Luis Vargas is the only Freedom wrestler heading out to Hershey this week for the PIAA wrestling championships, but it won’t take away from his goal of coming home with hardware from the state’s grandest stage.

Vargas, a senior 120-pounder, took home a third place finish at the Northeast Regional 3A tournament last weekend at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium, following a 5-2 decision over Cadden Cucek of Wyoming Valley West.

It marks the first time Vargas has qualified for Hershey, as he looks to make the most of his one opportunity in Chocolate town.

“It’s my senior year and I’ve been working hard all four years and to finally get to states just feels great,” said Vargas. “I can’t express the feelings I have going to states.”

Vargas made a run to the regional semifinals last week, but fell to Bethlehem Catholic’s Matt Mayer 8-5, as Mayer secured four takedowns in the win to bump Vargas to the consolation bracket.

From there he took care of business with a 9-2 decision over Liberty’s Ansar Niazi before clamping down on Cucek with two takedowns in the match to secure the win.

While Vargas is moving on, freshman hopeful CJ Horvath (106) saw his season end earlier than expected, as the District 11 finalist had a bumpy road at regionals.

Horvath lost in the quarterfinals to Josh Jasionwicz of Stroudsburg 11-4 and then lost by fall in the consolation bracket to Northampton’s Carson Wagner in 4:40.

Vargas opens the state tournament against Jimmy King of West Chest Rustin in the preliminaries, as King was the fifth seed out of the Southeast. A win over King, however, would set him up against Lane Aikey, the Northwest champ, from Bellefonte. While it may be a tough road to start at Hershey, Vargas seems primed to let things all hang out.

“I know this is my last chance and I’m just going to seize the moment,” he said. “I’m just going to wrestle and stick to what I do best. I don’t really feel pressure and I’m not going to approach things any different from I have all year. I just want to come home with a state medal.”