It was clearly evident how much a district championship to every supporter of CJ Horvath meant to all of them.

The Freedom senior finally was able to stand atop the District 11 podium last Saturday evening following a 5-3 decision over Northampton’s Trey Wagner in the 121-pound final.

It was a long road to the top, as Horvath finished second as a freshman, fourth his sophomore year and third a year ago.

The plethora of hugs and handshakes after holding off Wagner demonstrated how much the title meant to every one of Horvath’s supporters, including himself, as he became Freedom’s first district champion since 2017.

“It means so much because this has always been one of my goals,” said Horvath. “So amazing to get back to the finals. My father [Jon] made it to the district finals twice and never won, so it means a lot to bring it back to him and for the rest of my family and friends.”

Horvath was the highlight of the weekend for Freedom, as the Patriots also advanced Jared Karabinus (172) to next week’s Northeast Regional 3A tournament back at Liberty’s Memorial Gym.

While the nerves were felt around the atmosphere for Horvath during the match, he finally was able to give himself some breathing room from his 2-1 lead with 20 seconds left in the third period with a takedown off a scramble to go ahead 4-1. An escape and a stalling point ensued for Wagner in the closing seconds, capped off by a caution point awarded to Horvath to cement his name in the District 11 books.

“Any points you can get against a quality kid like that is huge,” said Horvath. “That last takedown was huge. I just used my speed and it felt really good and it proves that my coaches push me everyday to perfect my skills and help me the best I can be.”

Karabinus finished fourth at 172 following a 4-2 loss to Pottsville’s Terrell McFarland in the third place round.

Karabinus reached the semifinal round, but lost to Bethlehem Catholic’s Luke Thomas by a 14-4 major decision to drop him to the consolation rounds.

Freedom’s crosstown rivals, Liberty, also only pushed two wrestlers to regionals next weekend, as Kam Abboud (133) and Ryan Santiago (145) both advanced with third and fourth place finishes respectively.

Abboud battled back from a 4-2 quarterfinal loss to Northampton’s Austin Noe and won his next four bouts, including a 4-1 reversal over Noe in the third place medal round.

Santiago also lost in the quarters, this time a 9-2 decision to Becahi’s Charlie Scanlan, before reeling off three straight wins in the consolation round.

Santiago’s run ended in the third place bout, falling to Nazareth’s Jake Doone 12-7.

While Liberty head coach Brandon Hall was hoping to push four or five wrestlers to regionals, he is optimistic about how Abboud and Santiago performed.

“I thought Kam bounced back well and had a good tournament,” said Hall. “He came back and responded and I hope he understands he can wrestle with anybody. Ryan has to open up on his feet a little more and get more attacks. He’s really transformed himself over the past two seasons and I’m really proud of his growth as a young man.