After a scoreless first period, a huge eruption of cheers and screaming broke out as Wentzel had a key reversal against Wirnsberger and got on top. That applause grew even louder when the Warrior held onto Wirnsberger when he tried flipping and getting a reversal of his own as the period came to a close.

In a matchup against two of the top three ranked wrestlers in the state, that kind of reaction is what you’d expect from a packed crowd. And the action on the mat delivered as well.

No. 2-ranked Wentzel held on in the closing seconds of the third period with just a one point lead as Wirnsberger, ranked No. 3 in Pennsylvania, continued to fight and beat the Defender, 5-1, in an exciting 172 final for gold.

“We do situations like that every time in the mat room and whatnot,” Wentzel said. “I was comfortable and had no fear. When you wrestle with the Lord, whatever position you’re in, you know you can do anything when you’re out there. Just going through those motions, it’s like another day.”

Gage Wentzel of Montoursville gets ready for his match against Max Wirnsberger of Warrior Run at 172 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

In total, the area saw an impressive 51 wrestlers qualify for Northeast Class AA Regional through all 13 weight classes with success all across the board. The top seven finishers at each weight class advanced to next week’s regional tournament at Williamsport’s Magic Dome.

Taking gold were Montoursville’s Branden Eisenhour (107), Williamson’s Zander Wilson (114), Montgomery’s Carden Wagner (127), Muncy’s Chase Boozer (139), Montgomery’s Brandt Harer (145), Warrior Run’s Reagan Milheim (160), Montoursville’s Gage Wentzel (172), Montoursville’s Hayden Harvey (189) and Williamson’s Luke Sottolano (285).

North Penn-Liberty’s Bodhi Nickerson (107), North Penn-Liberty’s Bryce Pequignot (121), Muncy’s Gage Swank (127), Sullivan County’s Andrew Kapec (133) and Warrior Run’s Max Wirnsberger (172) were all runners-up at their respective weights, taking home silver medals.

Now, back to that 172 final again…

With 42 seconds, Wirnsberger went low but Wentzel read it great and countered, cradling Wirnsberger for a moment and stayed in control against the standout Defender star. It was a key moment in the match in preventing Wirnsberger from scoring and taking momentum away.

The District IV AA Champions pose for a photo at Williamsport High School during the Championships Finals. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“Just keep scoring points, you know what I mean? It’s 2-0 going into the third with him going down, I could have tried to ride him out, I almost had that tilt there in the second period. He got to his feet and I was like ‘alright, lets go get a takedown,'” Wentzel said. “Never once in match was I like ‘alright, lets win 2-1.’ That can separate yourself from good kids. That’s just what I’m trying to do, you know what I mean?”

It was the eighth meeting between the two in the past 14 months as Wentzel now holds a 5-3 lead between the two in that span. This time, it was for gold, and Wentzel enjoys wrestling standouts like Wirnsberger.

“It allows me to get better, you know what I mean? We won’t talk about names, we won’t talk about anybody specific or anything like that, but you always want to be able to build gaps on kids like that and just be the dominant person every single match,” Wentzel said. “That’s what I’m trying to do and be humble about it the whole entire way. Just have faith and going out and doing what I do.”

Wentzel was one of three Montoursville wrestlers to take home gold, the most for any area school on Saturday. Montgomery, Mifflinburg and Williamson each had a pair of first-place finishers. The Red Raiders won the team title with 136.5 points, edging out Mifflinburg by just 0.5 points in an unbelievably tight team race down to the wire. Montoursville took third with 119.

Montgomery had two wrestlers take gold, two take bronze, one take fourth, one take fifth, two take sixth and one take seventh as those nine all advanced to next weekend’s regional tournament.

Luke Sottolano of Williamson tries to take down Clayton Whitenight of Central Columbia during their match at 285 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Montoursville saw six advance, Muncy had five advance and Warrior Run is sending four to regionals.

For the Red Raiders, no title perhaps was more special than Harer’s at 145. His win in the semifinals — coupled with the 145 second-period tech fall win over Charley Paige of Midd-West — gave him 208 for his career. The two wins put him into sole possession of the PIAA all-time mark, surpassing Aaron Siedel of Northern Lebanon’s former mark of 206.

“It’s kind of hard to believe, but it just shows my goals and efforts on the mat,” Harer said.

In the 107 final, Eisenhour dominated against Liberty’s Nickerson, leading 6-1 after the first period and controlling the match from there. Eisenhour led 11-2 and worked on top in the second period and solidified the major decision with a 16-3 lead with just 40 seconds left.

Wilson of Williamson, ranked No. 12 in the state, wrestled great against Southern’s Rowen Humphrey in the 114 final as Humphrey, ranked No. 13 in the state, couldn’t get much offense going. It resulted in Wilson winning 18-3, 4:48. Wilson had a solid performance at districts as he knocked off No. 5 ranked Gabe Oberheim of Montgomery in the semifinals, 9-6.

