Derek Hunter got a little redemption.

Then the Jim Thorpe sophomore collected what he really wanted.

Hunter punctuated an impressive performance at Panther Valley’s 10th annual Coal Cracker Tournament Saturday by pinning Midd-West’s Owen Zechman in the 285-pound final.

But it was a win over Church Farm School’s Emmanuel Lawal in the semis that put Hunter in position to cap the two-day event with the title – and avenge a narrow setback from their match in December.

“It means a lot,” Hunter said. “It gives me more motivation to keep on working.”

Hunter showed the strides he’s made with a 3-1 decision over Lawal.

“He beat me 2-0 at a tournament we had in the beginning of the year,” Hunter said about his loss to Lawal in the semifinals of the Pope John Paul Invitational earlier this season.

“I had in the back of my head that I was going to lose. But right before the match started, I started to pump myself up and get excited for it, and it came out my way, so I’m really happy about it.”

Hunter left little doubt in the final, building a 5-1 advantage through three periods before finishing the match with a fall at the 5:13 mark.

Icing on the cake.

“Yeah, it was,” said Hunter. “It was amazing. As soon as I knew I got him to his back, I knew it was over. I was really proud of that.

“Before the match started, he looked big; I was a little bit nervous about it. But as soon as I tied up with him, I knew I could overpower him. I just worked on my technique; keep my hips back, and that was about it.”

The pin was Hunter’s third of the tournament. Hunter dispatched Benjamin Ricci (St Josephs Preparatory) in the first period in the opening round, and also recorded a first-period fall against Lavonte Bouie (Catasauqua) in the quarters after topping Gavin Drake (Abington Heights) 3-2 in the second round.

“I just wanted to see him compete,” Olympians’ head coach Shawn Albert said of Hunter. “He’s done very well this year. He only has three losses, and two of them were to state-ranked wrestlers. So we were pretty excited to see that.

“We’ve been telling him that for the last two months that the potential is right there for him to compete with the top 10 in the state right now. And it’s just a matter of him believing it. I think when he beat Lawal, that really solidified his belief in some of the things we’ve been telling him over the past two months or so.”

That confidence and steady progression could put Hunter right where he wants to be at the end of the season.

“I really do believe he has the potential to be a state qualifier this year, I really do believe that,” Albert said of Hunter.

“It’s just a matter of him seeing it, and I think this weekend was a great tournament for him. I think this does spring him forward to hopefully some great success come postseason time.”

Palmerton’s Lucas Christman also advanced to the championship finals at 138 pounds. The senior fell 10-8 in sudden victory overtime to Midd-West’s Avery Bassett in the final.

Christman built a 5-0 lead in the first period, and held an 8-3 advantage in the second.

But Bassett chipped away, tying the match at 8-8 with a takedown with 25 seconds remaining in the third period. Another takedown in overtime won it.

“It’s a good match to get you ready for the postseason,” said Bombers’ head coach Justin Petersen. “All the tournaments we go to, that’s what we preach, and that’s the atmosphere we’re trying to produce. And this is districts, if not regionals. It’s a very big tournament, and there are a lot of tough kids, and that kid (Bassett) included; that’s a kid you’ll probably see at states.

“Obviously, he knows he’s right there. He’s not happy with the result, but we don’t want him to be happy with the result. He knows what he did wrong, and we know what we have to do; he knows that that kid is beatable. We’ll work, and he’ll get better.”

Christman advanced to the final with pins in his first two matches, before recording a pair of decisions – including a 3-0 triumph over Joseph Hester of Montrose in the semifinals.

MEDALISTS … In addition to Christman and Hunter, a total of 15 Times News area wrestlers placed in the top-eight. Tamaqua led the way with six medalists: Bronson Strouse (fourth, 285), Nate Wickersham (fifth, 170), Randolph Steigerwalt (sixth, 126), Aaron Coccio (seventh, 132), Carson Krell (seventh, 182) and Caleb Sell (145, eighth). “Some of our kids wrestled eight matches, anywhere between six and eight matches they wrestled,” said Raiders’ head coach Jim McCabe. “The biggest thing this weekend is we matured in tough situations. There were a lot of close matches that we had to fight through to win in order to continue to win to get to the next round, and the next round, and the next round. And that was the biggest thing that I’ve see with our team.”

Jim Thorpe’s Ethan Mordaunt placed third at 220 pounds, while teammate Austin Williams finished fifth at 182.

Northwestern’s Tyler Watson placed fourth at 182 pounds, and Jake Dellicker sixth at 113.

“It was hard, but I just kept working, and learned a lot,” said Watson.

“When you see this many matches in one day, you can kind of critique some things,” added Tigers’ head coach Jim Moll. “You can try to change the game plan, and start changing the mindset.”

Northern Lehigh’s Preston Bauer (sixth, 120), Trevor Amorim (eighth, 132) and Joshua Schaffer (eighth, 285) also placed.

CHAMPS … Notre Dame won the team title with 197 points. Hazleton (172.5), Midd-West (168.5), Selinsgrove (158.5) and Abington Heights (140) and Gettysburg (140) rounded out the top teams. Tamaqua (96) placed 10th, while Jim Thorpe (84.5) finished 12th.