The bigger picture has always been apparent to Montoursville’s Dylan Bennett. In the short term, he was taking losses at tough tournaments in the middle of the season which hurt. But he knew those losses were setting him up for success like he had Friday night at the District 4 Class AA tournament.

The freshman 145-pounder put together a great third period, capped by two near-fall points which gave him an upset win over No. 2 seed Noah Ettinger of Midd-West. Bennett moved into the district semifinals with the win and now needs just one win today to qualify for next weekend’s Northeast Regional tournament.

Southern Columbia held the lead in the team scoring after the first day with 68 points. Muncy was second with 65. Wyalusing (55 1/2), Montoursville (42 1/2) and Midd-West (37 1/2) rounded out the top five.

“It might not have seemed like it at the time, but those tough tournaments really helped me,” Bennett said. “Wrestling those good kids like I did and keeping it close sometimes, it really helps your confidence.”

Twenty local wrestlers advanced to this morning’s semifinals, but Bennett was the lone local wrestler to get to the semifinals by winning a pair of matches last night. The other 19 were each one of the top four seeds in their respective weight classes and had to win just one match in the quarterfinals to make the semis.

Bennett opened his night with a fall in the second period in the preliminary round against Milton’s Jason Valladares. And with that win he earned the right to take on No. 2 seed and South Section champion Ettinger, a senior who was 33-2 coming into the tournament. Bennett became the second of eight wrestlers in the tournament last night to go from wrestling in the preliminaries to making the semifinals.

Now all which sits between the freshman and a spot in the 145-pound final is Canton senior Mak Gleckner, the North Section champion who needed a late two points to win his quarterfinal last night against Towanda’s Preston Rogers. It’s a spot Bennett thought he could be in before the tournament started, but he knew the quarterfinal against Ettinger was going to be crucial.

“This win is huge,” Bennett said. “I don’t think many people gave me a chance against that kid, so upsetting the No. seed was big.”

His best-case-scenario plan had him scoring a takedown in the first period against Ettinger, but that didn’t happen. That plan also had him escaping from bottom later in the match, but that also didn’t happen.

After Ettinger got an escape point in the third, Bennett finally got the takedown he knew he needed to take a 2-1 lead. But more importantly, he was able to muscle over Ettinger or a pair of near-fall swipes from the official. The two back points allowed him to bail out and surrender a reversal and hang on for a 4-3 win.

“I bailed out there because I knew I had the lead, so I didn’t want to take any chances of giving up back points or something,” Bennett said. “Now I think there’s a way I can get into the finals. I think I have a pretty good shot if I wrestle well.”

North Penn-Liberty’s Justin Kriner is one of those other 19 local wrestlers who qualified for today’s semifinals. The top-seeded heavyweight needed overtime in his quarterfinal to get there, but it was a satisfying win for Kriner.

In his first bout of the season, Kriner, who was considered a heavyweight favorite coming into the season, lost a 2-1 decision in tie-break to Northeast Bradford’s Owen Maryott. Last night he wrestled like a favorite and like a top seed.

Tied 1-1 heading into the tie-break, Kriner rode out Maryott for the first 30-second period. He then escaped quickly in the second 30-second period to pick up the 2-1 decision.

He’s the only one of six North Penn-Liberty wrestlers to reach the semifinals, but Riley Walker put a scare into top seed and returning state qualifier Colton Babcock at 145 when he nearly secured a reversal at the buzzer before losing, 7-6.

Kriner got to show off how different a wrestler he was than the first time he wrestled Maryott back in December. He was better conditioned than last time, he was stronger than last time, and when overtime came around, he had more in the gas tank.

“When I saw him the first time, I was cutting a lot of weight,” Kriner said. “I feel a lot better now. My conditioning has gotten a lot better since then and I feel a lot different. Going into overtime, I know I have more in the tank now.”

