Evan Kauffman became Freedom's first district champion since 2006 over the weekend and Liberty's Grimaldi Gonzalez repeated his stint atop the podium as the Bethlehem wrestlers brought home the only gold medals for their respective schools from the District 11 3A wrestling tournament held at Memorial Gymnasium.

Kauffman was one of four Patriots to move onto this week's Northeast Regional 3A tournament at Liberty, while the host Hurricanes advanced three wrestlers.

Kauffman (220) held off Liberty's Jake Gunning with a 5-4 decision in the finals to finally get the monkey of winning a district title off his back.

It was his third trip to the district finals and it was a major relief for the Patriot senior to walk away with a gold medal.

"The first thing I said to my head coach, 'was that it's about time,'" said Kauffman. "It feels good to win districts and have the other guys in the program look up to me for that. It's been a long time coming and I'm happy to get this out of the way."

Kauffman also was involved in the center of controversy when Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan was ejected during his semifinal match against Northampton's Imad Azar, where he won by a 3-0 decision.

Callahan argued a stalling call and was ejected from the gym by the official. Kauffman didn't hear or realize anything going on and inadvertently found himself related to a story that made national headlines.

"I had no idea what happened," he said. "I can't even really say anything about it. I just think people have really blown it out of proportion."

Gonzalez (120) also squeaked out a tight win in the finals when he registered a 4-3 decision over Northampton's Zach Valley in the finals.

With the bout tied at 3-3 heading into the third, Gonzalez's third period escape from the start was enough to hold off Valley for his second straight district title.

"I knew it was going to be a good match going in and I think I wrestled pretty good," Gonzalez said. "I'm working real hard and have guys like Mike Pena and Mario Stuart coming into the room and working with me. My goal is to become a state champion this year and I feel confident about the way I'm wrestling at the moment."

Freedom actually took home a top five finish in the team standings, grabbing fourth place with 119 points, while Liberty finished eighth overall with 87.5 points.

Dylan Brown (106), Jake Young (170) and John Callahan (195) each took fourth place for the Patriots to move on this week, while Ardis Smith (145), along with runner-up Jake Gunning (220), concluded Liberty's regional trio.