Noah Johnson of Warrior Run tries to take down Luke Sottolano of Williamson during their match at 285 pounds during the PIAA Northeast Region AA championships at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Last year’s state tournament in Hershey was far from a good one for Williamson’s Luke Sottolano. The then-junior had an 0 for 2 day on the first day of competition by losing by decision, 4-1, to West Greene’s Colin Whyte before being eliminated from medal contention with a tough 1-0 decision to Big Spring’s Blake Gutschall.

Sottolano wanted to be on the top of the podium, but never got a chance to make a run.

He’s hoping this week is different. Sottolano won regional gold this past weekend to qualify for states for the second straight season.

“It’s definitely a step in the right direction. Obviously, the big goal is next week, be top 3 there. I wanna say all glory to God first, without him it’s nothing,” Sottolano noted.

Reaching the podium would be the ultimate cherry on top of a great career for Sottolano, who has won 126 matches in his career so far.

“Oh yeah, 100%. The real cherry on top would be being on top of the podium,” Sottolano said with a laugh.

Sottolano is one of the top four seeds in the 285-pound bracket this season after his Northeast Class AA Regional gold medal. The senior who is 42-2 will wrestle either Glendale senior Daniel Williams (44-4) or BIglerville sophomore Ryan Bungard (24-8) in the first round. The top seed in the tournament is Faith Christian senior Mark Effendian, who is 42-0.

“Win,” Sottolano said of his expectations at states with a laugh. “That’s what I want, that’s my goals. My expectations are really one step at a time each match because it’s the state finals, you know?”

At 285, Sottolano is one of six wrestlers in the bracket with 40 or more wins, joined by Effendian, Laurel senior Casey Wilson (42-4), Glendale’s Daniel Williams (44-4), Warrior Run’s Noah Johnson (42-14), and Colin Whyte of West Greene (44-3).

While last year stung in terms of the results at states, Sottolano knew what went wrong for him and what he has to do to improve and string together victories.

“Get out of bottom. Last year I got ridden out both matches, that’s how I lost,” Sottolano said. “Other than that, really tight matches. This year I’m doing a lot better on bottom, I think I’ll be all right. I have to be on my feet though, that’s the biggest thing.”

Sottolano has 126 wins in his career and while he can’t catch Williamson’s all-time wins leader of Logan Everett (143), Sottolano can still add a few more this weekend on his already outstanding resume.