FRIDAY’S DISTRICT 4 CLASS AA RESULTS

Team standings: 1, Southern Columbia, 68; 2, Muncy, 65; 3, Wyalusing, 55.5; 4, Montoursville, 42.5; 5, Midd-West, 37.5; 6, Athens, 33.5; 7, Warrior Run, 29; 8, Mifflinburg, 26; 9, Benton, 25; 10, Towanda, 22; 11, Line Mountain, 20; 12, Troy, 19; 13, Jersey Shore, 16; 14, Lewisburg, 15.5; 15, Northeast Bradford, 15; 16, Milton, 14.5; t-17, Shamokin, 14; t-17, Central Columbia, 14; t-19, Bloomsburg, 13; t-19, Hughesville, 13; 21, North Penn-Liberty, 12; 22, Canton, 11; 23, Mount Carmel, 10; 24, Montgomery, 8; 25, Williamson, 3; 26, Sullivan County, 2; t-27, Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech, 0; t-27, Danville, 0; t-27, South Williamsport, 0.

Team key: Athens, At; Benton, Be; Bloomsburg, Bl; Canton, Ca; Central Columbia, CC; Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech, VT; Danville, Da; Hughesville, Hu; Jersey Shore, JS; Lewisburg, Le; Line Mountain, LM; Loyalsock, Lo; Midd-West; MW; Mifflinburg, Mf; Milton, Mi; Montgomery, Mg; Montoursville, Mo; Mount Carmel, MC; Muncy, Mu; North Penn-Liberty, NP; Northeast Bradford, NEB; Sayre, Sa; Shamokin, Sh; South Williamsport, SW; Southern Columbia, SC; Sugar Valley, SV; Sullivan County, Su; Towanda, To; Troy, Tr; Warrior Run, WR; Wellsboro, We; Williamson, Wi; Wyalusing, Wy.

PRELIMINARY ROUND

106: Sheldon Seymour, Tr, bye; Brock Lutz, Mo, pinned Tyler Hawley, To, 2:42; Gabe Gramly, Mf, pinned Jake Leonardo, Bl, 2:31; Jacob Blair, Mu, bye; Blake Wirt, LM, bye; Bailey Poarch, At, pinned Coy Wagner, NP, 2:36; Austin Aucker, MW, maj. dec. Andrew Johnson, Da, 16-7; Gable Strickland, Be, bye.

113: Wyatt Lutz, Mo, bye; T.J. Walter, Mi, pinned Logan Anderson, To, :57; Aidan Steininger, MW, pinned Kyle Setzer, At, :38; Noah Hunt, WR, bye; Darren Schum, Wy, bye; Ben Heinrich, Hu, pinned Patriot June, NP, 1:10; Mario Barberio, Mu, pinned Coleton Eckroth, VT, :51; Patrick Edmondson, SC, bye.

120: Jaret Lane, SC, bye; Christian Good, Mu, pinned Chase Hoffman, Mi, 4:39; Justin Gessner, Le, bye; Isaac Kester, CC, bye; Logan Newton, Wy, bye; Ethan Zevan, MW, pinned Kregory Johnson, NEB, 5:23; Matt Carpenter, Wi, maj. dec. Terez Sewell, Mg, 13-3; Luke Gorg, Hu, bye.

126: Jeremy Hanford, WR, bye; Joey Bendas, MC, pinned Caleb Fitzgerald, MC, 3:06; Ian Yoder, SC, pinned Avery Eveland, CC, :40; Bryce Vollman, Mu, bye; Avery Bassett, MW, bye; Steven Chenot, To, dec. Mike Bonhamer, Wy, 10-7; Brandon Daldo, Mg, pinned Keefer Neidig, LM, 3:39; A.J. Burkhart, At, bye.

132: Chris Horton, At, bye; Cael Crebs, Mo, pinned Zach Shaffer, Wy, 1:11; Nate Higley, Su, pinned Travis Presto, Wi, 1:19; Cole Rhone, Be, bye; Joe Klock, Mu, bye; Clayton Reed, Mf, maj. dec. Tyler Owens, MC, 12-0; Jake Renn, SC, dec. Dylan Kolenda, WR, 6-4; Devin Pietkiewicz, Sh, bye.

138: Matt Milbrand, Bl, bye; Bailey Cohick, Tr, dec. Gabe Packer, JS, 6-3; Justin Wagner, WR, pinned Colton Ammerman, Su, 5:21; Trevor Bingaman, Mf, bye; Luke Yonkin-O’Connor, Wy, bye; Gabe Waltman, CC, maj. dec. Devin Sweat, At, 16-6; Mike Miner, SC, dec. Claeb Shaffer, LM, 5-4; Noah Stamm, Mi, bye.

