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LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

Hawks crown four

Bethlehem Catholic had four district champions last weekend at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium, but three of those wrestlers, Keanu Dillard, Charlie Scanlan and Shane McFillin have all been apart of that gold medal club before.

Marco Frinzi just added his name to the list on Saturday evening.

The senior 145-pounder had no trouble dispatching Notre Dame’s Jared Gonzalez by a 17-2 technical fall in 4:12 during the championship finals.

Becahi finished third in the team standings with 197 points behind team champion Nazareth (233 points) and runner-up Notre Dame (219.5 points) and advanced seven wrestlers to this weekend’s Northeast Regional 3A tournament.

Frinzi, however, was able to check off a task that’s been on his bucket list for a long time.

“It feels really good to win, especially your senior year,” said Frinzi. “I got upset in the [district] semis last year and winning districts isn’t the main goal, but I’m happy I could do it. Felt like this was the best I wrestled all year.”

Frinzi wrecked his way through the bracket, registering two majors and tech falls en route to claiming the title.

It was a similar path for Shane McFillin, who won the 172-pound title following an 8-0 major decision over Xayden Sallit of Emmaus.

McFillin posted two falls and a tech fall before taking care of Sallit in the finals to win his second district gold.

“I just want to keep the ball rolling at regionals,” he said. “This was a steppingstone, as the goal isn’t just winning districts and regionals. I want to be wrestling my best when I get to states and see how high I can get on the podium.”

Dillard (127) won his third straight district gold following a tough 2-1 win over Northampton’s Gabe Ballard, securing the winning escape in the second tiebreaker.

Scanlan (160) won his second district gold with a 4-3 decision over Jesse Scott of Emmaus.

Nico Emili (107) and Reef Dillard (121) each reached the finals, but came away with silver medals.

Emili couldn’t keep up with Northampton’s Brayden Wenrich in an 8-4 loss, while Easton’s Nicholas Salamone rode out Dillard in the second tiebreaker to come away with a 2-1 win.

Connor Gillahan (215) rounded out the Hawks medalists with a fifth place finish following a 2-1 decision over East Stroudsburg South’s Jasiah Rodriguez in the consolation round.

With districts out of the way, it’s week two of the individual postseason and for wrestlers like Frinzi, it’s all about ramping up toward qualifying for Hershey.

“The goal is to do something that’s never been done in my family and that’s win a state title,” he said. “My performance at districts proves to me the work I’ve been putting in is paying off and shows that I’m at that level.”

Press photo by Don HerbShane McFillin was one of four Hawks to take home gold this past weekend.