KJ Fenstermacher won his third District 11 3A wrestling championship over the weekend, but it didn’t come in the manner he hoped.

It was too close.

That’s how the mentality of a wrestler evolves over the duration of a career, where early on you’re just happy to grab gold, while your senior year is more about how you win gold.

Fenstermacher’s 6-3 decision over Jarred Papcsy in the 132-pound finals Saturday night at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium wasn’t the dazzling offensive display he hoped for, but it was a championship nonetheless, his first as a K-Kid back at the gym he called home for the previous three seasons.

“I think I wrestled well to get the job done, but I think if I work on my shots more and try to move him and get better angles, I should be able to score more,” said Fenstermacher. “It still feels great winning my third [district title]. It’s always good to add another one, plus I’ve never beaten him [Papcsy] before in my life.

“He always used to beat me and major me when I was younger, so it felt good to finally beat him.”

It was a successful weekend for Northampton, as the Kids finished third in the team standings with 207 points, falling behind second place Nazareth (223 points) and team champion Bethlehem Catholic (240 points).

Northampton also had four wrestlers reach Saturday’s finals, as sophomore 120-pounder Julian Chlebove joined Fenstermacher on top of the podium as a champion.

Chlebove had little trouble fending off Liberty’s Luke Werner by a 9-2 decision, as he won his second straight district title.

“This is just another tournament, another match and another step going toward states,” Chlebove said. “I know I have a big target on my back and I try not to think about being a state champ [from last year]. Everyone is tough and you just have to go out and wrestle hard.”

Cade Moisey (170) and Dan Moran (138) also reached the finals, but fell to two of District 11’s heavyweights in their respective classes, as Moisey was downed by Bethlehem Catholic’s Mikey Labriola 15-8 and Moran got majored by Nazareth’s Sammy Sasso 13-5.

The Kids advanced eight wrestlers in total this weekend’s Northeast Regional tournament with Sam Hanley (106) and Devon Britton (145) each taking fourth place finishes, while Michael Kistler (152) and Zack Rooks (182) finished in fifth.

Logan Ninos (113) missed the top-five cut by rounding out the medal list for the Kids with a sixth-place finish.