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LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

Four Tigers are headed to Hershey

The Southeast Regional does not hand out favors.

With Faith Christian Academy and Bishop McDevitt stacked across nearly every weight class, every win had to be earned — and every mistake magnified.

In that field, four state berths carried weight — and Northwestern claimed them on Saturday at Warwick High School.

Behind a runner-up finish from Luke Fugazzotto and a deep lineup throughout the bracket, the Tigers placed fourth in the team standings with 86.5 points — trailing only Faith Christian (258), Bishop McDevitt (210) and Trinity (131) — and will send four wrestlers to the PIAA Class 2A Championships at the Giant Center.

Northwestern’s finish came in a regional dominated by Faith Christian — coached by Northwestern graduate Ben Clymer — which crowned six champions and nearly tripled the Tigers’ team total.

Joining Fugazzotto in Hershey are Vinnie Fugazzotto (172), Nolan Koehler (160) and Chase Sukanick (152).

For the second straight season, Luke Fugazzotto reached the regional final.

The senior pinned his first two opponents in a combined 1 minute, 19 seconds before earning a 4-1 semifinal decision to advance.

In the championship bout, Fugazzotto faced Faith Christian Academy’s Adam Waters — a three-time defending state champion with a 162-7 career record and a commitment to Ohio State. Waters pulled away for a 19-2 technical fall.

“It just shows me where I need to get better,” Fugazzotto said. “When you wrestle some of the best kids in the country, you know what you’re up against and you know what you’ve got to train to do.”

Now 158-24 in his career, Fugazzotto was a state finalist two years ago and placed seventh at states last season. He is committed to continue his wrestling career at George Mason.

The finals appearance marked his second straight trip to the regional championship, and secured his fourth consecutive berth to Hershey.

“I’ve really grown and experienced a lot,” he said. “States can’t really surprise me anymore. It’s nothing new — just the same stuff.”

Fugazzotto believes he’s peaking at the right time.

“Definitely. There’s still things I can do better, but compared to midseason to now, I’m in the process of adjusting and getting where I need to be.”

Now he’ll make one final trip to the Giant Center — and he won’t be alone.

“It’s my last ride,” Fugazzotto said. “We’ve got the most guys we’ve ever taken. It’s definitely a good thing. It’s nice to have a lot of company.”

Koehler, a returning state qualifier, navigated a loaded 160-pound bracket to secure his second straight trip to Hershey. After earning a technical fall in the quarterfinals, he dropped a 2-1 tiebreaker decision in the semifinals before finishing fourth.

“It was a good match,” Koehler said of his 2-1 loss to Berks Catholic’s Layden Acevedo in the semis. “I slowed it down and kind of made it my match. I was close. I just have to dig a little deeper at the end and pull it through.”

“It’s fun knowing we doubled our people going to states from last year,” he added. “It’s a great group of guys. We’re going to go out, have fun and hopefully place.”

Vinnie Fugazzotto, a District 11 champion this season along with Luke Fugazzotto and Koehler, will make his first state appearance after wrestling back to third at 172.

“I planned on making the finals, but that didn’t happen,” he said. “Wrestling back and taking third made me pretty happy.”

“It feels pretty nice because we get to go as a team,” he added. “We get to support each other.”

Sukanick is also headed to Hershey for the first time after falling in the blood round a year ago.

“Last year I got cut short in the blood round,” Sukanick said. “So it definitely feels a lot better. I hope to do some damage up at states.”

After dropping a 17-1 decision to Dixon in the District 11 final last week, Sukanick showed clear improvement in the regional rematch for third place.

“Last week I was having trouble on my feet,” he said. “Today I felt more scrappy. I hand-fought better and tried not to let him get to the ankle pick as much.”

All four Tigers will compete in the state championship tournament, which begins Thursday and concludes Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

PRESS PHOTO BY MATT BREINERNorthwestern’s Luke Fugazzotto took second place at the PIAA Southeast Regional Championships.
PRESS PHOTO BY MATT BREINERNolan Koehler will return to the state championships after a fourth-place finish at regionals.
PRESS PHOTO BY MATT BREINERVinnie Fugazzotto took third place at regionals and will make his first appearance in the state championships.
PRESS PHOTO BY GAVIN KESTERAfter a third-place finish at the PIAA Northeast Regional, Chase Sukanick is headed to Hershey for this weekend’s state championships.