BETHLEHEM - Luke Fugazzotto couldn’t control the circumstances.

But the Northwestern freshman certainly dictated his own destiny at the District 11 class 2A wrestling tournament.

The top seed entering the tournament, Fugazzotto did nothing to dispel the notion that he was the best wrestler in the 160-pound bracket.

Fugazzotto had three pins – including two in the first period – to reach the finals. He won the title via forfeit when Saucon Valley’s Jared Rohn was unable to compete due to an injury suffered in the semifinals.

Though it wasn’t how he envisioned the moment, Fugazzotto certainly earned his moment in the spotlight.

“The season has gone pretty much the way I would have liked it to. My goal was to make it to the finals of districts, and here I am,” said Fugazzotto. “Hopefully at regionals I’ll be able to get a match with Rohn (who injured his lip and required a number of stitches), I’m looking forward to that.

“But I had a good win against (Joseph) Lapenna (of Notre Dame Green Pond in the semifinals). So I feel like I had a decent run here.”

Fugazzotto showed his mettle in the semifinals.

Trailing 4-2 in the third period, Fugazzotto rallied to pin Lapenna – the No. 4 seed – in 5:21 to punch his ticket to the finals.

“I did something where I came out and I just caught him on his back,” said Fugazzotto. “And then I got him stuck. I was excited.”

Fugazzotto knows the road will only get tougher as he gets deeper into the postseason, and that he will have to find ways to come through in close matches.

“It feels good. I wasn’t getting to a lot of my shots, I’m not too proud of that,” said Fugazzotto. “But I knew if I was going to take a shot, he might defend it, and I might get stuck under and he was going to get a takedown. So in a way, I feel like my strategy was kind of smart, and I got a chance, and then I took it.”

And while he’s enjoyed plenty of success throughout this season, Fugazzotto has learned from his setbacks, like back to back losses that ended his Coal Cracker Tournament in January.

“I didn’t really wrestle as good as I wanted to,” Fugazzotto said of the Coal Cracker. “I didn’t place, and that kind of put me out of my mental game. But I worked hard in the room, and won leagues, and that was kind of a confidence booster. I’m feeling good now.”

Fugazzotto has not lost since the Coal Cracker, winning the 160-pound title at the Colonial League Tournament and posting six of his eight total victories during that stretch by way of pinfall.

In the finals

In addition to Fugazzotto, Dalton Clymer also advanced to the finals at 172 pounds for the Tigers, falling to Notre Dame Green Pond’s Holden Garcia, who won his fourth district title.

Clymer, who was seeded third, posted a 6-2 decision over Daniel Haubert of Palisades – the No. 2 seed – in the semifinals. Clymer and Haubert had split two meetings last month, with Clymer earning a 3-2 decision at the Coal Cracker before Haubert posted a 5-2 decision in the finals at the Colonial League Tournament a week later.

“It was a great tournament,” said Clymer. “Coming from a couple of weeks ago at the Colonial League Tournament, I said I was going to learn from that loss to Danny (Haubert) and hopefully not let it happen again, and I didn’t, which is awesome. Danny is a great wrestler, it was a great match.

“To make it to the finals is huge. I wanted to wrestle him (Garcia) as tough as I could. I had all the confidence. I really didn’t have nerves for whatever reason. I was excited to wrestle him, and I didn’t think I wrestled a bad match; just got caught in a couple of unlucky situations. I’m excited to move on to next week, and it would be nice to see him again.”

Against Haubert, Clymer scored the first takedown with 0:34 left in the first period. After Haubert got his second escape of the match to tie it at 2-2 in the third period, Clymer got a takedown with 0:16 remaining before adding two back points to seal the win.

Garcia built a 4-1 lead in the first period against Clymer with two takedowns. He led 11-3 before finishing the match with the fall in the second period.

A district champion as a freshman and first time state qualifier last year, Clymer has thrived once again this season, showcasing continued growth that has him on and off the mat.

