BETHLEHEM - March Madness can wait.

Wrestling’s Elite Eight in Class 2A and 3A took centerstage Saturday at the District 11 Team Championships.

Some blue bloods entered with title aspirations, while others hoped for bracket-busting Cinderella Story runs as underdogs.

The experience for each proved to be its own compelling storyline.

Lehighton went 1-1 in the Class 2A bracket. The Indians opened with a 48-25 win over Catasauqua before falling to Saucon Valley 52-23 in the semifinals.

Win or lose, the event - which switched to an eight-team, single-elimination format this season - provided another opportunity for meaningful mat time before the individual district tournament tips off in three weeks.

“It’s nice to come here and compete,” said Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown. “We were hoping we could come here and compete and, to get that first win is nice.

“Just coming here, you get that opportunity to wrestle; we hadn’t wrestled Catty. We’ve seen them, but to be able to wrestle some of the better teams, the better teams are here, and for our kids to get that experience against those kids, those are extra matches some other kids don’t get against quality competition.”

Lehighton-Catasauqua

The third-seeded Indians ripped off four straight pins in the middle of the lineup to take control of the match.

Ethan Barachie (152), Jacob Ferguson (160), Brok Solt (172) and Deven Armbruster (189) gave Lehighton a 42-21 lead with just two matches remaining.

Catasauqua, the No. 6 seed, won three of the first four matches, with Evan Reed picking up a decision at 107 pounds and Mikhail Hartranft (121) and Brendan Nye (127) delivering pins to give the Roughies a 15-6 lead.

An Evan Wentz pin at 133 pounds and a forfeit for Nick Zeigenfuss at 139 put the Tribe ahead 18-15 after six bouts.

Gavin Fehr secured his 100th-career win with a pin at 145 pounds to give the Roughies a 21-18 advantage before Lehighton picked up four straight wins.

“We started out a little slow,” said Indians head coach Floyd Brown. “We had some good matches in there; I was hoping we’d maybe get another win or two out of that, but it didn’t work out that way. But other guys stepped up, and through the middle (of the lineup) there were a couple of tossup matches - Barachie came through, and we got pins at 160 (Ferguson) and 172 (Solt), where I was expecting wins, but maybe not pins. And it seemed to carry through the rest of the lineup.”

Catasauqua stopped the run with Chad Beller’s 21-9 major decision over Wyatt Sherer in a back-and-forth match at 215 pounds.

“Wyatt wrestled outstanding in that match,” said Brown. “Probably his best match of the year. He did a nice job. Wyatt battled, and he almost caught him a couple of times.”

Reese Balk capped the match with a pin at 285 pounds for the Indians.

The Roughies opened the match with a close win at 107 pounds, with Evan Reed posting a 7-5 decision over Ethan Nothstein, who recently returned to the lineup after missing almost three weeks due to injury.

“He wrestled well,” Brown said of Northstein. “To go out there and have a tight match with that kid was great. It was a good match for him to kind of get back into the swing of things.

Aidan Gruber gave Lehighton its first lead at 6-3 in the next bout, pinning Gavin Hacker in 1:53.

Lehighton-Saucon Vy.

After opening with a solid victory, the Tribe faced perennial powerhouse and No. 2 seed Saucon Valley in the semifinals.

The Indians traded pins with the Panthers through the first four matches.

Connor Dugan opened with a fall for Lehighton at 114 pounds before Cole Hubert (121) and Aiden Grogg (127) answered with pins to put Saucon Valley up 12-6.

Evan Wentz tied it at 12-12 with a pin in 0:30 for the Tribe.

But the Panthers won the next seven bouts - four pins, two technical falls and a forfeit - to claim a 52-11 advantage.

“Our guys battled,” said Brown. “We went out there and gave our best effort, they were just better. It is what it is. We need to improve, and it gives our guys a gauge of where they need to be and what they need to improve on in the next couple of weeks before individual districts against a lot of the top tier guys from schools like Saucon Valley and Notre Dame. You definitely get something out of a day like today.”

Reese Balk stopped the run with a pin at 285 pounds for Lehighton before Ethan Nothstein got a forfeit in the final match.

Wentz and Balk each had a pair of pins in the Tribe’s two matches Saturday.

“We got some pins where I would have expected,” said Brown. “Some of their guys just have more experience than our guys.”

UP NEXT

... Lehighton closes out the regular season with Senior Night tonight against Southern Lehigh. It’s the Tribe’s final match before the individual District 11 tournament begins on Feb. 24.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

... No. 1 seed Notre Dame Green Pond topped Saucon Valley 49-15 to claim the Class 2A title, while top seed Bethlehem Catholic beat No. 2 seed Nazareth 33-25 for the 3A crown. It is the third straight title for both the Crusaders and Golden Hawks.

Quarterfinals

Lehighton 48, Catasauqua 25

107 - Evan Reed (C) dec. Ethan Nothstein (L), 7-5; 114 - Aidan Gruber (L) pinned Gavin Hacker (C) in 1:53; 121 - Mikhail Hartranft (C) pinned Jacob Hall (L) in 2:33; 127 - Brendan Nye (C) pinned Blake Muffley (L) in 0:49; 133 - Evan Wentz (L) pinned Vincenzo Limandri (C) in 1:46; 139 - Nick Zeigenfuss (L) won by forfeit; 145 - Gavin Fehr (C) pinned Carter Hontz (L) in 0:42; 152 - Ethan Barachie (L) pinned Braden Bartholomew (C) in 4:44; 160 - Jacob Ferguson (L) pinned William Bear (C) in 3:14; 172 - Brok Solt (L) pinned Trevor Regits (C) 3:03; 189 - Deven Armbruster (L) pinned Augustus Serrano (C) in 2:00; 215 - Chad Beller (C) maj. dec. Wyatt Sherer (L), 21-9; 285

- Reese Balk (L) pinned Javier Sobrado (C) in 1:31.

Semifinals

Saucon Valley 52, Lehighton 23

114 - Connor Dugan (L) pinned Ty Dellmyer (SV) in 1:14; 121 - Cole Hubert (SV) pinned Jacob Hall (L) in 1:57; 127 - Aiden Grogg (SV) pinned Blake Muffley (L) in 1:34; 133 - Evan Wentz (L) pinned Brandon Pfanders (SV) in 0:30; 139 - Jackson Albert (SV) pinned Nick Zeigenfuss (L) in 2:51; 145 - Travis Riefenstahl (SV) tech. fall Ethan Barachie (L), 18-3 (4:00); 152 - Liam Scrivanich (SV) tech. fall Jacob Ferguson (L), 20-4 (4:30); 160 - Jared Rohn (SV) won by forfeit; 172 - Landon Beckowski (SV) pinned Brok Solt (L) in 0:31; 189 - Jacob Jones (SV) pinned Deven Armbruster (L) in 0:33; 215 - Tyler Pfizenmayer (SV) pinned Wyatt Sherer (L) in 1:16; 285 - Reese Balk (L) pinned Bret Sheasley (SV) in 1:41; 107

- Ethan Nothstein (L) won by forfeit.

* - Lehighton deducted a team point at 145 for unsportsmanlike conduct.