Bethlehem Catholic’s run to the District 11 3A team wrestling title didn’t come as a surprise over the weekend, following the Golden Hawks 42-20 victory over Nazareth Saturday evening at Freedom High School.

It was a foregone conclusion heading into the district tournament who the top dogs were, as Becahi claimed their second straight 3A crown and sixth straight district team title [four straight 2A titles] overall, following their decisive win over the Blue Eagles.

Last week’s win proved to be a bit more difficult, compared to their 40-9 win over Nazareth in the EPC final two weeks ago, but nonetheless, was assuring from the very beginning, starting off with Ryan Anderson’s 2-1 win over Tyson Klump at 113.

The opening victory of the match for Anderson set the tone the rest of the way, as the Hawks won 10 of 14 bouts to easily move into the state tournament.

Mikey Labriola was one of the Hawks that enjoyed a 26-11 win over Ryan Herceg at 170. He’s also a four-year member of the team that’s experienced four straight district titles, but distinctly remembers losing in last year’s state championship to Franklin Regional.

“We just want that state championship since we haven’t won 3A [states] yet,” Labriola said. “It was a heartbreaker to lose in Hershey last year. We want to win the title bad this weekend. It’s all about redemption for us. Coach Karam reminds us about it all the time.”

Last year’s 30-26 defeat to Franklin Regional in the PIAA semifinals thwarted the Hawks opportunity of making history by becoming the first school to win state titles in both classifications.

The allure of gold will be on Becahi’s minds all week as they prep for Thursday’s PIAA opener (8 p.m.) against District 2 top-seed Tunkhannock at Hershey’s Giant Center.

The Hawks (16-1), the top-ranked team in Pennsylvania, are favorites to win this year’s tournament, but could face resistance with a looming semifinal bout with District 7’s Belle Vernon (16-1) in Friday’s semifinals.

Belle Vernon is ranked second in the state and unfortunately, both teams are paired in the same bracket for this week’s tournament.

Head coach Jeff Karam understands the goal for his group this weekend, but isn’t overlooking anything on the road to Hershey.

“Belle Vernon has their whole team back,” Karam said. “They’re ranked right behind us in the state and they’re ranked right behind us in the country. They’re really good and we’re going to have our hands full if we get to them and if they get to us.”

All bets point toward a nationally ranked contest in Friday’s semifinals between both schools despite Karam’s downplayed view.

In the top half of the bracket, Boyertown (19-0, ranked 3rd in PA), Cumberland Valley (14-2, ranked 5th in PA) and Nazareth (15-2, ranked 4th in PA) are all candidates to reach the state final, potentially against the Golden Hawks.

But after trouncing Stroudsburg 51-14 and Easton 55-15 en route to beating Nazareth at district duals, it’s fair to say that there may be only one team that can beat Becahi on the mats this year and it’s the Golden Hawks themselves.

“It’s so easy when you walk off the mat when you win, but you learn far more when you lose,” said Karam. “I think we got better from that situation losing to Franklin Regional last year. We lost three or four matches to them last year where, if we win any of them, we win the dual meet.

“We make a point of it to not lose close matches anymore and that’s going to be important this weekend if we want to become state champs.”

Liberty’s ride through the District 11 tournament ended with a 36-25 defeat to Easton Saturday afternoon in the consolation round.

The Hurricanes opened the tournament with a 46-20 victory over Bangor last Thursday, but fell to Nazareth 42-19 in the district quarterfinals.

Liberty (12-4) topped Emmaus in Saturday’s consolation 44-14 before falling to Easton later in the afternoon.