You can say that Kenny Herrmann and Cole Handlovic are pretty good friends.

The two senior wrestlers have went through their shares of trials and tribulations over the years, but their triumph in Hershey over the weekend made everything worth it in the end.

Both wrestlers came off the mat of their final high school matches with their hands raised high, as the Bethlehem Catholic duo ended their careers as state champions Saturday night at the Giant Center.

“Cole is my best friend and to have us both win is just amazing,” said Herrmann, who came away with his fourth PIAA medal. “I can remember when we were both upset at how our season’s didn’t finish before and to now have us go out both on top is just great.”

Herrmann topped Stroudsburg’s Patrick Noonan 1-0 in the 132-pound championship, using a third-period escape as the only point of the bout.

After battling Noonan the past two weeks in the district and regional finals, Herrmann knew it would be a close bout.

“I don’t think I drew it up to win that way,” he said. “We’ve wrestled each other since seventh grade, so we both know what we want to do. I just had complete confidence in whoever I would face that I would win. It’s just a great feeling to win states. This is something I’ve dreamed of my whole life.”

Handlovic had a similar scenario in the 145-pound championship facing Northampton’s Jagger Condomitti. The pair had split their district and regional championship matches before meeting in the state final, as Handlovic used a third period escape and takedown for the 3-2 victory.

“It’s surreal. Just awesome with so many emotions,” said Handlovic of winning. “I’ve had family members win states before and my whole life I just wanted to be apart of this.”

Both gold medals helped Bethlehem Catholic come away with the team title with 110.5 points to out-duel second-place Nazareth (88.5 points).

The Hawks came away with six medalists from the weekend, as Tyler Kasak (106, fifth); Dante Frinzi (113, fifth); Evan Gleason (138, fifth) and Matt Lackman (152, third) gave the Hawks an impressive bevy of hardware from Hershey.

All four of the aforementioned wrestlers reached the semifinal rounds, but ultimately lost to find themselves in the consolation bracket.

Kasak, a freshman, learned some hard lessons in Hershey with his medal, as he was beating the eventual state champion, Vincent Kilkeary of Greater Latrobe 8-3 in the third period, until Kilkeary used a pair of five-point moves in the final minute for a staggering come-from-behind 14-10 victory.

The shock lasted on Kasak, as he was then pinned in his next bout by Mac Church of Waynesburg in 3:53.

Kasak then regrouped later in the night to pin Northampton’s Carson Wagner in 2:13 during the medal round.

Lackman shook off an 11-1 major decision semifinal loss to Ed Scott of DuBois to win his next two for third-place, ultimately topping Pine Richland’s Cole Spencer 3-2 in the medal round.

While Becahi’s season had it’s share of hardships, the Hawks coming away from Hershey on top in the team race with two state champions might have been a perfect ending to their campaign.

Especially since those two champs are best of friends.

“We’re like brothers,” said Handlovic of Herrmann. “We’ve been talking about this moment for so long and for it to come true is just awesome.”