Dan Moran and Michael Scheetz saw familiar opponents in their Northeast Regional 3A championships last weekend and they probably wouldn't mind seeing them again if the cards play out the right way.

Both Moran (113) and Scheetz (120) reached the regional championship last Saturday evening and both came away with silver medals.

After beating Liberty's KJ Fenstermacher in the district finals a week ago, Moran lost to one of his good friends 8-5.

Scheetz ran into the freshman buzzsaw known as Nazareth's Sammy Sasso for a consecutive week and endured a similar fate as the district title bout, losing by a 15-0 technical fall in 5:48.

But with the PIAA wrestling championships getting underway in Hershey today, both wrestlers wouldn't blink at the chance at seeing their recent rivals at the Giant Center, albeit it being in Saturday's finals.

With Moran and Scheetz being paired in opposite brackets of Fenstermacher and Sasso, the direct route to a third postseason battle lies squarely to a title match, which is something neither wouldn't mind heading to this week's wrestling finale.

"You know Sasso is probably one of the best wrestlers in the state," said Northampton head coach Seth Lisa, "but you never know how he's going to react at wrestling at the state tournament. "Michael has been there before and we hope that's something that'll help him. And with Dan, I imagine if he and KJ wrestle a 100 times, they'd win 50-apiece. Dan understands this is all preparation for Hershey and he'll be fine moving forward."

Moran couldn't neutralize Fenstermacher's offense, as he scored three takedowns in the match to help the Liberty sophomore register his first regional crown. Fenstermacher credited film sessions with his coaches, which helped him earn his trip to Hershey.

"I watched and studied the match on Flo [wrestling] a lot during the week," Fenstermacher said of the district finals bout. "We went over it about five times and I knew I had to stay away from the inside ties. I took all open shots and it worked."

Moran (31-5), who lost in last year's 106-pound PIAA championship by a 7-6 score to Devin Brown of Franklin Regional, is eyeing a repeat appearance his sophomore year on the states biggest stage.

He opens the tournament with Kordell Rush (26-7) of Pennridge during Thursday's first round.

Fortunately for Moran, he should be able to dodge two of the top wrestlers in his half of the bracket, as Brown (40-2) should meet with Exeter's Austin DeSanto (46-1) in the quarterfinals. That would leave the door open for a potential semifinal bout with Brown, which would be an interesting matchup a year later.

Scheetz (18-4) opens the state tournament against Garnet Valley's Matt Marino (29-7). The downside of Scheetz's bracket is that Franklin Regional's Spencer Lee (44-0, defending 113-pound state champion), who is arguably the best wrestler in the country at that weight, would be waiting in the wings during the semifinals.

Jason Kocher (220), who took third at regionals following a 5-2 victory over Pittston's Jake Vaxmonsky in the third-place consolation bout, enters his first state tournament against Andrew Boob (33-2) of Selinsgrove. Kocher comes in with a 25-8 record.

"Jason really started to come into his own this year," Lisa said. "To be a senior that didn't get out of districts last year, this is a great accomplishment for him. Now we hope that he can come home from states with a medal, just as we expect Dan and Michael to as well."