The Northampton wrestling team had many reasons to celebrate their trip to Hershey for the individual championships: two finalists, 5 medalists, fifth-place in the team race, a junior winning his 100th career match.

Yet as the tournament marched through the championship round, the mood in the corner of the Giant Center where the K-Kids normally sit was one of disappointment. While 95 percent of schools in the commonwealth would be thrilled if they achieved the level of Northampton, the Konkrete Kids’ own expectations are higher.

Anticipation was high for Brayden Wenrich’s first varsity state tournament. He had come into the season with a strong resume and delivered District XI and Northeast Regional Titles heading into Hershey.

After a smooth 12-0 major decision in the opening round against John Segata of Council Rock South he faced some danger against Jacob Carr of Sun Valley in the quarters. Carr was able to use a strong second-period ride to score 4 nearfall points, but Wenrich had already put up a seven-spot in period one and an insurance takedown secured his place in the semis.

That match, against West Regional champion Nicholas McGarrity, was scoreless into the third period. Wenrich got a tilt for 3 points, but a reversal forced him to fight hard to claim an eventual 4-2 win.

After dispatching the Southeast’s 5th and 3rd seeds earlier in the tournament, Wenrich got the regional champion in the final. He and fellow freshman Chase Williams of Central Bucks East went scoreless for the first six minutes, setting up sudden victory. Williams scored the decisive takedown with 4 seconds left in OT and added 3 back points to win 6-0.

For sophomore Gabe Ballard, the story of the postseason will be his rivalry with Bethlehem Catholic standout Keanu Dillard.

Ballard ripped through his first three rounds of the state tournament without surrendering a single point. 15-0 tech fall. 6-0 decision. A 17-0 tech fall in the semis against Aiden Herndon of Cedar Cliff, a 2024 state runner-up.

However, as happened in the district and regional final, Ballard was not able to best, now three-time, state champion Dillard.

Ballard was denied what seemed to be a clear escape in the second period that would have given him a 1-0 lead. Instead, the bout went to the third period scoreless and Dillard drew first blood with an escape and a takedown.

Ballard managed to score a reversal to make the score 4-2, but Dillard is almost impossible to take down under normal circumstances, unless you’re Anthony Knox, and even more so when defending a narrow lead with time running out. The final score of the bout was 8-2.

“Weeks, months, or maybe years down the road, I think they’ll look back on it and appreciate the accomplishment of being Pennsylvania state runner-up, but those guys trained to be state champions and it’s heartbreaking when the outcome is not what you want,” said Joe Provini about his two state finalists.