BETHLEHEM - Daniel Lucykanish and Aidan Gruber didn’t get what they wanted Saturday night.

The top step of the podium eluded the Palmerton junior and Lehighton sophomore at the District 11 Class 2A tournament.

But their run to the finals at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium not only showcased their potential, but also their progress.

It also secured their spot in next week’s regional tournament - a first for both.

“That was the main goal; just try to make it to regionals, and hopefully make it to states,” said Gruber. “I definitely did want a title, though.”

The sophomore posted an 11-0 major decision over Tamaqua’s Gabe Erbe, the No. 2 seed, in their 113-pound semifinal.

The No. 3 seed, Gruber faced top seed Aiden Grogg of Saucon Valley in the finals. Grogg picked up a 7-0 decision over Cooper Feltman (Notre Dame GP) in their semifinal match.

Grogg led Gruber 5-2 after the first period, getting the initial takedown before Gruber tied it at 2-2 with a reversal.

The freshman got an escape and another takedown to go ahead 5-2.

Three back points made it 8-2, before Grogg secured the pin in 3:52.

“I just didn’t feel right in that match,” said Gruber. “He was tough on top. I definitely think I’m going to do better against him next time.

“I’m pretty good on my feet, in neutral, so I wanted to try and stay neutral to see if I could get a couple shots in on him, take him down a couple times. But it just didn’t really work out.”

The tournament was the first time Gruber wrestled at 113 pounds all season after dropping down from 120.

Gruber (31-7) used the change to his advantage.

“You’re wrestling those bigger, stronger guys all year, and you drop a weight class, and then you kind of have a little bit of a weight advantage, a little bit of a strength advantage,” said Indians’ head coach Floyd Brown. “Even just mentally, I think it’s an advantage for him.

“He’s been thinking about it all year, and then about three weeks ago he said he was going to make the drop, and it worked out well for him. He had a really good weekend.”

Lucykanish, who was seeded second, advanced to the 160-pound finals with a 9-4 decision against Pen Argyl’s Gannon Brinker.

The junior took on top seed Holden Garcia of Notre Dame Green Pond in the finals. Garcia pinned Northwestern’s Mason Brensinger in 4:48 in their semifinal match.

Garcia got three takedowns in the first period to build a 6-2 lead over Lucykanish, who had a pair of escapes.

After an escape and a takedown, Garcia sealed the victory with the pin in 2:21.

“I was pretty proud of what I was able to do there,” said Lucykanish. “The finals didn’t go the way I wanted it to, but I will still have a good seed for regionals, so I’m in a good position there, and I’m just ready to get there.”

Garcia was a two-time district champion, and also won a regional title and placed sixth at States last year as a sophomore.

Lucykanish (16-3) had just two losses entering the tournament, by a combined five points, during what has been a breakout season. He had wins of 6-2 and 9-4 to reach the finals.

“He’s explosive,” said Palmerton head coach Justin Petersen. “He puts points on the board, and he does it in bunches. Kids are kind of afraid of some of the things that he can do.

“I don’t want to say that he has never done that before; he has. But now he’s just putting it all together.”

The runner-up finish marked the first time Lucykanish has medaled at districts.

“Being able to compete and win those matches at districts and make it to the finals, it gave me a lot of confidence moving forward,” said Lucykanish.

The opportunity to compete at regionals is one Lucykanish is looking forward to.

“I’m excited. I’m not really nervous like I usually would be; I’m just ready to let it fly,” he said. “Now that I got out of districts for the first time, it’s a new thing for me, and it takes a lot of pressure off going forward.”

Also advancing

Lucykanish and Gruber were among 10 Times News area wrestlers to move on to next week’s regional tournament.

Northwestern’s Dalton Clymer (152), Jim Thorpe’s Ridge Snyder (126) and Northern Lehigh’s Matt Frame (215) all advanced with third-place finishes.

Clymer, the fifth seed, topped Jim Thorpe’s Gabe Heaney 3-0 in their 152-pound bout for third.

Clymer was tied with Saucon Valley’s Liam Scrivanich 4-4 in the semifinals with 0:05 left in regulation, but cramping issues – and ultimately the clock – ended his shot at the finals.

“We ran out of injury time,” said Tigers’ head coach Jim Moll. “His leg cramped up twice, and I guess technically we stopped treating him with time left on the clock. But I guess he has to be on the line ready to go.

“Things happen, and hopefully we get another shot at him next week.”

The sophomore won the 145-pound title in Class 2A a year ago, and has battled injuries this season.

“He went through a lot of adversity with a hip injury, being able to know how to train and how to treat that,” said Moll. “His hour in the training room is part of his practice every day. It’s crazy. But to have the discipline to keep doing it, to get it healthy enough and put himself in a spot where he has a chance to be in the district finals, and wrestle at regionals, I’m happy. We’re right where we want to be at the end of the year.

