Any evidence any wrestling fan at Williamsport’s Magic Dome needed to see that was in the championship finals on Saturday evening at the Northeast Class AA Regional tournament.

In back-to-back matches, Wentzel and Harvey showed what that hard work and practice meant as they claimed gold medals at 172 and 189 pounds, respectively, to help cap a solid day of competition for Montoursville.

The Warriors qualified four wrestlers for the upcoming PIAA Class AA championships, tied for most of any area school with Montgomery.

Montoursville’s Wentzel (172), Harvey (189), Branden Eisenhour (107, silver) and Kaden Kleinman (139, fourth) are all state-bound.

Hayden Harvey of Montoursville tries to score points on Duke Martin of Honesdale during their match at 189 pounds during the PIAA Northeast Region AA championships at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“It’s like iron sharpening iron like our coach always says,” Harvey said with a smile about practicing with Wentzel. “We go out there and always go 100%. The hard work we put in the room really pays off.”

Wentzel, ranked No. 2 in the state, had another battle for a title. A week after out-lasting Warrior Run’s Max Wirnsberger, ranked No. 3, for the District 4 championship, the two met up once again, this time for regional gold.

And once again like last week, Wentzel walked away with another gold medal.

“Just staying confident after being calm. My attacks were getting there. I think I moved him more this match than I have in the past. It may not have shown because once we got to the edge and circled in, he kind of hit me with his head, which made me look back on my end, but I was holding my ground good,” Wentzel noted. “I was getting his head down, getting his feet moving, I was touching his legs a lot.”

Wentzel beat Wirnsberger in the ninth meeting between them in the past 14 months by decision, 6-3. The two were tied 2-2 in the third period and Wirnsberger had an early escape for a one-point lead. Wentzel went ahead with under a minute to go , 5-2, and then scored another point with 12 seconds remaining for a 6-3 lead.

Gage Wentzel of Montoursville wins his match against Max Wirnsberger during the PIAA Northeast Region AA championships at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“I was creating flurries and that’s what I needed to do,” Wentzel said. “To get that takedown was big and I knew I was going to get it and I knew I just had faith and get it. God gave me the conditioning, endurance, the will and I got it.”

As Wentzel stood near the podium awaiting the awards presentation for 172, he and others got to see Harvey competing and win gold.

Harvey picked up a convincing 13-2 major decision win against Honesdale’s Duke Martin, ranked No. 9 in the state. Harvey, who’s ranked No. 6 in Pennsylvania, led 6-1 after the first period and 10-1 after the second period.

“It means so much to me,” Harvey said of claiming gold. “I thank the Lord for everything he’s blessed me with. I’m ready to go out there and compete at states and show everyone how much I improved since last year.”

Harvey said that his mindset is his biggest strength when he steps onto the mat, and that showed with his run to the regional title. Harvey had a 63-second pin in the championship quarterfinals against Canton’s Leland Pepper, had a 67-second pin over Asher Kolesar of Northeast Bradford in the semifinals before his 13-2 major win for gold.

Gage Wentzel of Montoursville flips over and scores points on Max Wirnsberger during their match at 172 pounds during the PIAA Northeast Region AA championships at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“My biggest strength is probably my mindset going out there, being aggressive and always looking to score points,” Harvey said.

Eisenhour had hoped his sophomore season would result with a gold medal at the regional tournament on Saturday, but the Warrior standout suffered a tough loss to No. 3-ranked Nathan Schuman of Honesdale in the final as Schuman pinned the fourth-ranked Warrior in 4:25.

“Not what I wanted obviously, I feel like I’m better than that kid, but it didn’t go my way this time,” Eisenhour said.

Eisenhour noted that Schuman was tough to compete against. The Honesdale sophomore earned a 48-second quarterfinal win against Troy’s Garret Parks and then reached the final with an 18-3, 3:03 dominating tech fall win against No. 12th-ranked Bodhi Nickerson of North Penn-Liberty.

“He holds really good position and reacts very well,” Eisenhour said “If he wants something he doesn’t wait, he just goes.”

Branden Eisenhour of Montoursville tries to escape the grasp of Nathan Schuman of Honesdale during their match at 107 pounds during the PIAA Northeast Region AA championships at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Competing in the third-place finals at 139, Kleinman ran into Mifflinburg’s Ben Straub in the bronze-medal match. The two met last week when Kleinman upset the ninth-ranked Straub in the quarterfinals, but he wasn’t able to upset Straub again in this week’s matchup.

Kleinman, ranked No. 26 in the state, lost to eventual champion Chase Boozer of Muncy in the championship quarterfinals and then strung together three consecutive consolation losses to reach the third-place match where Straub secured a 5-4 win.

Kleinman beat Montgomery’s AJ Kroft in the first round of consolations, 9-0, and had a 19-3, 3:42 tech fall win against Honesdale’s Sam Eisele in the consolation quarterfinals. In the consolation semifinals, Kleinman secured a narrow 4-2 win against Bloomsburg’s Anthony Barra, ranked No. 21 in the state.