POTTSVILLE - The Northwestern and Northern Lehigh wrestling teams know each other well.

The two squads had already faced off twice before Thursday night's meeting in the quarterfinals of the District 11 Class AA team tournament. The Tigers won both matches, 42-24 on Jan. 20 and 41-31 in the semifinals of last week's Colonial League tournament.The Bulldogs, who advanced to the quarterfinals with a 51-23 win over Pine Grove in the first round, have continued to close the gap.But it still wasn't enough to vanquish their rivals.Despite several wrestlers out of the lineup, Northwestern prevailed once again, this time topping Northern Lehigh 37-28.With the victory, the Tigers will face Saucon Valley in Saturday's semifinals at Freedom High School at 10:45 a.m."They've cut the deficit every time we've wrestled them," said Northwestern head coach Jim Moll. "Usually, you want to grow your advantage each time you wrestle a team more than once."But they keep doing a good job, and they're tough."Even without state-ranked wrestlers Matt Peters (113) and Caleb Clymer (152), the fourth-seeded Tigers were able to use their depth to outlast the fifth-seeded Bulldogs."They just have a little more balance. I don't want to be a broken record, but that's what it is," said Northern Lehigh head coach Steve Hluschak. "They have it throughout the lineup, and we have a few more holes I would say than they do. And their guys did a good job tonight of not giving up bonus (points) and we didn't do a good enough job of getting bonus (points)."Quentin Bernhard (126), Jarret White (132), Ryan Dengler (145), Jackson Bernhard (152) and Andrew Sorensen (195) gave Northwestern 30 points with pins, while Zach Anderson (106) got six points with a forfeit.The Tigers also took a key toss up match at 220 pounds, as Jacob Murray picked up a 5-3 decision over Jason Schaffer, a win that put Northwestern ahead 31-17 with only four bouts remaining.The two have split their matches over the last two weeks, with Schaffer scoring late to win a 9-5 decision at last week's Colonial League tournament.Murray wasn't about to let it happen again."I wanted this match tonight like I was under water and needed to come up for air," the senior said. "I hate losing to Northern Lehigh."Matt Schmall (138) won by fall for the Bulldogs while Seth Fronheiser (113), Ryan Farber (160), Brandon Belfonti (170) and Cameron Kates (285) picked up bonus points with major decision victories. CJ Young (182) picked up a 3-1 decision in sudden victory overtime against Eddie Parrish, and Colten Rex (120) earned a hard-fought 5-3 decision over Baily Wehr, whom he defeated by a 12-3 major at last week's Colonial League tournament.Northwestern will now gear up for a rematch with top-seeded Saucon Valley in Saturday's semifinals. The Panthers knocked off the Tigers 40-24 in last week's final at the Colonial League tournament."There were some toss-ups in that match - (Matt) Peters against (Paul) Miller and (Quentin) and Bernhard against (Jonah) Zyck," Moll said referencing Peters's 8-2 loss to Miller and Bernhard's 3-2 setback against Zyck. "So if we win those two, that's a 12-point swing and now we're within four."You have to win two really tough matches to do that and you have to make up four more points, and Saucon is really tough. Saucon is a well-coached team and we know they're going to be tough to beat."The loss doesn't end the tournament for the defending Class AA champion Bulldogs, who will face No. 8 North Schuylkill in the elimination bracket at 9 a.m. Saturday at Freedom."Extra matches are always good for the young guys," Hluschak said of the opportunity. "We're happy with wrestling. We'd rather be wrestling than be at home, obviously. We're going to make the best of it."Hopefully we run into them again. That means we're advancing."No.Lehigh-Pine GroveWhile Northern Lehigh wasn't able to get bonus points against Northwestern, it had no such trouble against Pine Grove.The Bulldogs got pins from Colten Rex (120), Ezra Neff (126), Tyler Hargreaves (138) and Matt Schmall (145) in winning four of the first five matches to build a commanding 24-5 lead."They're a very well-rounded team," said Pine Grove coach Jack Drey. "We were looking at some good matchups down here for our kids to see where they stood against a team that we don't see a lot."But they got the bonus points where they needed them. We had some that we could have gone after there, but we just have to keep plugging away and realize what it takes to get to that level."Northern Lehigh also got gritty decision wins from Ryan Farber (170), CJ Young (182) and Jason Schaffer (220) to keep the Cardinals off the board."That was big," said Northern Lehigh head coach Steve Hluschak. "Those matches could have gone either way, and those guys were able to fight and come through with close wins. That's what it takes to succeed in the postseason and they know how to do it."We have some good guys in our lineup that we have high hopes for individually."QuarterfinalsNorthwestern 37, No, Lehigh 28126 - Quentin Bernhard (NW) pinned Chase Ohlsen in 3:30132 - Jarret White (NW) maj. dec. Ezra Neff, 11-3138 - Matt Schmall (NL) pinned Tyler Derr in 1:22145 - Ryan Dengler (NW) pinned Tyler Hargreaves in 3:41152 - Jackson Bernhard (NW) pinned Tyler Smith in 1:19160 - Ryan Farber (NL) maj. dec. David VanBlargan, 15-4170 - Brandon Belfonti (NL) maj. dec. Jason Hottinger, 13-1182 - CJ Young (NL) dec. Eddie Parrish, 3-1 (SV)195 - Andrew Sorensen (NW) pinned Brandon Smith in 3:20220 - Jacob Murray (NW) dec. Jason Schaffer, 5-3285 - Cameron Kates (NL) maj. dec. Quin Moyer, 15-7106 - Zach Anderson (NW) won by forfeit113 - Seth Fronheiser (NL) maj. dec. Ryan Haas, 11-3120 - Colten Rex (NL) dec. Baily Wehr, 5-3First roundNo. Lehigh 51, Pine Grove 23120 - Colten Rex (NL) pinned James Gately in 0:22126 - Ezra Neff (NL) pinned Jacob Rossi in 1:42132 - Dillon Kintzel (PG) tech. fall Chase Ohlsen, 21-5 (6:00)138 - Tyler Hargreaves (NL) pinned Chad Zimmerman in 1:54145 - Matt Schmall (NL) pinned Jesse LeVan in 1:23152 - Gavin Miller (PG) pinned Tyler Smith in 0:28160 - Brandon Belfonti (NL) won by forfeit170 - Ryan Farber (NL) dec. Josh Phillippy, 6-0182 - CJ Young (NL) dec. Carson Rittenbaugh, 5-4195 - Austin Ney (PG) pinned Cameron Deibert in 1:21220 - Jason Schaffer (NL) dec. Zach Leffler, 3-2285 - Cameron Kates (NL) won by forfeit106 - Tyrese Armstead (PG) won by forfeit113 - Seth Fronheiser (NL) won by forfeit