With the strength of Northwestern’s middle and upper weights, the Tigers just need to stay within striking distance early in most matches before they can rack up points later in the contest.

But, Saturday in the semifinal round of the District 11 Team Championships, the early deficit the Tigers faced against Tri-Valley was too large to make up as they fell to the Bulldogs 45-27.

“Every match that was close, we ended up getting pinned,” said Northwestern head coach Joe Killar. “We didn’t wrestle well. They took it to us. We tried to wrestle to our ability at every weight and we didn’t.”

The Tigers lost eight of the 13 matches, with six of their losses coming by fall.

The Bulldogs (15-4) won four of the next five matches, with three coming by fall to take a 33-6 lead Saturday at Freedom High School.

Weston Killar (127) was the only Tiger winner in the first seven bouts.

When the match got to 160, the Tigers (11-4) looked to go on a roll despite bumping most of their wrestlers up one weight class to make up for some holes in the line up.

Chase Sukanick (160) won by fall, before Nolan Koehler (172) earned a win by decision. Vinnie Fugazzotto (189) and Luke Fugazzotto (215) both pinned their opponents in less than 35 seconds to get the match score to 33-27.

Tri-Valley wins at 285 and 107 sealed the win.

The Tigers were missing two wrestlers from the middle of their lineup in Trent Croll and Braydon Uricchio.

“It kills us being out two guys, but we’re not the only ones who are hurt or beat up,” said Joe Killar. “It is what it is. Tri Valley wrestled well. They had some strong kids. We didn’t wrestle well, and it didn’t go our way.”

Croll is expected back for individual districts. Uricchio is likely out for the remainder of the season.

The Tigers, who were seeded second for the eight-team Class 2A tournament, got to Saturday’s semifinals by beating No. 7 seed Pine Grove 39-33 in the opening round.

Northwestern’s Logan Heeps, Weston Kilar, Sukanick, Koehler, Vinnie Fugazzotto and Luke Fugazzotto all pinned their Cardinal opponents, as their team won eight bouts and picked up bonus points in seven of them.

Mackenzie Case, who was one of only two Tigers to lose a bout against Tri-Valley but avoid getting pinned, won her match by decision against Pine Grove.

-Top seed Saucon Valley beat Tri-Valley 52-21 in the Class 2A final to win this year’s title. In Class 3A, Nazareth emerged from a crowded field with a 36-25 win over Bethlehem Catholic.

The top two teams in each class advance to the state team tournament. Tri-Valley will compete in Tuesday’s preliminary round against the District 12 champ. The winner will take on the District 1 champ that same night. Saucon Valley will face the winner of a match between the District 3 runner up, and the third-place team from District 4 on Tuesday. In 3A, Becahi competes in a Tuesday preliminary bout while Nazareth will have just one bout on Tuesday against the third place team from either District 3 or District 1.

-Most wrestlers will now turn their focus to the individual district championships, which are scheduled for Friday-Saturday, Feb. 20-21 at Freedom and Liberty high schools in Bethlehem.

Tri-Valley 45, N’western 27

114 - Easton Moore (TV) tech. fall Mackenzie Case, 20-5 in 3:54; 121 - Garrett Leitzel (TV) pinned Luke Breidinger in :25; 127 - Weston Killar (NW) pinned Dalton Leitzel in :51; 133 - Jaxson Bruso (TV) pinned Emory Lloyd in :55; 139 - Landon Horoschak (TV) pinned Adam Griffith in 4:26; 145 - Liam Yourey (TV major dec. Noah Griffith, 17-9; 152 - Robert Schwartz (TV) pinned Liam Scanlon in 1:17; 172 - Nolan Koehler (NW) dec. Hunter Updegrove, 5-0; 189 - Vinnie Fugazzotto (NW) pinned Maxwell Masser in :34; 215 - Luke Fugazzotto (NW) pinned Kyle Bowman in :17; 285 - Donovan Keeth (TV) pinned Ian Zettlemoyer in 1:49; 107 - Owen Wolfgang (TV) pinned Logan Heeps in :39.

N’western 39, Pine Grove 33

107 - Logan Heeps (NW) pinned Joshua Witherow in :57; 114 - Mackenzie Case (NW) dec. Liam Levan, 4-1; 121 - Chase Nagle (PG) pinned Luke Breidinger in 1:28; 127 - Weston Killar (NW) pinned Taylor Enge in 1:08; 133 - Andrew Hikes (PG) major dec. Adam Griffith, 12-0; 139 - James Hoy (PG) pinned Noah Griffith in 2:39; 145 - Aaron Osatchuk (PG) tech. fall Liam Scanlon, 17-0 in 2:40; 152 - Chase Sukanick (NW) pinned Kendrick Wolfgram in :47; 160 - Nolan Koehler (NW) pinned Austin Frantz in 1:56; 172 - Vinnie Fugazzotto (NW) pinned Isaiah Miller in 1:49; 189 - Luke Fugazzotto (NW) pinned Logan Troup in :39; 215 - Zachary Kurtz (PG) won by forfeit; 285 - Scout Franktz (PG) pinned Ian Zettlemoyer in 1:45.