Luke Fugazzotto understands the expectations and welcomes the pressure.

It comes with the standard the Northwestern freshman has set for himself.

One established before Fugazzotto began his varsity career.

And one that isn’t about to change anytime soon.

Fugazzotto’s freshman season produced championships, generated accolades and ended with a trip to Hershey.

It also came with experience.

Experience to make next year even better.

Fugazzotto, the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Wrestler of the Year, is highly motivated to turn an impressive debut into an unforgettable encore.

“I feel like it was a good high school debut for me,” said Fugazzotto. “A little bit disappointed I didn’t make the podium (at states), but I did a lot better than every other freshman in my weight class; I was the only freshman to make it out to states at 160. I think that kind of says something. I’m not totally disappointed. But not placing is just motivation for next season.”

That drive is rooted deep inside Fugazzotto, already a decorated wrestler before he earned his stripes for the Tigers this season.

“In seventh grade nothing really happened because of COVID and stuff. But in eighth grade, I won the district tournament and I took second at PJWs,” Fugazzotto said of the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling event. “That was kind of a bad loss, but that’s also motivation for high school. That’s just another motivation right there, and it just drives me.”

More than the wins, those are the moments that stick with Fugazzotto and push him forward.

They propelled him to a District 11 Class 2A title at 160 pounds, a fourth-place finish at regionals and a berth in the PIAA Championships, where Fugazzotto’s tournament ended in the third round of consolations with a 7-6 loss to Glendale’s Zeke Dubler.

“I’ve been around Luke now since I he was in I guess fourth grade. I’ve known him for a while,” said first-year Northwestern coach Joe Killar, who was the school’s junior high coach. “I didn’t get the chance to coach him as much as I did this year. He’s a hard worker, he holds himself to high standards. I like working with him. He listens, he’s receptive at practice. I like working with Luke. I thought it was a good first year. He just missed placing at states. He had a tough draw, but it is what it is. I thought overall he had a good year.”

Killar knows what it takes to compete at the highest level. He was a two-time All-American at Harvard after winning a state title and finishing as a runner-up at Saucon Valley.

“He’s pretty mentally tough in that if he’s losing a match it doesn’t get to him that much,” said Killar. “He keeps going at it, which is hard to teach, and hard to get guys to do. I don’t know if there’s one particular match, but I’ve seen it through the year. At districts and regionals, it might not have been going his way, and if we won the matches or lost, but he just kept wrestling, which was good to see.”

Fugazzotto punched his ticket to the district final in dramatic fashion. Trailing Notre Dame Green Pond’s Joseph Lapenna 4-2 in the third period, Fugazzotto rallied for a pin at the 5:21 mark.

“He didn’t get flustered, he just kept wrestling, caught him and pinned him in the third period, which was a good win for him,” Killar said of the semifinal win.

Fugazzotto came through in big spots throughout the season, posting a major decision and two pins en route to the Colonial League. He posted 28 of his 37 victories by pinfall this season.

While Fugazzotto was successful in his own right, he also enjoyed having successful teammates by his side. Senior Buck Miller joined him at states, while junior Dalton Clymer and senior Dartanyon Delillo also qualified for regionals.

It helped that the group also wrestled around the same weight class, with Clymer – who was a state qualifier last year – at 172, Miller at 189 and Delillo finishing the year at 285.

“We all have our own goals and stuff, but I think it’s not really that different,” said Fugazzotto. “It’s probably just getting to states, placing, and even though we don’t communicate about it, we just kind of know that that’s what we all want to do, and that’s what we’re trying to train for.”

And Fugazzotto knows what it will take to build on what he accomplished this season.

“The (close) matches, I learned specific places I need to do better, and against better guys,” he said. “Some of it was seniority. But it did teach me specific places that I need to get better so that I could be successful in the future.”

Fugazzotto knows the bar has been raised. But he’s just getting started.

“I guess it’s just part of what comes with it, since I’ve not really done anything really big yet,” he said. “I don’t feel like that pressure is on me, at least not yet. I don’t have to keep something. It’s more like I have to get something at this point.”