It’s one thing to tire out your opponent on the wrestling mat, it’s another thing to tire out the referee officiating the match.

That’s exactly what Bethlehem Catholic’s Mike Labriola did to long time District 11 official Bob Kern on Saturday night in the Northeast Regional AAA finals.

Labriola was a takedown machine in his 23-11 major decision victory over Edwin Morales of Mariana Bracetti Academy in the 170-pound finals.

The take ‘em down, let ‘em up style exhausted Morales and Kern at the same time.

“This kid is exhausting me,” said Kern of Labriola during the second period of Saturday evening’s win.

And that is something that Labriola prides himself on.

“I’m pretty well conditioned, but it’s more of a mental thing for me to keep going out there,” said Labriola. “You just got to tell yourself you’ll be fine, but that’s funny the ref said that.”

The Hawks were full of smiles leaving regionals, as they advanced nine wrestlers to this week’s PIAA tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Labriola was one of three champions for Becahi, joined alongside Luke Karam (126), who became the first wrestler in Becahi history to win four regional crowns, following a 16-1 technical fall over Northampton’s Devon Britton. Adam Soldridge (182) kept his postseason momentum going as well, picking up gold following a 4-3 decision over Cole Dixon of Dallas.

The Hawks pulled away for the team title again, outpacing Nazareth 167.5 to 133.5, but the Blue Eagles did come away with four champions, leading the contingent of all teams from the tournament.

Still, head coach Jeff Karam comes away from the tournament encouraged to advance nine wrestlers, but at the same time, wanted more.

“Obviously, I wish we could send a couple more,” Karam said. “Jody Crouse lost a tough one in the consy semis and Ryan Anderson still burns me. I think he would be moving on to Hershey too. We got nine guys, that’s a good number to send the most kids from the district. If you want to have a chance to win that team [state] title, you need to send as many guys out there as possible.”

Joining the three Becahi champions in Hershey include: Zach Glenn (third at 106), Luke Carty (third at 120), Joey Gould (second at 132), Stephen Maloney (third at 138), Cole Karam (third at 152) and Niko Camacho (third at 285).

The Hawks are obviously targeting more hardware this weekend, as senior Luke Karam (33-3) hopes to win his third state championship, while Labriola (38-3), a junior, hopes to pick up his first taste of PIAA gold.

PIAAs only a junior but we don’t want to wait until next year,” Karam said of Labriola. “I think he’s the best kid in the state and until someone can prove me wrong, that’s what I believe. He just gets stronger as the match goes on. First three minutes you might be able to hang with him, but he just wears you down.”