Bethlehem Catholic's journey towards an unprecedented fifth straight state championship in wrestling came to an end over the weekend at the Giant Center in Hershey.

The Hawks, for the first-time since February of 2011, found themselves on the wrong side of the win column, succumbing to District 7 power Franklin Regional 30-26 in the PIAA 3A semifinals last Friday night.

The defeat ended Becahi's 62-match winning streak and forced the Hawks to settle for third-place after they walloped Parkland and North Allegheny in the consolation rounds to finish in third.

For head coach Jeff Karam, the loss was a sobering reminder of what defeat feels like.

"It's been a long time since we lost and it doesn't feel good," Karam said. "I made sure our guys understood the way they felt and have them use that as motivation for the future."

Getting out from bottom was a sticking point for Becahi in their loss to Franklin Regional, as Brandon Blobe (195) and Niko Camacho (HWT) fell victim to tight losses. Blobe lost a 1-0 bout to Jeremy Nestor after not being able to get out from bottom in the third period and Camacho was a 4-3 victim to Jake Pickup.

Trailing 27-20 entering the second last match of the bout, Luke Karam (126) lost to Gus Solomon 1-0 after neither wrestler was able to score on their feet during the match. Karam chose neutral to start the third period, instead of wanting to take bottom, out of respect for Solomon's prowess on top.

The victory sealed the win for the Panthers, who forfeited the final bout at 132 to walk away with the win.

"If there's one thing that we can take away from this is that we need to get better on bottom," Karam said. "That really was a major issue for us in a couple of key bouts. It's something that we'll have to focus on more now because it was a deciding factor in the match."

The Hawks took out their frustration against Parkland Saturday morning, hammering the Trojans for a third time this season, 55-6.

Becahi then took home third-place with a 52-9 victory over North Allegheny in their final consolation bout.

Despite not coming home with a state title, Karam doesn't see the weekend trek to Hershey as a wasted one.

"I think we come away from this with more confidence about our chances at winning the individual team title [at states in March]," he said. "Before this tournament, we looked at it and figured we really didn't have a chance, but I think we've closed the gap now.

"Plus, I know our guys will be motivated. You just have to look at it as an experience that you can learn from and that's how we're going to take it away."

The Hawks will wrestle East Stroudsburg North tonight and Emmaus Thursday night in two East Penn Conference bouts that were pushed back.