The matches were over.

The medals had been handed out.

And the gym was nearly empty.

But Joe Killar wasn’t done teaching.

And his Northwestern wrestlers were eager to continue learning.

It’s an ongoing process for the Tigers, one that helped them place two wrestlers in the top six at the Southeast Regional Tournament Saturday.

Killar guided freshman Luke Fugazzotto to his first appearance at the state tournament, while senior Buck Miller advanced to Hershey for the second year in a row.

Gaining experience

Fugazzotto won three straight consolation matches to reach the 160-pound third-place match against West Perry’s Justice Hockenberry-Folk.

It was a rematch of the quarterfinals, a bout Hockenberry-Folk won 7-6.

Fugazzotto led 6-5 entering the third period before Hockenberry-Folk secured a reversal. He added three back points with 0:21 remaining before Fugazzotto quickly countered with another reversal seconds later to make it 10-8, which is how the score would stay.

It was a match that could have gone either way, and the type of bout that is sure to happen again at states. And one Killar and Fugazzotto were still analyzing before they left Freedom’s Joseph J. McIntyre Gymnasium on Saturday.

“He just made a little mistake, got caught,” said Killar “He got his wrist caught in the last match and got tilted, that’s it.”

Those are the moments all of the Northwestern wrestlers learn from, including Miller, who won his 189-pound fifth-place match with a 10-4 decision over West Perry’s Quade Boden.

“They all just have to make little adjustments,” said Killar. “Buck got moving his last match, I was happy to see that. He came out on the good side.

“And Luke wrestled well, too. His last match, he was right in the match ... but he’s right there.”

Fugazzotto has certainly been in the mix all season, winning District 11 and Colonial League titles during a stellar campaign.

He posted back-to-back pins in the consolation round, dispatching Susquenita’s Josh Kauffman in 1:53 in his first match before finishing North Schuylkill’s Ricky Halford in 1:25.

Fugazzotto advanced to the third-place match with an 11-2 win over Saucon Valley’s Jared Rohn. Fugazzotto was set to wrestle Rohn last week in the district final but Rohn was unable to compete due to injury.

“I learned a lot,” said Fugazzotto. “I got six matches in this weekend. I feel like there are some good guys, some guys that you’re better than. I feel like you really learn a lot in those different situations and types of match-ups.

“Mentally, I’m still in a good place. I don’t think I wrestled bad; I thought I wrestled pretty well. I have a good mentality going into states.”

Fugazzotto was a quick study against a variety of opponents, including Hockenberry-Folk, a senior who has now placed third at regionals in each of the last two years and will be making his third trip to states.

“You wrestle in these different types of tournaments, and you get hit with some guys that you never wrestled before and it’s just new,” said Fugazzotto. “New skill, and new experience that you get. And it just overall makes you better.”

Finishing strong

Miller, who punched his ticket to states by reaching the semifinals on Friday night, has continued his evolution as a wrestler. The senior’s fifth-place finish at regionals is an improvement on last year’s sixth-place result.

After getting pinned in 2:13 by eventual runner-up Jacob Jones of Saucon Valley in the semifinals, Miller was pinned by Faith Christian Academy’s Jason Singer in 4:52 in his first consolation match.

But Miller rebounded and found his form in the fifth-place bout against Boden, getting the first takedown in the first period and adding two more in the second period along with a pair of escapes to build an 8-2 lead. Miller got another takedown in the third period as Boden could only manage two escapes.

“My match before (against Singer) was definitely a little frustrating,” said Miller. “So it’s definitely great to finish the way I did, to carry some momentum over instead of having the feelings from the match before.”

Miller knows that sometimes in order to be successful, he simply needs to relax, though that can be easier said than done in the postseason.

“I definitely get myself excited, and then I tire myself out, and then I start clamming up on my feet and I’m not moving as much and that’s one of my biggest problems,” he said. “It leads to me trying to coast with a lead and it can lead to some problems.”

But Miller knows what he’s capable of, and that he belongs at this stage of the season.

“It’s definitely nice not being here for the first time, knowing the level of competition I’m going to have,” said Miller. “I saw some of the guys here that I saw last year, so it’s definitely a big help having some experience.”

Regional recap

Miller and Fugazzotto were the only Times News area wrestlers to advance to states on Saturday.

Their teammate, Dalton Clymer, pinned Blue Mountain’s Bradley Renninger in 2:14 in his first consolation match at 172 pounds. But his run to the top six ended with a 5-4 loss to Daniel Haubert of Palisades in his next consolation match.

Clymer and Haubert have split their four meetings this season, with Clymer earning a 6-2 win last week at districts.

Haubert trailed 4-1 entering the third period before getting a takedown and adding two back points midway through the period to take the lead.

“That was probably the best match he wrestled,” Killar said of Clymer. “He just got in a scramble and came out on the wrong side of it.”

Clymer rebounded with a 16-6 major decision against Littlestown’s Tanner Rock in the seventh-place bout, which determines the first alternate for states.

Palmerton’s Daniel Lucykanish won his second round consolation match at 152 pounds, pinning Springfield Township’s Kenneth Cordon Acevedo in 0:21. Lucykanish was pinned by Notre Dame Green Pond’s Keegan Ramsay in 3:44 in his next bout.

In the 152-pound seventh-place match, Lucykanish dropped a 7-0 decision to Conwell-Egan’s Hayden Mann.

Three other area wrestlers saw their tournaments come to an end in the second round of consolations on Saturday.

Lehighton’s Aidan Gruber dropped a 3-1 decision to Berks Catholic’s Brayden Hartranft at 114 pounds, while teammate Jacob Ferguson was pinned in 1:45 by Ramsay at 152.

Northwestern’s Dartanyon DeLillo, added to the tournament as an injury replacement for Lehighton’s Reese Balk, was pinned by Salisbury’s Mitchell Miller in 4:34 at 285 pounds.

Hear them roar

Faith Christian Academy dominated the weekend, winning the team title with 232 points to top District 11 powers Notre Dame Green Pond (189) and Saucon Valley (129).

The Lions, coached by Northwestern graduate Ben Clymer, had five wrestlers win individual titles on Saturday, and advanced 11 wrestlers to the state tournament.

They had three wrestlers place second, two earn bronze and one place fourth.

What’s next?

The PIAA Wrestling Championships open on Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

The Class 2A preliminaries and first round matches will begin at 9 a.m., followed by the first round consolations at 1:15 p.m.