C.J. Horvath’s first tour on the District 11 3A wrestling landscape was a successful one, even though it didn’t end the way he wanted.

The talented Freedom 106-pounder found his way to the championship finals last Saturday evening, but came away with a silver medal following a 4-0 loss to Bethlehem Catholic’s Tyler Kasak.

Horvath was one of two Freedom wrestlers to advance to this week’s Northeast Regional 3A tournament back at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium.

His performance over the weekend proved that the Freedom freshman will be someone to deal with for the next four years, but he also hopes he can make changes for this week’s tournament on how to deal with Kasak.

“I was disappointed that I couldn’t come out on top, but Tyler’s a really great wrestler,” said Horvath. “It was definitely a good experience. Everyone in the weight class was tough and my goal was to win and get into the finals and I did that.”

For head coach Dante Terenzio, Horvath’s tournament was the tip of the iceberg for his lightweights, as they continued to carry the Patriots, as Luis Vargas (120) was the only other Freedom wrestler to advance following a third-place finish.

“It’s been a roller coaster year and the lightweights continued to carry us here,” said Terenzio. “That’s a direct correlation with their work ethic and they go hard everyday and I’m very proud of their effort. I know we had some other guys wrestle tough, but they just fell short.”

Vargas lost to Nazareth’s Andrew Smith 5-2 in the semifinals to be dumped into the consolation bracket, where he ended up taking on Bangor’s Caidan Poff en route to a 14-4 major decision victory to grab bronze.

Horvath squeaked by his quarterfinal bout with Northampton’s Carson Wagner 4-3 and then edged Pottsville’s Dalton Monger 3-2 in the semifinals.

“C.J. showed that he can battle with the best and he’ll get another shot to do that this week in another tough bracket at regionals,” said Terenzio. “Luis is in a good spot too and he’s right there with the best guys. We expect both of them to make it out to states.”