madacyn Rivera (PA) dec Eli McCown, 7-3; 127 – Braydon Uricchio (NW) pinned Chris Crespo in 2:14; 133 – Chase Sukanick (NW) tech fall Cole Lobb, 15-0 (3:28); 139 – Collin Ramsay (PA) pinned Noah Griffith in 0:47; 145 – Luca Albanese pinned Hunter Greenawalt in 5:38; 152 – Nolan Koehler (NW) pinned Zach Metzgar in 2:42; 160 – Nate Geiger (NW) dec Shane Moser, 13-7; 172 – Vinnie Fugazzotto (NW) pinned Hunter Beers in 3:24; 189 – Luke Fugazzotto (NW) won by forfeit; 215 – Nuallan King (PA) tech fall Jackson Baily, 18-2 (4:35); 285 – Jackson Huber (NW) pinned Noah Murcelo in 3:44.