The Parkland boys wrestling team is sending five wrestlers to this weekend’s PIAA Northeast Regional Championships after a successful District 11 Championship performance for the Trojans.

Parkland finished fifth as a team at districts and saw five medalists crowned as Blake Dergham (121) took second place while teammates Leo Kern (133 and Michael Gavrilesku (285) both finished third, Matthew Velez (107) placed fourth and Julius Reyes (189) finished fifth.

All five medalists will return to Liberty High School this weekend for the regional tournament where a top-five finish will secure a spot in the state championships.

“We preached to them that everything throughout the season is practice for this and this is where you want to peak,” said first-year Parkland head coach Eddie Keichel. “I think we did it.

“The goal is for all five to qualify for Hershey. We’ll relax [Sunday]. Brackets will come out. We’ll game plan it and scout it. For the most part the people they wrestled here are the people they will see next weekend.”

Dergham, a senior who has been in the Trojan line up all four years of high school, was seeded second in his weight class. He pinned his first opponent, Carlos Recinos (Dieruff) in 1:09, then beat Ethan Krazer (Easton) 5-0 in the quarterfinal round.

Dergham earned a 9-3 decision over Cooper Wenright of Nazareth in the semifinals before falling to top seed and a returning state champ Keanu Dillard by a 21-6 technical fall in the title bout. Dillard, a sophomore, is 23-0 this season.

“[Dillard] is super experienced, very technical, very good,” said Keichel. “[Dergham] out and wrestled, gave it his all and didn’t roll over, which is what we were looking for.”

Dergham, a returning regional qualifier who finished two places away from advancing to states last season, is looking forward to returning and getting through in his final high school season.

The three wins at districts put Dergham at 98 for his career. He could achieve a career milestone at regionals.

“That’s something I’ve had on my mind since the start of last year,” he said.

Like all of this year’s seniors, Dergham has his first high school season shortened because of the pandemic. He went 7-2 that year, 20-12 as a sophomore and 34-11 last season. He heads into regionals at 27-9 this season.

Gavrilesku, a senior and Parkland’s other returning regional qualifier, pinned his first two opponents at districts. He put Kaden Weaver (Whitehall) on his back in just 57 seconds, then showed Jermain Mozan (Pocono Mountain East) the lights in :45 in the quarterfinal round.

Gavrulesku dropped a 3-2 decision to Gavin Grell (Northampton) in semifinals then pinned Freedom’s Daniel Schiffert in 4:39 in the consolation semifinals and earned a 3-2 decision over Seth Kolb (Liberty) in the third-place match.

Kern, a junior who had not placed at districts in his first two appearances, will make his first trip to regional. He pinned his first two district opponents. He put Oscar Ubiles (Dieruff) on his back in 1:27 and got the mat slap in 2:35 against Jack Evans (Liberty) in the quarterfinals.

After getting pinned by eventual champ Tahir Parkins in the semifinals, Kern beat Whitehall’s Trokon Kai 6-4 to earn a spot in the third-place match, where he pinned Chase Grabfelder (Northampton) in just :25.

“Leo, that’s the best I’ve seen him wrestle in the three or four years I’ve been coaching him,” said Keichel. “He had a heck of a tournament.”

Velez, a freshman, pinned his first two district opponents before falling to eventual champ Nicholas Salamone (Easton) in the semifinals.

Velez pinned Louden Hower (Bethlehem Catholic) in 4:08 then lost his third-place match to Whitehall’s Kai Wilmont by fall in 2:04.

Reyes, a senior whose been wrestling for just three years, made his second appearance at districts and dropped his first match, getting pinned by Pleasant Valley’s Evan Gillespie.

Reyes wrestled back with three wins to reach the consolation semifinals, where a loss to Bethlehem Catholic’s James Deluise dropped Reyes into the fifth-place match. He met Gillespie again in the fifth-place match with a trip to regionals on the line.

Reyes took a 4-1 lead with a pair of first-perdiod takedowns and went on to win the match 9-3 to keep his season alive.

“Julius exceeded expectations,” aid Keichel. “He’s only been doing this for three years. He started wrestling as a sophomore. He’s come a long way.”

Parkland went 8-6 in the 2023-24 regular season and 5-4 in East Penn Conference matches. At last weekend’s district tournament, the finished behind perennial championship contenders Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Nazareth and Northampton.

“I couldn’t be any happier with these kids,” said Keichel. “They bought into everything we were preaching to them as far as maintaining weights and training, our morning runs, the whole nine yards. Everything we threw at them they bought in, did it, applied it and its paying dividends now.

