When Devon Alder dropped his last consolation match Saturday at the District 11 wrestling championships, he knew his chances to go states had vanished. The Falcon senior knew he had to regroup if he wanted to end his career with a victory.

He did just that, beating Pen Argyl’s Lorenzo Reto in the fifth-place match and earning Alder his first district medal.

“I wanted to end this on a win and that’s exactly what I needed - to close all of it out with a win,” said Alder. “I couldn’t ask for anything better at this point. I had a great season and it was a great time.

“I feel like I could have done better at the end, a couple mistakes here and there, but I’m glad I came out where I did. I definitely wanted to be at regionals. I wanted to get at least fourth, but one spot off isn’t too bad.”

Alder, who was seeded sixth at 138, won his first match, but lost his second match to No. 3 seed Attikos Clifford of Central Catholic by a 5-2 decision. He then won two straight matches, both by fall, before Tamaqua’s Aaron Coccio, the No. 5 seed, beat Alder 15-5 in a consolation final.

With the top four finishers in each weight class qualifying for regionals, that loss sent Coccio to states and sent Alder to the fifth-place match. As the first alternate from District 11, Alder’s only path to regionals would be if one of the top four in his weight class cannot compete in regionals.

Salisbury had just five wrestlers competing at districts. After fielding only 5-6 in dual matches this season, the Falcons look to the postseason as their chance to shine individually.

“In Salisbury I think it’s more of a quality over quantity type thing,” Alder said. “We have a lot of really good wrestlers but not too many numbers, so I think as time goes on we’ll have a lot more people like me join.”

This year the team’s numbers are up from just two varsity grapplers last year. One of this year’s newcomers is Alder’s younger brother Braedon, who went 2-2 at districts. He’s one of two Falcon freshmen that competed in districts and one of three in this year’s line up.

Freshman Toby Linn won one match at districts, while classmate John Samy missed the tournament due to injury.

Salisbury senior Kyle Killiri capped his one-year high school wrestling career at districts, while sophomore Ben Krauss also won one match for Salisbury at districts, which were held at Freedom and Liberty high schools Friday and Saturday.

126 - Braedon Alder

Alder dec. Mason Boltz (Tri-Valley), 9-9 (UTB)

David Kreidler (Central Catholic) maj. dec. Alder, 10-0

Alder dec. Ethan Miernicki (North Schuylkill), 6-4

Blake Sheridan (Wilson) dec. Alder, 5-2

138 - Devon Alder

Alder pinned Isaac Whiteash (Williams Valley), :53

Attikos Clifford (Central Catholic) pinned Alder in 3:42

Alder pinned Cameron King (Wilson) in :50

Alder pinned Ben Griffith (Northwestern) in 2:18

Aaron Coccio (Tamaqua) maj. dec. Alder, 15-5

Fifth-place match

Alder dec. Lorenzo Reto (Pen Argyl), 7-4

152 - Toby LInn

Linn pinned Gannon Brinker (Pen Argyl) in 1:05

Benjamin Daubert (Palisades) pinned Linn in :35

Lucas Miller (Northwestern) maj. dec. Linn, 8-0

170 - Ben Krauss

Austin Winters (Palisades) dec. Krauss, 7-2 (SV)

Krauss pinned George Psarros (Central Catholic) in 2:39

Caleb Reiter (Pine Grove) pinned Krauss in 2:05

220 - Kyle Killiri

Aiden Compton (Pen Argyl) pinned Killiri in 2:24

Isaiah Johri (Northwestern) pinned Killiri in 4:11