The reality of the situation was difficult for Parkland to handle. It was written across the face of their wrestlers, heard from the crackle of their voices and showed in their reluctance at accepting another silver medal.

When the dust settled at the District 11 team wrestling championships last Saturday evening at Freedom High School, Parkland had yet again failed to conquer Easton on the final mat.

Easton overcame a 13-point deficit en route to claiming their fourth straight District 11 3A team title with a 28-26 victory over Parkland.

It was the third time over the past four years that the Trojans fell to the Rovers in the district championship, as well as the second straight year Easton topped Parkland.

Parkland head coach Ryan Nunamaker was left rejected following Saturday's loss.

"It's heart-breaking," Nunamaker said. "I don't have too many words for this. These are all tough losses, but this is one that our kids really wanted. It was right in front of us. The guys wrestled as hard as they could and that's all I could ask for.

"At the end of the day, it is what it is."

Parkland (14-3) led 22-13 following a fall by Josh Ortman over Kyle Baker at 138 with five bouts left in the match. That's when things turned sour for Parkland, as Kyler Kilpatrick (145), Dyvon Gibson (152), Evan DiSora (160) and Willie Alford (170) won four straight to pull ahead for good.

DiSora's fall over Rahmeir Thompson in 2:38 put Easton ahead 25-22 and Alford's 8-5 decision over Nathan Christman sealed Easton's 10th district title in 13 years, since the 28-22 lead gave the Rovers the criteria advantage.

Nezar Haddad (182) won the final match of the bout by a 13-4 major decision over Patrick Pierson, but it was too little too late, as Easton (16-1) claimed eight of the 14 bouts of the match.

"No one really made any moves," Nunamker said of the matchups. "We just had our guys wrestle and we just didn't win enough of the ones we thought we could get."

Parkland responded with a 38-18 victory on Monday over District 3 fourth-place finisher Wilson to advance to this weekend's state tournament.

The Trojans square off against District 6 champion Mifflin County tonight, but could face District 3 champion Central Dauphin in Friday's quarterfinals should both teams win.

"Winning districts was one of our goals this year and this is hard to swallow," said Nunamaker. "We've been on the short end of some close losses this year, but we just have to bounce back and refocus."