“He’s wrestling better right now than he has all year, which is the goal.”

Clymer advanced to the third-place match with a 12-0 major decision over Palmerton’s Dennis Lombardi, who was seeded third.

Heaney, the No. 2 seed, suffered a 5-3 loss in sudden victory overtime to eventual champion Keegan Ramsay of Notre Dame GP in their 152-pound semifinal.

“With Gabe and Clymer, I thought it was a tough match that could go either way,” said Olympians head coach Dan Heaney. “One takedown was really the difference. In the semis, that was an overtime match and he was a takedown away there. So I think that was a tough weight, Anyone in the top four could beat anyone at anytime. I’m looking forward to next week for that.”

Snyder posted a 12-5 decision over Mahanoy’s Ryan Fisher at 126 pounds, while Frame picked up an 8-2 decision over Central Catholic’s Mitchell Miller at 215.

“I think Ridge is wrestling great right now,” said Dan Heaney. “He’s really turned it up.”

Northwestern’s Mason Brensinger (160) and Lucas Miller (172), along with Tamaqua’s Gabe Erbe (113) and Caleb McDermott (189), all advanced to regionals with fourth-place finishes.

UP NEXT

... The Class 2A Southeast Regional will be held next Friday and Saturday at Freedom High School. The top six from the regional tournament advance to states.

DOMINATION

... Saucon Valley and Notre Dame Green Pond cleaned up in the finals. Wrestlers from either NDGP or Saucon scored wins in each of the 13 finals, with the Panthers bringing home seven titles, and the Crusaders six. Notre Dame won the team title with 300.5 points ahead of Saucon (286.5). North Schuylkill was third with 111 points.

Team Scores

1. Notre Dame GP 300.5, 2. Saucon Valley 286.5, 3. North Schuylkill 111, 4. Tri Valley 96, 5. Catasauqua 86.5, 6. Lehighton 78, 7. Salisbury 75, 8. Northwestern 72, 9. Wilson 69.5, 10. Jim Thorpe 66, 11. Schuylkill Haven 64, 12. Tamaqua 63, 13. Palisades 55, 14. Pen Argyl 45.5, 15. Palmerton 41, 16. Central Catholic 38, 17. Northern Lehigh 30, 18. Williams Valley 27, 19. Mahanoy 20, Pine Grove 20, 21. Executive 3.

Finals

106

- Ayden Smith (Notre Dame GP) maj. dec. Cole Hubert (Saucon Valley), 11-0.

113

- Aiden Grogg (Saucon Valley) pinned Aidan Gruber (Lehighton) in 3:52.

120

- Adam Schweitzer (Notre Dame GP) maj. dec. Jackson Albert (Saucon Valley), 10-2

126

- Hector Mateo (Saucon Valley) dec. Jacob Wehr (Notre Dame GP), 5-2.

132

- Brandan Chletsos (Notre Dame GP) maj. dec. John Samy (Salisbury), 13-0.

138

- Ryan Crookham (Saucon Valley) maj. dec. Bryson Vaughn (Notre Dame GP), 13-4.

145

- Evan Maag (Notre Dame GP) pinned Jaryn Hartfranft (Catasauqua) in 0:50.

152

- Keegan Ramsay (Notre Dame GP) dec. Liam Scrivanich (Saucon Valley), 6-3.

160

- Holden Garcia (Notre Dame GP) pinned Daniel Lucykanish (Palmerton) in 2:21.

172

- Jake Jones (Saucon Valley) dec. Daniel Haubert (Palisades), 6-2

189

- Ty Csencsits (Saucon Valley) dec. Jacob Scheib (Tri Valley), 5-3

215

- Dante Mahaffey (Saucon Valley) dec. Jared Blobe (Notre Dame GP), 9-3.

285

- Tyler Pfizenmayer (Saucon Valley) dec. Ben Krauss (Salisbury), 5-3.

Third-place

106 - Giovanni Dibiagio (Wilson) dec. Noah Gilgore (No. Schuylkill), 2-0.

113 - Cooper Feltman (Notre Dame GP) pinned Gabe Erbe (Tamaqua) in 4:56.

120 - John Haubert (Palisades) dec. Carver Moyer (Salisbury), 3-2.

126 - Ridge Snyder (Jim Thorpe) dec. Ryan Fisher (Mahanoy), 12-5.

132 - Connor Nicholas (Saucon Valley) dec. Cole Brown (Catasauqua), 5-0.

138 - Gavin Fehr (Catasauqua) pinned Chase Stephen (Tri Valley) in 2:38.

152 - Dalton Clymer (Northwestern) dec. Gabe Heaney (Jim Thorpe), 3-0.

160 - Nick Stoyer (Schuylkill Haven) dec. Mason Brensinger (Northwestern), 4-3 (TB2).

172 - Garrett Tettemer (Notre Dame GP) dec. Lucas Miller (Northwestern), 1-0.

