Everyone expected a close match when Bethlehem Catholic and Nazareth met on the mat Saturday evening in the District 11 3A team, but most observers knew it was going to be a similar result.

While tweaks were made from both lineups following Becahi’s EPC championship win the weekend prior, the changes weren’t enough for the Blue Eagles to overcome Becahi’s depth, as the Hawks pulled away late for a 32-22 championship victory.

Landon Muth’s 6-4 decision over Dominic Wheatley at 160 propelled the Hawks to a 27-22 lead with one match to go, but the victory all but sealed the gold medal.

Nazareth threw out Noah Okamoto in the finale at 172 for one last prayer, but he ultimately had to bow out to an injury default against Luke Thomas to end the match in anti-climactic fashion.

No matter how it ended, a win over the Blue Eagles always feels good.

“It’s such a good rivalry with Nazareth that you don’t need to say anything to the kids,” said Becahi head coach Jeff Karam. “We love these matches. This is why we do it and the team scores are always tight and things can change every week at this point of the season. We might see them again in Hershey and just need to get better.”

Muth’s victory was a reversal of his 3-0 loss to Wheatley at the EPC championships to swing a bout in Becahi’s favor, but most of the match went according to plan, as Nazareth jumped out to a 16-0 lead through the first bouts (189, 215, HWT) before Shane McFillin (106) pinned Dominic Rizzotto in 3:46 to get Becahi on the board. McFillin was added to the lineup this time around in the place of freshman standout Nate Desmond, who was bumped up to 113 to battle Tahir Perkins in the premier matchup of the night. Ultimately, Perkins prevailed over the state’s top-ranked 106-pounder with a 6-5 victory in the ultimate tiebreaker.

From that point on, Becahi won seven of the last eight bouts of the match to take control.

“We made some adjustments and so did Nazareth,” said Karam. “I really wanted to see Nate against their 113-pounder and I wouldn’t be afraid to do it again. I was happy that out upper weights saved us two points and I thought Shane McFillin was great. He’s one of the best in the state and got the fall for us. All the way through, our guys looked great and Landon reversing that loss from a week ago was big too.”

The Hawks (13-0) now shift their focus to this week’s PIAA championships when they face the winner of Cumberland Valley and Cannon McMillan during Thursday’s first round at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Quarterfinals and semifinals are then on Friday, as the Hawks are expected to push their way through to Saturday’s finals.

A road back to the state championship is what Karam and company have been thinking about everyday since last year’s quarterfinal exit in the PIAA tournament, when Central Dauphin stunned the Hawks with a walk-off pin for a 29-26 victory.

“That’s been talked about everyday since the end of last season,” Karam said. “We got to put in a good week of work because we’ve gone to Hershey before and have had success, but also came away with some tough losses, one of them to Nazareth in the state finals. I know they’ll be gunning for us.”