Tamaqua senior Tanner McHugh tries to stay focused on what's in front of him. But on Jan. 28, McHugh faced much more than just his opponent.

Staring down Notre Dame Green Pond's Blake Daniel in the 132-pound semifinal at Panther Valley's Coal Cracker Tournament, McHugh not only had an opportunity to wrestle for a title with a win - he also had a chance to make history.And he did just that.With a 4-2 decision against Daniel - a state-ranked wrestler and state qualifier last season - McHugh earned his 130th career victory, breaking a tie with previous school record-holder and Blue Raider great Garth Lakitsky."It was great," McHugh said of the moment. "Going into the match, I was like, 'It's just wrestling. It's just wrestling.' But it was still a little bit in the back of my head. It adds a little bit of stress, but when I go out there all the stress goes away, in any match."I just did my thing, won the match, then it hit me. It's kinda … I don't want to say weird or unreal, but I don't know."The moment was just as surreal for Blue Raiders' head coach Jon Mashack."Absolutely, it's emotional," said Mashack. "I've worked with him for four years and watched him improve. That was always on the horizon as we saw he set our freshmen school record with 30 wins. It was an opportunity. We talked about it but it was never a goal, it just came along during the process."But definitely I know he appreciated it. That was probably the most emotional I've seen him, besides (getting) a state medal. It's something that he definitely appreciated because it's his hard work. Nobody can take the sweat that he put into it away from him. And he's not done yet."McHugh didn't have too much time to celebrate on that January Saturday, either, with another state-ranked wrestler, Hanover's Jeff Bennett, waiting in the finals.Much like he did with Daniel, McHugh went out and took care of business, earning a 6-1 decision against Bennett to claim the 132-pound title."I thought about it. They had balloons and stuff. And I was happy," McHugh said of breaking the record. "But then I had a little bit of a break and I was right back into wrestling mode, and I wrestled well in the finals. It was just a good time."Mashack has watched McHugh grow from a record-setting freshman to a state medalist (eighth) as a junior and now the school's all-time wins leader as a senior."Our biggest thing was to make sure that he stayed healthy so he had the opportunity to do it," said Mashack. "And then just wrestle consistently. We always look for the tougher matches because we want to make sure he's being challenged to prepare for the postseason because that's what's most important to us."But we knew that if we did everything the way we have taught it, he was definitely going to work toward that goal, and have a great shot at breaking it."Part of that process for McHugh has been working with former Tamaqua standout and 2015 graduate Dylan Rynkiewicz, who finished his career wrestling at 138 pounds and is now an assistant coach with the Blue Raiders."It helps a lot," McHugh said of working with Rynkiewicz, who was a state qualifier and finished his career with 127 wins. "At least a couple of times during the week he wrestles with me and stuff, and that's great because he's always been wrestling with me since freshman year, and we just push ourselves."He's one of the big reasons I've achieved so much and gotten better and better each year. So I can thank him a lot. It's great to have him as a coach and to wrestle with in the room, too. "Mashack said the key is making sure McHugh stays in the moment and focuses on the task at hand."He's a disciplined kid. My goal is just to make sure he's working on improving his weaknesses, week-to-week, so that things can come together," he said. "We don't look forward to the state tournament. We look at each match individually."Ultimately, our goal is a state medal, and a state championship. However, we have to do the work to get there."One match at a time."Check off the box," said McHugh. "But at the beginning of the season, I was like, 'All right, a lot of people I guess are expecting me to get this.' But I wrestle for me, and for everybody else who put all the time in to help me wrestle."So I got it for me, but also my family and my coaches and all that. So I did that, checked it off the list, and now we're going on to the next goal of maybe a district title and all that."As for the record?"A few people said they talked to him about it and I guess they said he was happy it was broken," McHugh said of Lakitsky. "And I'll be happy when someone breaks mine. Records are meant to be broken."*******WHAT TO WATCH FOR … The District 11 Class AA and AAA individual tournaments will be held next Friday and Saturday (Feb. 24-25) at Freedom High School and Liberty High School. Look for a preview of the tournaments in next week's column.*******RUBBER MATCH … After splitting the first two meetings, Nazareth defeated defending state champion Bethlehem Catholic for the second time this season Saturday for the PIAA Class 3A team title. The Blue Eagles edged the Golden Hawks, 30-29, on criteria to win their first state title since 2007. The previous Nazareth win was a 33-24 triumph a week earlier in another epic clash in the District 11 Class 3A tournament finals. Bethlehem Catholic won the regular season meeting, 40-20.*******OFF THE MAT ... In Off The Mat's seventh issue of Class 2A state rankings this week, Northern Lehigh's Ryan Farber led the way, moving up to No. 1 at 160 pounds, while Northwestern's Caleb Clymer came in at No. 3 at 152 pounds. Palmerton's Jared Mooney (195) was ranked fourth and Tamaqua's Tanner McHugh (138) fifth in their respective weight classes. Northwestern's Bailey Wehr moved up from seventh to fifth at 120 pounds. Panther Valley's Hunter Kennedy was 15th at 160 pounds. District 11 had two teams in Off the Mat's top-25 Dual Meet rankings. District champion Saucon Valley dropped from second to seventh, while runner-up Wilson remained 16th.