HERSHEY — Luke Fugazzotto moved one step closer to the podium Thursday at the PIAA Wrestling Championships.

The Northwestern Lehigh senior — chasing his third state medal in his fourth trip to Hershey — opened the tournament with a convincing 13-4 major decision over Emery Johnson of Reynolds in the first round at 189 pounds inside the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Fugazzotto will face C.J. Pensiero of Bishop McCort in Friday morning’s quarterfinals, where a win would send him to the semifinals and guarantee a spot on the medal stand.

“It was big. It was just the first match, blowing the rust out, so it’s a brand-new day tomorrow,” Fugazzotto said. “I didn’t get to all the stuff I wanted, but that’s not a bad thing. Just advancing — that’s all that matters.”

Fugazzotto controlled his opening bout from the start, building a 5-1 lead after the first period. A takedown in the final two seconds of the second period extended the advantage to 8-2.

He added a reversal just 10 seconds into the third period and another takedown later in the frame to secure the major decision.

“My mentality is just to get the takedown and start working my top stuff,” Fugazzotto said. “That’s the first step in the process. If he happens to get out, I just start the process over again.”

Competing at the state tournament for the final time, Fugazzotto said his previous experience in Hershey has helped him approach the weekend with a calm mindset.

“It definitely helps a lot,” he said. “It gives you the mentality of no surprises when you come in again. It just lets you be ready for anything.”

Two other Northwestern Lehigh wrestlers remained alive in the tournament heading into Friday.

At 172 pounds, Vinnie Fugazzotto bounced back from a first-round loss with a dominant technical fall. Making his first appearance at the state tournament, Fugazzotto defeated Derek Dube of General McLane 17-0 in 1:31 after building a 9-0 lead and recording two four-point near-falls in the second period.

“It feels pretty good,” Fugazzotto said. “I wanted to win my first match and make it to the second day, but unfortunately I didn’t win that first match.

“I still made it to the second day. I’m happy I came back and had a dominant win.”

Fugazzotto said he felt more relaxed entering the consolation bout after the opening loss.

“I didn’t really feel any pressure,” he said. “I didn’t have anything to lose. I just wanted to win, and that’s what happened.”

Fugazzotto will face Brayden Lisowski of Penns Valley in the consolation bracket Friday.

At 160 pounds, Nolan Koehler also remained alive in consolations. Competing at the state tournament for the second straight season, Koehler opened his tournament with an 18-0 technical fall against Mason VanAllman of Tyrone.

Koehler built a 10-0 lead in the first period with a takedown and seven back points before securing the technical fall early in the second period.

He later dropped his first-round bout to Melvin Miller of Bishop McCort and will face Peter Sadchikov of General McLane in his next consolation match.

Three other area wrestlers saw their tournaments come to an end Thursday.

Rylan Reitz of Tamaqua, a freshman competing at the state tournament for the first time, dropped a preliminary-round match to Will Edwards of West Branch, who recorded a 17-0 technical fall in 4:25. Reitz later fell to Carter Ickes of Chestnut Ridge by an 11-1 major decision in the consolation bracket.

Northwestern Lehigh’s Chase Sukanick, also making his first appearance in Hershey, opened with a 6-2 loss to Dawson Shaffer of Berlin Brothersvalley, who scored a takedown in each of the first two periods.

Sukanick battled back in his consolation bout against Jackson Butler of Bishop McCort, taking a 6-5 lead early in the third period with a takedown. The two wrestlers traded reversals, with Sukanick briefly holding an 8-7 advantage before Butler regained the lead and secured the fall at 4:41.

At 152 pounds, Rory Dixon of Mahanoy Area — a returning state qualifier — opened with an 8-4 loss to Lucas Boyer of Elizabeth Forward despite scoring a takedown just 15 seconds into the match and leading 3-1 entering the third period.

In consolations, Dixon again held the lead late before Dawson Lomison of Bald Eagle Area rallied. Lomison scored an escape in the third period and secured a takedown in the final 15 seconds to pull out a 5-4 win.