189 - Joseph Lapenna (Notre Dame GP) pinned Caleb Mcdermott (Jim Thorpe) in 0:07.

215 - Matthew Frame (No. Lehigh) dec. Mitchell Miller (Central Catholic), 8-2.

285 - Mason Ludlow (Notre Dame GP) dec. Justis Troutman (Tri Valley), 1-0.

Fifth-place

106 - Aiden Schlier (Tamaqua) pinned Jacob Hall (Lehighton) in 3:35.

113 - Kaden Casey (No. Schuylkill) dec. Santino Micci (Wilson), 5-0.

120 - Jaron Trimmer (Wilson) maj. dec. Tyler Slotterback (No. Schuylkill), 9-0.

126 - Jon Wohlbach (Wilson) maj. dec. Hunter Troutman (Tri Valley), 10-2.

132 - Andrew Zimmerman (Schuylkill Haven) pinned Zander Mcelhenney (No. Schuylkill) in 2:39.

138 - Cade Schneck (Pine Grove) pinned Jacob Ferguson (Lehighton) in 2:16.

145 - Aden Celani (Schuylkill Haven) pinned Michael Steigerwalt (Tamaqua) in 1:45.

152 - Lukas Ferguson (Lehighton) pinned Dennis Lombardi (Palmerton) in 2:42.

160 - Ricky Halford (No. Schuylkill) maj. dec. Gannon Brinker (Pen Argyl), 15-4.

172 - Cole Dorshimer (Pen Argyl) pinned Cole Eberts (Tamaqua) in 2:02.

189 - Jakub Gloc (Central Catholic) dec. Nathan Peters (Northwestern), 9-3.

215 - Noah Schlofer (Northwestern) dec. Braxton Schwartz (Tri Valley), 6-3.

285 - Jeremiah Lott (Williams Valley) pinned Ricky Houser (Lehighton) in 1:30.

Semifinals

106 - Ayden Smith (Notre Dame GP) pinned Giovanni Dibiagio (Wilson) in 1:35; Cole Hubert (Saucon Valley) maj. dec. Noah Gilgore (No. Schuylkill), 12-1.

113 - Aiden Grogg (Saucon Valley) dec. Cooper Feltman (Notre Dame GP), 7-0; Aidan Gruber (Lehighton) maj. dec. Gabe Erbe (Tamaqua), 11-0.

120 - Adam Schweitzer (Notre Dame GP) pinned Jaron Trimmer (Wilson) in 2:24; Jackson Albert (Saucon Valley) dec. Carver Moyer (Salisbury), 11-4.

126 - Jacob Wehr (Notre Dame GP) dec. Ryan Fisher (Mahanoy), 10-5; Hector Mateo (Saucon Valley) pinned Ridge Snyder (Jim Thorpe) in 0:46.

132 - Brandan Chletsos (Notre Dame GP) pinned Andrew Zimmerman (Schuylkill Haven) in 0:31; John Samy (Salisbury) dec. Connor Nicholas (Saucon Valley), 7-3.

138 - Bryson Vaughn (Notre Dame GP) pinned Chase Stephen (Tri Valley) in 1:25; Ryan Crookham (Saucon Valley) pinned Gavin Fehr (Catasauqua) in 3:47.

145 - Evan Maag (Notre Dame GP) dec. Mason Boltz (Tri Valley), 9-2; Jaryn Hartfranft (Catasauqua) dec. Cael Markle (Saucon Valley), 3-2.

152 - Keegan Ramsay (Notre Dame GP) dec. Gabe Heaney (Jim Thorpe), 5-3 (SV); Liam Scrivanich (Saucon Valley) default over Dalton Clymer (Northwestern).

160 - Holden Garcia (Notre Dame GP) pinned Mason Brensinger (Northwestern) in 4:48; Daniel Lucykanish (Palmerton) dec. Gannon Brinker (Pen Argyl), 9-4.

172 - Daniel Haubert (Palisades) dec. Garrett Tettemer (Notre Dame GP), 4-3 (TB2); Jake Jones (Saucon Valley) pinned Lucas Miller (Northwestern) in 1:36.

189 - Jacob Scheib (Tri Valley) dec. Joseph Lapenna (Notre Dame GP), 7-0; Ty Csencsits (Saucon Valley) pinned Caleb Mcdermott (Jim Thorpe) in 1:21.

215 - Jared Blobe (Notre Dame GP) dec. Mitchell Miller (Central Catholic), 5-3 (SV); Dante Mahaffey (Saucon Valley) dec. Matthew Frame (No. Lehigh), 8-3.

285 - Ben Krauss (Salisbury) pinned Jeremiah Lott (Williams Valley) in 0:15; Tyler Pfizenmayer (Saucon Valley) dec. Mason Ludlow (Notre Dame GP), 9-2.