“Especially from last year, the confidence I have in my strength and abilities is a lot higher,” said Clymer. “Even in the past month, coming out of the Colonial League tournament, I still felt a little timid when I was wrestling. I still felt a little off. Coming in today, I felt like I wrestled really well. I came in with a lot more confidence and wrestled well.”

Moving on

A total of eight Times News area wrestlers advanced to next week’s Class 2A Southeast Regional tournament with top four finishes, including Northwestern’s Buck Miller, who was fourth at 189 pounds.

“I thought Luke wrestled well, I thought Dalton has wrestled well. He had a tough guy in the finals,” said Northwestern head coach Joe Killar. “Buck, we need to get him moving a little more. But he wrestled OK.

“We have three guys moving on, hopefully all three can move on to states. We just have to get ready for next weekend.”

Miller recorded a 4-1 decision over Schuylkill Haven’s Aiden Myers in the consolation semifinals to reach the third place match.

Lehighton also had three wrestlers move on, including Aidan Gruber who was third at 114 pounds, and Jacob Ferguson (152) and Reese Balk (285), who were both fourth.

“It was my goal this whole season, so it just makes me happy about that,” said Ferguson, who was seeded sixth and posted a 9-7 decision in sudden victory overtime against Tri-Valley’s Chase Stephen in the consolation semis to reach the third-place match.

Gruber posted a 2-1 decision over Blue Mountain’s Colin Seefeldt to reach the third place bout, while Balk pinned North Schuylkill’s Yerrick Tlacuatl in 0:57 to secure his spot in the top four.

Palmerton’s Daniel Lucykanish, who was seeded 17th, advanced to regionals with a third place finish at 152 pounds. Teammate Derek King also extended his season with a fourth place finish at 139 pounds.

King rallied for a 6-4 sudden victory overtime decision in the consolation semis against Logan Winters of Palisades, getting a takedown with 0:16 to tie the match at 4-4 before sealing the win with another takedown in the first overtime period.

Lucykanish won his pigtail match before falling to top seed and eventual champion Liam Scrivanich of Saucon Valley on Friday night. He then ripped off four straight wins in the consolation bracket to reach the third place match and secure his spot at regionals. He finished the run by pinning Ferguson in the third place bout for his fifth straight victory in his seventh match of the tournament.

Lucykanish opened his run by posting a 6-0 decision over No. 8 seed Alex Moser of Pen Argyl before pinning Blue Mountain’s Sayyidakbar Akbarov, the 10th seed, in 0:26 in his second round consolation match. He reached the consolation semis with a 4-3 win over No. 3 seed Jacob Schlier of Tamaqua, before posting an 8-2 decision over No. 4 seed Cade Schneck of Pine Grove in the consi semifinalss to secure a top four finish.

Lucykanish, who was a district runner-up and regional qualifier last season, bounced back from an injury suffered late in the football season, tearing two ligaments in his foot which required surgery, and didn’t wrestle his first match until Jan. 18.

“I knew I pretty much just had to win,” Lucykanish said of the consolation round. “I tried to take it one match at a time, and I was able to do that.”

Honored

Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown was also named the Class 2A Coach of the Year Saturday.

The Indians, who won the team title at the Schuylkill League Tournament and advanced to the semifinals at district duals earlier this season, placed fifth in the team standings with 101.5 points and had six wrestlers place in the top six at districts, including Ethan Nothstein (107), who was fifth, and Blake Muffley (127) and Wyatt Sherer (215), who were both sixth.

“It is great to be selected by your coaching peers for the award but I have the best assistants and they deserve the same recognition,” Brown said. “Coach Tyler Cann and Coach Jake Hoats put in a lot of time with our kids and are both former wrestlers in our program. This award is recognition for all our coaches from our booster club program up through our junior high program. All of those coaches do a great job of preparing our wrestlers throughout those years. We also have former wrestlers who come in and work with our kids and a great group of supportive parents.”