BETHLEHEM - The primary goal for any wrestler in the District 11 Wrestling Tournament is simply to advance to the next day.

After the opening night of competition in the Class AA event, it's clear many succeeded in doing just that.A total of 18 wrestlers from the Times News area will be in semifinal matches today, with Northwestern and Northern Lehigh leading the way with five apiece.The three top seeds from the TN area Jim Thorpe's Kevan Gentile (106), Tamaqua's Dylan Rynkiewicz (138) and Lehighton's Connor Frey (182) were among those that advanced to the semis, with all three winning both of their matches in fairly convincing fashion.Gentile, who has been almost untouchable this season, pinned Catasauqua's Anthony Stahl in 32 seconds in the preliminary round, and followed that by pinning Lehighton's Nathan Kemmerer in 24 seconds in the quarterfinals."I'm really motivated," Gentile said. "I've been working all year and all of last year, and finally I think it's my time to get to the final."Gentile's opponent in his semifinal bout will be Northwestern freshman Matt Peters, who welcomes the challenge of facing one of the most dominant 106-pound wrestlers in the district."I wrestled him back in second grade," Peters recalled. "It will be a little different now, but I'm just going to keep working and go out there and do everything I can."Much like Gentile, Rynkiewicz was just as dominant in his two matches, pinning both Northern Lehigh's Austin Hemingway and Wilson's Austin Lesher to reach the semis.Despite a remarkable season, Rynkiewicz admitted he was a little bit anxious entering the tournament as the top seed."Coming back this year, I was a little bit more nervous than I thought I would be," he said. "Just knowing that it will be my last district tournament, and if I lose that's it. But getting those first two (wins) definitely helped to ease that a little bit, knowing that I'm on top of my game."Rynkiewicz will get Northwestern's Caleb Clymer in the semis, a fifth seed that knocked off Williams Valley's Jason Chamberlain and Panther Valley's Ali Capobianco to make it this far.Frey worked quickly and efficiently in his two wins, pinning Tri Valley's Cole Smeltz in only 15 seconds before earning an 11-3 major decision over Palisades' Joseph Rossi in the quarterfinals.In the semifinals, Frey, a state qualifier last year, will face Pan Argyl's Hayden Oliver, a No. 5 seed."I've never wrestled him before, but one of my teammates (Dominik Mystkowski) pinned him last year," Frey noted, "so I feel like I'm in pretty good shape."But I still have to take it one match at a time. I'm just trying to get one victory and move on to the next one. I can't get too far ahead of myself and start taking matches for granted."Perhaps no wrestler epitomized that more on this night than Northwestern's Alexander Russo.Russo, a seventh seed at 195 pounds, defeated No. 2 Rian Shubeck of Panther Valley, 6-3, in the quarters."I told myself at the beginning of that match that I wasn't going to stop wrestling until the clock ran out, and that was my mindset," Russo said afterwards. "I'm a senior now, and it's been four long years of a lot of hard work, and just to leave it all out there on the mat was my goal. To get that result makes it so worth it."Russo will face No. 3 seed Nicholas Bord of Palisades in the semifinals.In addition to Peters, Russo and Clymer, the Tigers will also have Quentin Bernhard (120) and Jarret White (126) in the semis.Bernhard will get Lehighton's Zachary Kemmerer, whom he also faced in last year's district tournament."I saw him last year and lost in overtime, so I want to use this as a gauge to see how much I've improved," said Kemmerer. "He's obviously much different this year than a year ago, but I want to show that I am, too."There haven't been a lot of kids that I wrestled last year and this year, so this will be a great opportunity to see where I'm at."For Bernhard, the chance is one to show his second seed is deserved and that he's ready to perform in one of the biggest events of the year."Last year, I got to experience it," he said. "And knowing how that feels makes me even more excited to do it again this year."The other semi with two Times News wrestlers comes at 170 pounds, where Panther Valley's Dylan Moyer will take on Palmerton's Zachary Graver.Moyer was impressive in his two wins, especially when considering he was dropping from 182 pounds to 170.Though cutting a little bit of weight, the junior acknowledged he felt good about his chances."It's hard, but there's nothing you can do," Moyer said. "But after tonight, I'll feel good knowing that I can do it. We'll see what happens tomorrow."For Graver, a win would put him in the finals, and one step closer to reaching the PIAA Wrestling Championships in Hershey for the second time a year after Palmerton's Josh Evans earned a medal in Hershey."This year, I'm just trying to focus on my own wrestling," said Graver. "I know if I wrestle well, everything will fall into place and take care of itself."Other wrestlers in the semifinals are Northern Lehigh's Colten Rex (113), Matt Schmall (132), Ryan Farber (145), CJ Young (152) and Nate Farber (160).Lehighton's Tegan Durishin will also be in the semifinals at 138 pounds.Action will resume today at Freedom High School with second round consolations at 9 a.m. The finals, which were originally scheduled to take place at Liberty, will instead be held at 4:45 p.m. at Freedom.