When things were all said and done for Bethlehem Catholic's wrestling team at the Northeast Regional 3A championships last weekend, the Hawks may have exceeded their own expectations.

Becahi ran away with the team title for the second-straight week, crowned three champions, but more importantly, qualified 11 wrestlers to this week's PIAA state championships in Hershey.

It was a stoic performance from the Hawks, one that even impressed head coach Jeff Karam.

"I really thought we'd have maybe seven guys advance," Karam said. "That tells these guys really stepped up. For us to have a chance at winning the team title this weekend, that's what it's going to take. Every guy is going to help with the point total and we're going to count on all of them."

If there's two guys that Karam knows he can certainly count on making a deep run at the Giant Center, it's Andrew Dunn and his son, Luke Karam.

Dunn worked his way through a 5-2 decision over Dallas Area's Ryan Monk in the heayweight final on Saturday, which gave him a good tune-up heading into states, after earning a technical fall and fall in his two previous regional bouts last week.

"He's [Monk] one of the better guys in the state and this was a good indicator heading into states," Dunn said. "I wrestled just how I wanted to, but I need to finish the match better.

"That's what I'll take away going to Hershey. I've wrestled great competition all year round and I'm confident that I'm prepared for this moment. I'm just going to take one match at a time and a state championship will take care of itself."

Karam won his regional final with a 6-0 decision over Hazleton's Jimmy Hoffman. After winning the 2A state title a year ago, the Hawks' 126-pound junior looks to add a 3A crown to his collection this week.

Stephen Maloney got the finals started last week for Becahi, winning the 138-pound championship by a 4-2 decision over Dan Ritz of Crestwood.

The Hawks saw two of their stars lose in the championship round, as Mike Labriola (152) lost a heart-breaking 7-6 decision to Scranton's Kazim Bakhriyev with a takedown with one second left in the third period to steal a title from Becahi's grasp.

Adam Soldridge (160) followed that up by getting pinned by Cody Cordes of Wyoming Valley West in 5:42.

Those two defeats were bumps in the road for Becahi's exceptional Saturday, as the Hawks won five of their six third-place consolation matches.

"You know the consolation semifinal round we had Saturday afternoon was probably one of the best rounds I've ever witnessed from a team," said Karam, "I thought we could have wrestled better in the championship rounds, but I think a tournament like this wears on you a little bit."

And with Dunn and Karam leading the charge for the Hawks as gold medalist hopefuls this week, Karam expects them to take command.

"I expect both of them to do well," Karam said. "They've been there before and they know the routine. They've been on those mats several times and I expect them to lead our guys. We'll just take it one round at a time, just like we do at any tournament."

Other regional place-winners and state qualifiers for the Hawks include: Sean Redington (106, 3rd); Luke Carty (113, 3rd); Jake Riegel (120, 3rd); Joey Gould (132, 3rd); Cole Karam (145, 3rd) and Brandon Blobe (195, 4th).