Before his senior season Ryan Haverkamp always wrestled one or two weight classes from where he wanted to. But in 2019-20, the line up opened up and he was able to find just the right spot.

He entered last weekend’s District 11 Championships as the No. 6 seed at 182 after posting a 20-12 record in the regular season.

A loss in the quartefinal round sent Haverkamp to the consolation bracket. But he won three straight bouts to reach the third-place match while securing a place in this weekend’s Southeast Regional.

“In previous years I was going up two weight classes and I was gaining a lot of weight before matches to have a starting spot,” he said. “This year I was pretty much wherever I wanted to go. I think I could have dropped to 170, but I think I did pretty good at 182.”

Haverkamp took fourth place after falling to No. 3 seed Nate Wickerham (Tamaqua) in the third-place match. He is one of two Tiger wrestlers to reach regionals as classmate Harrison Bernhard (145) also placed third.

Northwestern didn’t have any wrestlers compete in districts at 170 or 195, so Haverkamp examined his opportunities.

“I was seeded sixth coming into it,” said Haverkamp. “I looked at the weight classes above and weight classes below. It’s my last year, I’m just going to stay at the weight that I’m at now and go for it and see what happens.

“I wouldn’t say I wasn’t planning to make it to regionals, but I definitely am super excited that I have the opportunity to make it there.”

He’s happy that he’s heading there with a teammate that’s been with him throughout his wrestling career in Bernhard.

“I’ve been wrestling with [Bernhard] since I was five years old,” Haverkamp said. “It’s pretty cool we get to go together.

“Me, Jake (Dellicker), Harry (Bernhard) and Tyler (Watson) have all been wrestling for the same number of years.

“I can remember back to youth tournaments. I feel better going into regionals knowing that I have someone else on the team and knowing I’ll be able to practice with Harrison this week.”

Bernhard entered districts as the No. 5 seed at 145 and won his first two matches, including a pin during the sudden victory period in his quarterfinal match against No. 4 seed Mason Smeland of Palisades.

After a loss to top-seeded Thomas Spirk (Saucon Valley) in the semifinals, Berhnard beat Mahanoy’s Cesaer Rivera in a consolation match to seal his regional bid and a place in the third-place match.

Bernhard dropped the third place match to No. 2 seed Christopher Clifford of Central Catholic.

In qualifying for regionals, Bernhard will follow in the footsteps of his brothers, Quentin and Jackson, who were both regional qualifiers during their high school careers.

“I’m pretty satisfied,” said Bernhard. “Going to regionals was the goal. There’s always that next goal, which is going to states now.

“It will be a lot less pressure next week. I really wanted to get out of this tournament. There’s that sense of relief that I made it out and performed well this weekend, of course it’s not full relief yet.”

Bernhard picked up his 98th career win at districts and needs to pick up two wins at regionals to reach a career milestone.

“It’s motivating to know two more and I get 100, two more and I make it out to states. I can’t overthink it because the nerves will get to me,” he said. “It’s just another steppingstone, gotta keep on working hard in the room next week.”

“I hope we make it out of regionals and keep rolling with it,” said Haverkamp. “We put all this time into it, we’re going to see what we can get out of it.”

Two other Tigers placed at regionals.

Lucas Miller won three straight wrestlebacks to get to the consolation final, but he dropped that bout to come one win short of a regional berth. He came back to win the fifth place 6-0 over Pen Argyl’s Gabe Brinker. Eli Dellicker (113) took sixth place at districts.

Northwestern tied for seventh place as a team at districts.

The following are results from Northwestern wrestlers at the District 11 Championship, listed by weight class and including each Tiger wrestlers’ seed.

113 - No. 7 Eli Dellicker

Dellicker pinned Nate Armstrong (Palisdes) in :36

William Schwartz (Jim Thorpe) dec. Dellicker, 11-4

Dellicker dec. Hennessey Ruppert (Pen Argyl), 5-4

Dellicker pinned Aiden Geist (Pine Grove) in :44

Tyler Slotterback (North Schuylkill) dec. Dellicker, 5-0

Fifth-place match

Nicholas Zeigenfuss (Lehighton) dec. Dellicker, 9-6

120 - No. 8 Jake Dellicker

Dellicker maj. dec. Lukas Ferguson (Leighton), 14-2

Brandon Chestos (Notre Dame GP) pinned Dellicker in 1:30

Dellicker pinned Blaze Hartrum (Wilson) in 4:00

Danny Grigas (North Schuylkill) dec. Dellicker, 4-3

126 - No. 14 Anthony Russo

Cael Markle (Saucon Valley) pinned Russo in 4:31

Russo pinned Ethan Whitmore (Williams Valley) in 4:44

Gavin Fehr (Catasauqua) dec. Russo, 5-4

138 - No. 7 Ben Griffith

Griffith pinned Colby Carlin (Tri Valley) in 3:21

Jacob Jones pinned Griffith in :50

Griffith pinned Nathan Ellan (Northern Lehigh) in 4:20

Devon Alder (Salisbury) pinned Griffith in 2:18

145 - No. 5 Harrison Bernhard

Bernhard maj. dec. Jacob Wehr (Notre Dame GP), 11-0

Bernhard pinned Mason Smeland (Palisades) in 6:18 (SV)

Thomas Spirk (Saucon Valley) maj. dec. Bernhard, 13-4

Bernhard dec. Cesear Rivera (Mahanoy Area), 3-1

Third-place match

Christopher Clifford (Central Catholic) dec. Bernhard, 4-0

152 - No. 7 Lucas Miller

Christopher Charles (Pine Grove) dec. Miller, 4-1

Miller dec. Tony Morello (Notre Dame GP), 7-5

Miller maj. dec. Toby Linn (Salisbury), 8-0

Miller dec. Camron Tinajero (Jim Thorpe), 8-2

Ashtyn Berberena (Wilson) dec. Miller, 7-3

Fifth-place match

Miller dec. Gannon Brinker (Pen Argyl), 6-0

160 - No. 2 Tyler Watson

Ty Csencsits (Saucon Valley) dec. Watson, 3-2

Watson pinned Brendan Allen (Panther Valley) in 1:33

Watson dec. Cole Eberts (Tamaqua), 9-5

Shawn Gardner (Palmerton) dec. Watson, 2-1 (TB 2)

182 - No. 6 Ryan Haverkamp

Haverkamp pinned Mason Ludlow (Notre Dame GP) in 1:45

Nate Wickersham (Tamaqua) pinned Haverkamp in 2:33

Haverkamp pinned Orlando Morales (Executive Academy) in :39

Haverkamp pinned Caleb McDermott (Jim Thorpe) in :53

Haverkamp dec. Alexi Perez (Mahanoy), 8-7 (SV)

Third-place match

Wickersham (Tamaqua) tech. fall Haverkamp, 17-1

220 - No. 12 Isaiah Johri

Jason Hunter (Northern Lehigh) dec. Johri, 7-5

Johri pinned Kyle Killiri in 4:11

John Fowler (Mahanoy Area) pinned Johri in 4:35

Top 10 Teams

1. Saucon Valley 275.5, 2. Notre Dame (Green Pond) 246.5, 3. Wilson 170.5, 4. Tamaqua 111, 5. Pen Argyl 99.5, 6. Lehighton 79, 7. Northwestern, Catasauqua 78, 9. Mahanoy Area 70., 10. Central Catholic 66.5.