145: Colton Babcock, Be, bye; Riley Walker, NP, dec. Jacob Feese, LM, 14-7; Eric Gessner, Mf, maj. dec. Jacoby Fitzgerald, Su, 15-2; Coleman Good, Mu, bye; Mak Gleckner, Ca, bye; Preston Rogers, To, dec. Ryan Kershner, JS, 3-1, tb; Dylan Bennett, Mo, pinned Jason Valladares, Mi, 2:39; Noah Ettinger, MW, bye.

152: Cade Linn, SC, bye; Steve Roeder, Bl, dec. Chris Koperna, LM, 4-2; Wyatt Bassett, MW, dec. Mason Wyatt, Be, 13-11; Timmy Ward, Ca, bye; Cooper Mosier, To, bye; Tommy McDonald, MC, pinned Jacob Busch, CC, 2:37; Cameron Andrews, NP, maj. dec. Joe Doss, Wy, 13-4; Noah Gush, Mu, bye.

160: Creighton Edsell, Wy, bye; Gavyn Eisenhower, Mu, pinned Judson Wise, NP, 3:32; Nate Bradley, At, tech. fall Jensen Drick, Mg, 17-2, 4:28; Tyler Stoltzfus, Mf, bye; Gable Crebs, Mo, bye; Isaac Gensemer, CC, dec. Silas Miller, NEB, 12-6; Cal Haladay, SC, dec. Shane Weidner, MC, 5-0; Jacob Carpenter, Sh, bye.

170: Mike Kustanbauter, Mu, bye; Colton Aikey, Mi, dec. Ty Kirkner, WR, 7-1; David Galasso, At, tech. fall Evan Johnson, To, 16-0, 2:00; Anthony Scicchitano, SC, bye; Ed Mapes, Wy, bye; Kyle Tomb, JS, maj. dec. Jaxon Dalena, Mo, 13-1; Tyler Williams, Tr, maj. dec. Jansen Houdeshell, Mf, 18-5; Cole Sauer, MW, bye.

182: Gaige Garcia, SC, bye; Clay Green, To, dec. Joe Rodriguez, Mi, 8-4; Christian Wachter, WR, pinned Zach Zerbe, Da, 3:16; Andrew Shedleski, Le, bye; Tyler Devonshire, NEB, bye; Garrett Storch, Ca, pinned Jon Vough, At, 5:52; Jake Mattive, Bl, dec. Chris Mangle, Mg, 7-3; Hunter O’Connor, JS, bye.

195: Gavin Hoffman, Mo, bye; Noah Forbes, NEB, pinned Rion Withers, SW, 1:45; David Tomb, JS, pinned Alex Perez, To, 5:32; Ethan Long, LM, bye; Jackson Chilson, Wy, bye; Carter Sauer, MW, pinned Trevor Williams, Ca, 4:40; Manus McCracken, MC, dec. Alex Brouse, WR, 13-8; Lear Quinton, SC, bye.

220: Hunter Poust, Mu, bye; Wyatt Fisher, WR, pinned Brent Mitch, Mi, 2:20; Cameron Wood, Mo, tech. fall Zach Poust, Be, 17-0, 3:42; Mike Wilcox, Wy, bye; Dawson Brown, NEB, bye; Sean Sprague, SC, pinned Jared Houck, Su, 3:10; Seth Johnson, To, pinned Austin Reed, MC, 3:38; Dakotah Snyder, Le, bye.

285: Justin Kriner, NP, bye; Owen Maryott, NEB, dec. Dalton Tubbs, Mo, 6-1; Randy Wildrick, Wy, pinned Coty Steele, Mu, 1:57; Owen Hosler, MW, bye; Kile Kauwell, CC, bye; Eithan Marino, Mg, pinned Keagan Braund, At, 3:36; Jaron Renn, LM, pinned Colin Herb, MC, 3:10; Connor Fulmer, SC, bye.

CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS

106: Sheldon Seymour, Tr, pinned Brock Lutz, Mo, 1:41; Jacob Blair, Mu, dec. Gabe Gramly, Mf, 8-2; Blake Wirt, LM, dec. Bailey Poarch, At, 8-2; Gable Strickland, Be, pinned Austin Aucker, MW, 3:44

113: Wyatt Lutz, Mo, pinned T.J. Walter, Mi, 2:47; Noah Hunt, WR, pinned Aidan Steininger, MW, 5:53; Darren Schum, Wy, dec. Ben Heinrich, hu, 8-4; Patrick Edmondson, SC, pinned Mario Barberio, Mu, 6:37.