“Couple dual meets during the year that we should have won, sure. But at the end of the day us finishing fifth here behind those big four is something heavier to hang our hat on than beating Quakertown or LaSalle in a dual meet. This is way more important.

Julius Reyes (189)

Evan Gillespie (Pleasant Valley) pinned Reyes in 1:33

Reyes pinned John Varkanis (Pocono Mt. East) in 1:33

Reyes dec. Sam Woolverton (Bangor), 5-2

Reyes major dec. Keegan Munch (Stroudsburg), 15-4

James Deluise (Bethlehem Catholic) pinned Reyes in 2:36

Fifth-place match: Reyes dec. Gillespie, 9-3

Matthew Velez (107)

Velez pinned Joshua Breyer (So. Lehigh) in :22

Velez pinned Jack Jasionowisz (Stroudsburg) in 3:33

Nicholas Salamone (Easton) pinned Velez in 3:57

Velez pinned Louden Hower (Bethlehem Catholic) in 4:08

Third-place match: Kai Wilmont (Whitehall) pinned Velez in 2:04

Eli Russ (114)

Russ dec. Keith Barker (So. Lehigh), 3-0

Gabriel Ballard (Northampton) tech. fall Russ 21-6

Russ dec. Hunter Brown (Stroudsburg), 9-2

Remy Trach (Nazareth) dec. Russ 4-1

Blake Dergham (121)

Dergham pinned Carlos Recinos (Dieruff) in 1:09

Dergham dec. Ethan Krazer (Easton), 5-0

Dergham dec. Cooper Wenrich (Nazareth), 9-3

Championship match: Keanu Dillard (Bethlehem Catholic) tech. fall Dergham, 21-6

Jakob Peterson (127)

Rocco Delucia (Whitehall) dec. Peterson, 9-2

Peterson tech. fall Victor Custodio (Pleasant Valley), 18-1

Nicholas Lyden (Freedom) dec. Peterson, 7-2

Leo Kern (133)

Kern pinned Oscar Ubiles (Dieruff) in 1:27

Kern pinned Jack Evans (Liberty) in 2:35

Tahir Parkins (Nazareth) pinned Kern in 3:04

Kern dec. Trokon Kai (Whitehall), 6-4

Third-place match: Kern pinned Chase Grabfelder (Northampton) in :25

Elias Sallit (139)

Sallit dec. Nolan Schmeckenbacher (Whitehall), 2-1

Marco Frinzi (Bethlehem Catholic) pinned Sallit in 2:30

Sallit by forfeit Kiovanny Hamlin (Dieruff)

Joseph Bodnar (Freedom) dec. Sallit, 6-1

Liam Spang (145)

Chancellor Henry (Emmaus) major dec. Spang, 13-5

Xander Deselm (152)

Xayden Sallit (Emmaus) pinned Deselm in 1:20

Deselm pinned Edwin Sanchez (Dieruff) in 3:39

Sean Steckert (So. Lehigh) pinned Deselm in 2:34

Jorge Moya (160)

Moya dec. Preston Saylor (Whitehall), 12-7

James Geiger (Easton) pinned Moya in 1:25

Moya dec. Ivan Bonilla (Freedom), 7-2

Xander Gonzalez (Pocono Mt. East) dec. Moya, 7-3

Christopher Toth (172)

Toth major dec. Blake Walters (Pleasant Valley), 17-4

Brayden Zuercher (Nazareth) major dec. Toth, 14-2

Jack Kocher (Whitehall) pinned Toth in 3:21

Julius Reyes (189)

Evan Gillespie (Pleasant Valley) pinned Reyes in 1:33

Reyes pinned John Varkanis (Pocono Mt. East) in 1:33

Reyes dec. Sam Woolverton (Bangor), 5-2

Reyes major dec. Keegan Munch (Stroudsburg), 15-4

James Deluise (Bethlehem Catholic) pinned Reyes in 2:36

Fifth-place match: Gillespie dec. Reyes, 9-3

Gavin Edwards (215)

Jeremy Rodriguez (Allen) dec. Edwards, 5-3

Brayden Evans (Pottsville) dec. Evans, 2-1

Michael Gavrilesku (285)

Gavrilesku pinned Kaden Weaver (Whitehall) in :57

Gavrilesku pinned Jermain Mozan (Pocono Mt. East) in :45

Gavin Grell (Northampton) dec. Gavrilesku, 3-2

Gavrilesku pinned Daniel Schiffert (Freedom) in 4:39

Third-place match: Gavrilesku dec. Seth Kolb (Liberty), 3-2