The look on Emilio Albanese’s face when he was called for a third straight caution in the tiebreaker of the quarterfinals against Mateo Gallegos of DuBois said it all.

A 1-1 score line suddenly turned into a 3-1 deficit and an ultimate 4-1 defeat in a tiebreaker 2 scenario.

His hopes of reaching the state finals had vanished on three straight whistles, but it didn’t change the mindset of the Emmaus sophomore.

Albanese (114) battled back through the blood rounds to take third place at 114 pounds following a 4-1 victory over Central Dauphin’s Thunder Beard in the consolation finals.

He scored the winning takedown with nine seconds left in the third period to leave Hershey with a sense of pride amid the adversity he experienced.

“I’m really happy with my performance and coming back to take third just shows my mental toughness,” said Albanese. “That first hour after losing the quarters, I wasn’t feeling too good because I wanted to be in the finals. I knew that going through the blood rounds and winning was huge for me. I just had to keep going and climb my way up the podium to take third.”

Albanese was one of two Emmaus wrestlers to come away from Hershey with a medal, as junior Jackson Max finished in eighth at 107 to earn his first Hershey medal.

After freshman and sophomore campaigns that culminated without any postseason medals, Max’s junior year proved to be a turning point with a pair of fourth place finishes at districts and regionals, wrapping things up with a spot on the state podium.

“I think the biggest change from last season to this season was my mindset,” said Max. “I put a lot of work into my mental game off the mat and I feel it made a big difference in my confidence and mentality.”

It’s not easy to start in the preliminary round and come away with a medal in Hershey, but that’s what Max was able to do.

Despite losing his final two bouts in the consolation rounds, the first a 2-1 defeat to Connellsville’s Tommy Gretz and the final coming in a 10-7 loss to Bethlehem Catholic’s Nico Emili in the medal round, Max knows he’s closing the gap.

“Tommy Gretz pinned me earlier in the season and Nico tech falled me,” he said. “To come back and only lose 2-1 and 10-7 shows how many gains and how all that work we put in the room is really paying off.”

Teagan Caciolo (121), Jesse Scott (160) and Xayden Sallit (172) came away empty-handed on the medal stands from their trips to the Giant Center. Caciolo was one win short of advancing to the medal rounds, losing to Will Yordy of Gettysburg 3-2 in the third round of consolations to be eliminated.

Scott lost his only two bouts of the tournament, bowing out following a 15-3 major decision defeat to Easton’s Quentin Hammerstone and Sallit faced a similar fate, losing both of his bouts, as Council Rock South’s Gavin Cole ended his ride with a 16-8 major decision in the consys.

Scott was the only senior out of the Hershey contingent Emmaus sent to the Giant Center, which certainly bodes well for the future.

That future includes a state finalist hopeful in Albanese, who will certainly be even more motivated to make noise next year in Hershey.

“I think this tournament shows where I’m at with these wrestlers and that my mental game is really strong,” said Albanese. “Not being in the finals was a bummer and seeing [Willmont] Kai [of Whitehall] in the finals was tough, but I’m happy for him. Hopefully, next year can be a different story.”