BOYERTOWN – Northwestern experienced both victory and defeat at the state level Tuesday night.

The Tigers beat Conwell-Egan in the preliminary round of the state 2A team wrestling tournament, before suffering a shutout loss to two-time defending state champion Faith Christian in the first round.

“We got our first state win,” said Tiger head coach Joe Killar of his young team. “Got to wrestle a little more into the postseason this year.”

The Tigers, who have nine freshmen in their starting lineup, opened the night at Boyertown High School with a 49-23 win over Conwell-Egan.

Northwestern (15-7) won the first three bouts, including pins from Weston Killar (114) and Braydon Uricchio (127), along with Elijah McCown’s win by decision.

The District 12 champion Eagles (16-2) won the next two matches to get within 15-12 before the Tigers won the next six matches to take a 49-12 lead and shut the door on Egan.

Colby Townley (145) and Nolan Koehler (152) both pinned their Eagle opponents in the first period. Nate Geiger (160) and Vinnie Fugazzotto (172) each recorded back-to-back technical falls before Luke Fugazzotto (189) and Jackson Bailey (215) both won by forfeit.

“I thought we did fine,” said Joe Killar. “The other team didn’t have a couple of their guys here. We wrestled fine.”

The Tigers’ match against Faith Christian, which is coached by Northwestern Lehigh graduate Ben Clymer, saw the Lions win all 13 bouts, including nine pins and three technical falls. Faith (11-1) won 75-0 with not one match getting to the third period.

“It’s hard to have a school like us wrestle them,” said Killar.

Northwestern reached the state tournament for the first time in several years, which was a goal despite the young roster.

“I thought at the beginning of the year it would be a good goal to be top two at districts, and we did it so I was pleased with that,” said Joe Killar. “I think they’re getting some confidence, starting to compete with guys on their level. That last match didn’t help much.”

FAITH IN THE SYSTEM...Faith Christian will go on to the quarterfinal round to face Burrell on Friday. Burell is one of just three public schools left in the eight-team Class 2A bracket. In 2A first-round matchups between public and private school teams, private schools went 5-0, including Berks Catholic’s 32-31 win over District 11 champ Saucon Valley.

YOUNG AND RESTLESS....The Tigers plan to get back to the state tournament in future years. The team had just two seniors in the lineup against Egan, and just one took the mat against Faith. Along with the seven freshmen, two juniors and two or three sophomores are regulars in the lineup.

PIAA Class 2A

Team Tournament

Preliminary Round

Northwestern 49, Conwell-Egan 23

114 - Weston Killar (NW) pinned Owen Strapple in 3:02; 121 - Elijah McCown (NW) dec. Julian Solor, 11-7; 127 - Braydon Uricchio pinned Anthony Swarts in 3:36; 133 - Michael Gorrell (CE) pinned Chase Sukanick in 1:37; 139 - Colin Walther (CE) pinned Noah Griffith in :59; 145 - Colby Townley (NW) pinned Jacob Primich in 1:53; 152 - Nolan Koehler (NW) pinned Daniel Gomez in :50; 160 - Nate Geiger (NW) tech fall Chase Goffman, 17-2; 172 - Vinnie Fugazzotto (NW) tech fall Brian Shimp; 189 - Luke Fugazzotto (NW) won by forfeit; 215 - Jackson Bailey (NW) won by forfeit; 285 - Connor Horger (CE) pinned Jackson Huber in 1:07; 107 - Hunter Webster (CE) tech fall Logan Urrichio (NW), 15-0.

First Round

Faith Christian 75, Northwestern 0

121 - Nathan Yoder (F) pinned Elijah McCown in 1:13; 127 - Guage Botero (F) pinned Braydon Uricchio in :51; 133 - Joey Bachman (F) pinned Chase Sukanick in 3:14; 139 - Lincoln Botero (F) pinned Noah Griffith in 1:29, 145 - Shane Wagner (F) won by forfeit; 152 - Max Stein (F) tech fall Nolan Koehler, 17-1; 160 - Chase Hontz (F) pinned Nate Geiger in :54; 172 - Nick Singer (F) pinned Vinnie Fugazzotto in :37; 189 - Adam Waters (F) tech fall Luke Fugazzotto, 18-2; 215 - Jason Singer (F) pinned Jackson Bailey in 1:20; 285 - Mark Efferdian (F) pinned Ian Zettlmoyer in :50; 107 - Shane Young (F) pinned Logan Uricchio in 1:49; 114 - Freddy Bachman (F) tech fall Weston Killar, 20-3.