Hayden Harvey of Montoursville controls the action against Cade Feger of Line Mountain during their match at 189 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

At 127, Wagner of Montgomery, ranked No. 13 in the state, met up with No. 14th-ranked Swank of Muncy in an all-area final and won by decision, 6-2 in a solid match. Wagner led 3-1 with 40 seconds left in the second period and built up the lead further.

Boozer, a freshman for Muncy, won by tech fall 22-4, 2:37 in the 139 final against Bloomsburg standout Anthony Barra, a junior ranked No. 20 in the state. Boozer, ranked seventh, wrestled great on Saturday. He had a 18-0, 4:39 tech in the quarterfinals against No. 28-ranked AJ Kroft of Montgomery before pinning Towanda’s Hagen Jones in 3:54 in the semifinals.

Milheim won the 160 final in a blink-and-you-may-miss-it contest where he pinned No. 29-ranked Evan Maneval of MIdd-West in just 19 seconds.

Montoursville’s Harvey cruised in the 189 final with a dominating 17-2, 3:47 tech win over Cade Feger of Line Mountain. Harvey is ranked No. 6 in the state and Feger is ranked No. 20.

At 285, Williamson’s Sottolano, ranked No. 8 in the state, had an 8-2 decision win against Clayton Whitenight of Central Columbia for the title.

Regan Millheim of Warrior Run wins his match against Evan Maneval of Midd-West at 160 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Montgomery’s Gabe Oberheim (114), Montgomery’s Liam Seeley (121), Warrior Run’s Chase Wirnsberger (127), Lewisburg’s Landen Wagner (152) and Canton’s Carson Rockwell (160) all took third on Saturday. Muncy’s Gannon Swank (107), Lewisburg’s Landon Michaels (13), Montoursville’s Kaden Kleinman (139), Montgomery’s Trace Furman (152), Hughesville’s Kile Hartman (160), South Williamsport’s Jayden Hamm (172) and Warrior Run’s Noah Johnson (285) all were fourth-place finishers.

Hartman reached 100 career wins with a victory in the consolation bracket.

Canton’s Levi Vermilya (107), Muncy’s Roman Maiorana (121), Williamson’s Hunter Simonds (127), Canton’s Tommy Preston (145), Loyalsock’s Kayden Keefer (152), Montoursville’s Blake Frey (160), Canton’s Blane Wesneski (172) and Montgomery’s Evan Hugar (215) took home fifth-place medals at districts. Taking sixth from the area included Hughesville’s Ethan Wodrig (133), Montgomery’s AJ Kroft (139), Loyalsock’s Ivan Baker (145), Montgomery’s Josh Knoebel (160), Canton’s Leland Pepper (189) and Hughesville’s Colton Woolever (215).

Advancing to regionals by taking home a seventh-place final at their weights were South Williamsport’s Garrett Bacorn (107), Milton’s Bryson Walter (121), Montoursville’s Brody Bower (127), Muncy’s Kase Snyder (133), Lewisburg’s Nolan Altoft (139), Milton’s Chase Lytle (160), Montgomery’s Raiden Felix (172), Milton’s Michael Runkle (189), Wellsboro’s Hayden Stevens (215) and Sullivan County’s Carter Reis (285).

“Our team’s wrestling well. We clicked at the right time and I’m super proud of the guys and how they performed this weekend,” Harer said of his team’s qualifiers, including himself. “Looking forward to next weekend and this week of practice.”

For Wentzel, it’s more of the same for his Warrior teammates who are advancing.

“I’m very proud of every single one of the kids,” Wentzel said. “We had eight coming in, six going to regionals and we couldn’t be more proud of the kids, even who didn’t make it.”

Regan Millheim of Warrior Run pins Evan Maneval of Midd-West during their match at 160 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Brandt Harer of Montgomery wins his match against Charley Paige of Midd-West at 145 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Brandt Harer of Montgomery takes a shot on Charley Paige of Midd-West during their match at 145 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Anthony Barra of Bloomsburg lays on the mat after losing to Chase Boozer of Muncy during their match at 139 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Anthony Barra of Bloomsburg goes down hard to the mat as he wrestles Chase Boozer of Muncy during their match at 139 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Bradley Wagner of Mifflinburg wins his match against Andrew Kapec of Sullivan County during their match at 133 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Bradley Wagner of Mifflinburg and Andrew Kapec of Sullivan County grapple during their match at 133 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Gage Swank of Muncy tries to fend off the shot by Carden Wagner of Montgomery during their match at 127 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Gage Swank of Muncy tries to fend off the shot by Carden Wagner of Montgomery during their match at 127 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Brock Rothermell of Line Mountain wins his match against Bryce Pequignot of North-Penn Liberty at 121 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Brock Rothermell of Line Mountain takes a shot on Bryce Pequignot of North-Penn Liberty during their match at 121 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Zander Wilson of Williamson controls the action as he wrestles Rowen Humphrey of Southern Columbia during their match at 114 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Branden Eisenhour takes down Bodhi Nickerson of North Penn-Liberty during their match at 107 pounds at the District IV Championship wrestling at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette