Bethlehem Catholic’s wrestling program has been the gold standard across District 11 and the PIAA over the past decade and the Hawks continued that legacy last weekend by winning their fifth straight District 11 3A team title.

Becahi knocked off Nazareth 36-24 Saturday evening at Freedom High School, marking the seventh 3A title out of the last eight years.

“I think it shows commitment to and strengthens our Bethlehem Catholic Wrestling community,” said Becahi head coach Mike Cole of another district title for the program.

“The team is motivated and feels obligated each year to continue performing at the same level as prior years.”

Last year, Cole helped foster a mindset of the team needing to be the hunter after losing to Easton during the regular season, but this year was different for the Hawks (13-0).

“This year we are surely the hunted,” said Cole. “There is nothing about our training and our mindset that lets that influence us. Our mental preparation is around over achieving in our individual performances and focusing on the key components of over achieving. In my opinion that is the ability to dream big and the ability to visualize yourself achieving those big dreams.”

The Hawks handled their way through the tournament with an opening 44-28 victory over Parkland in the quarterfinals and then facing a rematch of a regular season win over Notre Dame Green Pond in the semifinals, widening a 10-point win in January to a 36-23 result on Saturday.

Becahi trailed 15-14 after six matches to the Blue Eagles following Tahir Parkins pin of Zach Papcsy in 1:13 at 145-pounds, but that’s where the strength of the Hawks lineup kicked in, winning the next four matches led by Marco Frinzi (152), Charlie Scanlan (160), Shane McFillin (172) and James Deluise (189) to put them ahead 31-15.

Nazareth would win the next two bouts at 215 and heavyweight before freshman Nico Emili (107) capped off the bout with an 18-3 technical fall over Derek Fulmer in 5:01.

The Hawks now set their sights on winning their fourth straight PIAA 3A crown this week when wrestling shifts to Altoona for the team championships this weekend.

The Hawks opened the first round on Tuesday against the winner of District 3 third-place finisher ELCO and District One fourth-place finisher Sun Valley.

Becahi are favorites to win the team title again and could see another rematch with a District 11 foe in the team finals with Nazareth on the top half of the bracket. The Hawks knocked off Easton in last year’s state final and Nazareth the previous two years.

“I try not worry about the way things are setup, the team seeding, brackets or anything outside of my influence as a coach,” said Cole. “I feel like that is a waste of emotional capital. I will admit that sometimes I lose my discipline and I find myself thinking too much.

“Our mindset will be to focus on individual overachievement for our team leveraging disciplined positive visualization.”