120: Jaret Lane, SC, pinned Christian Good, Mu, :11; Justin Gessner, Le, dec. Isaac Kester, CC, 2-0; Ethan Zevan, MW, dec. Logan Newton, Wy, 9-4; Luke Gorg, Hu, pinned Matthew Carpenter, Wi, 2:12.

126: Jeremy Hanford, WR, maj. dec. Joey Bendas, MC; Bryce Vollman, Mu, dec. Ian Yoder, SC, 2-0; Avery Bassett, MW, tech. fall Steven Chenot, To, 15-0, 2:20; A.J. Burkhart, At, tech. fall Brandon Daldo, Mg, 15-0, 5:24.

132: Chris Horton, At, dec. Cael Crebs, Mo, 7-4; Cole Rhone, Be, pinned Nate Higley, Su, 4:38; Joe Klock, Mu, pinned Clayton Reed, Mf, 4:49; Devin Pietkiewicz, Sh, dec. Jake Renn, SC, 4-1.

138: Matt Milbrand, Bl, pinned Bailey Cohick, Tr, 1:18; Trevor Bingaman, Mf, pinned Justin Wagner, WR, :31; Luke Yonkin-O’Connor, Wy, maj. dec. Gabe Waltman, CC, 9-0; Noah Stamm, Mi, tech. fall Mike Miner, SC, 15-0, 3:57.

145: Colton Babcock, Be, dec. Riley Walker, NP, 7-6; Coleman Good, Mu, dec. Eric Gessner, Mf, 7-5; Mak Gleckner, Ca, dec. Preston Rogers, To, 3-2; Dylan Bennett, Mo, dec. Noah Ettinger, MW, 4-3.

152: Cade Linn, SC, dec. Steve Roeder, Bl, 6-0; Wyatt Bassett, MW, pinned Timmy Ward, Ca, 4:45; Cooper Mosier, To, dec. Tommy McDonald, MC, 8-2; Noah Gush, Mu, dec. Cameron Andrews, NP, 3-2.

160: Creighton Edsell, Wy, pinned Gavyn Eisenhower, Mu, 4:20; Tyler Stoltzfus, Mf, dec. Nate Bradley, At, 6-4; Gable Crebs, Mo, maj. dec. Isaac Gensemer, CC, 15-2; Jacob Carpenter, Sh, dec. Cal Haladay, SC, 4-2.

170: Mike Kustanbauter, Mu, dec. Colton Aikey, Mi, 6-2; David Galasso, At, pinned Anthony Scicchitano, SC, 4:17; Ed Mapes, Wy, dec. Kyle Tomb, JS, 7-4; Tyler Williams, Tr, dec. Cole Sauer, MW, 10-5.

182: Gaige Garcia, SC, pinned Clay Green, To, 1:56; Andrew Shedleski, Le, tech. fall Christian Wachter, WR, 16-0, 5:43; Tyler Devonshire, NEB, pinned Garrett Storch, Ca, 3:29; Hunter O’Connor, JS, pinned Jake Mattive, Bl, 5:08.

195: Gavin Hoffman, Mo, pinned Noah Forbes, NEB, :44; Ethan Long, LM, pinned David Tomb, JS, 5:25; Jackson Chilson, Wy, dec. Carter Sauer, MW, 9-2; Lear Quinton, SC, dec. Manus McCracken, MC, 2-1.

220: Hunter Poust, Mu, pinned Wyatt Fisher,WR, 2:21; Mike Wilcox, Wy, dec. Cameron Wood, Mo, 3-2; Sean Sprague, SC, maj. dec. Dawson Brown, NEB, 12-4; Seth Johnson, To, dec. Dakotah Snyder, Le, 2-0.

285: Justin Kriner, NP, dec. Owen Maryott, NEB, 2-1, tb; Randy Wildrick, Wy, pinned Owen Hosler, MW, 3:34; Kile Kauwell, CC, pinned Eithan Marino, Mg, 5:14; Connor Fulmer, SC, dec. Jaron Renn, LM, 5-3.