The Northwestern wrestling team ended the dual-meet part of its season last week with a 2-2 showing at the District 11 team tournament.

Northwestern overcame that obstacle Saturday against North Schuylkill, but the Tigers couldn’t make up for those lost points against a tough Wilson team.

The No. 3 seed Warriors beat the Tigers 57-16 in the second round of Class 2A consolation matches Saturday at Freedom High School, ending Northwestern’s run in districts.

It was the Tigers’ second match of the day after they knocked off No. 4 North Schuylkill, 48-21, in the first round of consolations.

“Coming in against North Schuylkill, the way the match went was not what I expected at all,” said Northwestern head coach Jim Moll, whose team was seeded eighth. “I expected us to need more pins to have a shot to win with all the forfeits we had in the lineup. We really only lost one bout. Our guys wrestled real well.”

The Tigers’ Harrison Bernhard came up with a pin against Dylan Edwards at 160 to give his team a 14-4 lead after four bouts.

“Harrison getting a pin was huge,” said Moll. “We knew Edwards is tough, and we were bumping Harrison up quite a bit. To get bonus points there was huge.”

Ryan Haverkamp and Isaiah Johri came up with back-to-back pins at 195 and 220 to put Northwestern ahead 29-10 with five bouts left. After three straight Tiger forfeits put the Spartans in front by one point, Jake Dellicker came up with a 5-4 win over 2019 District 11 medalist Danny Grigas, and Anthony Russo sealed the win with a 5-2 decision over Ethan Miernicki.

“Isaiah Johri getting a pin was pretty big,” said Moll. “And Jake Dellicker, Grigas is a real tough kid; to get a win there was huge.

“Then Anthony Russo sealed it for us with a 5-2 win at 126. That was one I bet they had going their way in the book. We tell Russo to just wrestle tough, to not give up bonus (points); then he pulls it out.”

Against Wilson - the third-place finisher at the tournament - the Tigers fell behind early and couldn’t climb out of the hole.

Bernhard pinned his opponent at 152 to give his team a brief 6-3 lead after two bouts, but Wilson won the next seven bouts, including five forfeits, to take a 57-10 lead.

“It’s about what we expected,” said Moll. “They have tough kids up and down their lineup. With the forfeits we have, it makes it real tough.”

Dellicker and Mason Brensinger were the only other Tigers to win matches against Wilson. Dellicker (120) earned a 10-1 major decision over Blaze Hartrum. Brensinger pinned Cameron King in the third period of their 138-pound bout.

The Tigers opened the district team tournament last Thursday when they beat Pen Argyl 39-33 in the first round, then lost to eventual champ Saucon Valley 60-24 in the next round.

The Panthers built a 42-6 lead on the strength of five forfeits and two pins through the first eight matches. The Tigers got on the board in the fifth bout with Isaiah Johri’s pin at 220 pounds.

Saucon Valley didn’t get any forfeits the rest of the way, but the top seed did get another three pins.

Moll wasn’t concerned that his team took losses. It was how the eighth-seeded Tigers lost them.

Jake Dellicker (120) and Ben Griffith (132) both had pins for the Tigers.

Meanwhile, Moll will turn his attention to Saturday, where he hopes Northwestern can produce a similar run to last season, placing fourth as the 10th seed.

In the opening round Thursday, the Tigers avenged and early-season loss to Pen Argyl.

“We knew that was going to be a barn burner,” said Moll. “They beat us by 10 earlier in the year. We knew we had to wrestle real tough to knock them off. And we did.”

Eli Dellicker’s pin at 113 pounds tied the match at 24-24 after Pen Argyl was deducted one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct after the match.

Dellicker secured the critical fall with a late turn.

“He’s on bottom with 30 seconds to go, winning the match, which was great, but able to bounce back and find a way to finish,” said Moll. “That was enormous.”

Jake Dellicker delivered a pin at 120 pounds to make it 30-24. Ben Griffith’s decision at 132 pushed the advantage back to 33-27 after Lucas Buskirk came through with a pin for the ninth-seeded Green Knights at 126.

A Northwestern forfeit at 138 tied it at 33-33 going into the final bout.

But Brensinger pinned Dylan Ashenfalder in 1:45 to secure the win.

Harrison Bernhard (160), Tyler Watson (170) and Ryan Haverkamp (195) also had pins for the Tigers, while Ben Griffith (132) posted a decision.

“That was a full team effort,” said Moll. “Everything from not getting pinned, to getting off your back, to winning close matches and getting pins.”

