There were chances for Nico Emili to pin his opponents during the Northeast Regional 3A tournament, but Emili would let them up.

It was all part of the end game for the Bethlehem Catholic sophomore, as he wanted to get every second of action on the mats during the postseason to prepare himself for what he’ll see in Hershey.

Emili didn’t need to wait to Hershey to finally get a close bout, as he held off Hazleton’s Jacob Benyo 3-2 in the second tiebreaker of the 121-pound championship.

Emili was joined by Keanu Dillard (133) as the Hawks two champions of the night, as Dillard was able to widen the gap in the battle of defending state champions in a 4-2 victory over Whitehall’s Willmont Kai.

The Hawks took fourth in the team standings and advanced six wrestlers to the PIAA championships this week at the Giant Center in Hershey and Emili is poised for a better showing after taking seventh as a freshman.

“I was just trying to perfect my technique in some of my earlier matches because I know there’s some tough matches down the road,” said Emili. “Trying to lock it in before states to be wrestling the best I can before heading to Hershey.”

Just like last week was Emili’s first district title, his victory on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium gave him his first regional crown. After taking second in both tournaments as a freshman, coming out on top again fulfilled his goals of the postseason so far.

“Everything about my postseason last year didn’t go as planned,” he said. “It wasn’t terrible last year, but being a runner-up and then taking seventh at states it’s not what I wanted. Every practice I think about walking off the mat losing last year and how disappointed I was. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Dillard made it a fourth straight regional title with the win over Kai, scoring the decisive takedown in the opening period to put him in the drivers seat.

He’s now swept every postseason tournament in his career, with the opportunity to finish things off with a fourth straight gold medal in Hershey this weekend.

“I’m trying to make the most of every opportunity when I step on the mat,” said Dillard. “I just want to get better as much as I can. I didn’t focus too much on the noise of winning regionals for a fourth time and just really focused on improvement.”

Reef Dillard couldn’t capture a regional gold, as Northampton’s Trey Wagner reversed a district semifinal loss with a 4-1 win over Dillard in Saturday’s 139-pound final.

Wagner finished a takedown with 49 seconds left in the third period to grab the pivotal three points en route to victory.

Andre Cerrato (127, third); Michael Nicosia (107, fifth) and Connor Gillahan (189, fifth) all qualified for Hershey with top five finishes as well.

Now the season comes down to the final weekend with Keanu Dillard looking to make history as a four-time state champion and guys like Emili, yearning for their first taste of state gold.

“I had my eyes set on a state championship since I was six years old,” said Emili. “I used to go to Hershey when I was young and it’s motivated me throughout my entire career. It’s what I work for everyday.”