The Tigers will now have three weeks to prepare for the District 11 individual tournament.

“Some of our guys are definitely wrestling their best right now,” said Moll. “As a team they really did well doing their job when we had a tight match. Hopefully that translates to individuals and they can pull out some matches there.

“We probably have five or six who have a real shot to get out of districts and make it to regionals. We’ll see what kind of work they put in over the next few weeks and take it from there.”

Wilson 57, Northwestern 16

145 - Ashtyn Barberra (W) dec. Lucas Miller, 5-1; 152 - Harrison Bernhard (NW) pinned Owen Pelonero in 5:35; 160 - Anthony Micci (W) won by forfeit; 170 - Cayden Trimmer (W) won by forfeit; 182 - Alex Snyder (W) pinned Ryan Haverkamp in 3:1; 195 - Austin Wickham (W) won by forfeit; 220 - Kolby Flank (W) pinned Alex Johri in 1:57; 285 - Roger Russell (W) won by forfeit; 106 - JJ Wohlbach (W) won by forfeit; 113 - Double forfeit; 120 - Jake Dellicker (NW) major dec. Blaze Hartrum; 126 - Blake Sheridan (W) pinned Anthony Russo in 1:55; 132 - Dustin Hunara (W) pinned Ben Griffith in 1:15; 138 - Mason Brensinger (NW) pinned Cameron King in 5:26.

N’western 41, N. Schuylkill 28

138 - Mason Brensinger (NW) major dec. Braydon Kessler, 12-3; 145 - Lucas Miller (NW) major dec. Mike Sterner, 17-4; 152 - Ben Wolfe (NS) major dec. Nathan Peters, 10-1; 160 - Harrison Bernhard (NW) pinned Dylan Edwards in 4:27; 170 - Tyler Watson (NW) dec. Jared Tinari, 7-3; 182 - Pat Cooney (NS) won by forfeit; 195 - Ryan Haverkamp (NW) pinned William Strickland in 1:19; 220 - Isaiah Johri (NW) pinned Blake Olayo in 1:48; 285 - Carey Wahaler (NS) won by forfeit; 106 - Noah Gilgore (NS) won by forfeit; 113 - Tyler Slotterback (NS) won by forfeit; 120 - Jacob Dellicker (NW) def. Danny Grigas, 5-4; 126 - Anthony Russo (NW) def. Ethan Miernicki, 5-2; 132 - Benjamin Griffith (NW) won by forfeit.

Saucon Valley 60, N’western 24

160 - Tyler Pfizenmayer (SV) pinned Tyler Watson in 3:47; 170 - Ty Csencsits (SV) won by forfeit; 182 - Matt Arciuolo (SV) pinned Ryan Haverkamp in 1:28; 195 - Dane Csencsits (SV) won by forfeit; 220 - Isaiah Johri (NW) pinned Jack Marouchoc in :49; 285 - Nick Warnke (SV) won by forfeit; 106 - Ermal Duka (SV) won by forfeit; 113 - Connor Nicholas (SV) won by forfeit; 120 - Jake Dellicker (NW) pinned Brent Malick in 5:56; 126 - Cael Markle (SV) pinned Anthony Russo in :16; 132 - Ben Griffith (NW) pinned Kevin Dyer in 1:11; 138 - Jake Jones (SV) pinned Mason Brensinger in 3:08; 145 - Liam Scrivanich (SV) pinned Lucas Miller in 2:38; 152 - Harrison Bernhard (NW) won by forfeit.

Northwestern 39, Pen Argyl 33

152 - Jack Rissmiller (PA) dec. Lucas Miller, 2-0; 160 - Harrison Bernhard (NW) pinned Gannon Brinker in 3:26; 170 - Tyler Watson (NW) pinned Reid Holden in :56; 182 - Tyler Taylor (PA) won by forfeit; 195 - Ryan Haverkamp (NW) pinned Dakota Graham in :48; 220 - Aiden Compton (PA) won by forfeit; 285 - Sean Rumsey (PA) major dec. Isaiah Johri, 9-0; 106 - Stephen Klimek (PA) won by forfeit; 113 - Eli Dellicker (NW) pinned George Pultz in 5:55; 120 - Jake Dellicker (NW) pinned Hennessey Ruppert in 2:51; 126 - Lucas Buskirk (PA) dec. Anthony Russo, 6-0; 132 - Ben Griffith (NW) dec. Antonio Reto, 7-2; 138 - Lorenzo Reto (PA) won by forfeit; 145 - Mason Brensinger (NW) pinned Dylan Ashenfalder in 1:45.