The postseason is coming fast for area wrestling teams, and the District 11 Team Championships often serve as the perfect warm-up.

"I feel the duals is a good opportunity for our wrestlers to get extra matches against some quality opponents and teams," said Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown. "Not every team has that opportunity, so it definitely benefits our wrestlers."With the top-12 (Class) 2A teams attending, they get to see the competition they will be up against in the postseason, and that is always an advantage."Four Times News area squads made the Class 2A tournament, which begins Thursday.Northwestern earned the No. 4 seed and will have a first-round bye. The Tigers will face the winner of the No. 5 Notre Dame Green Pond and No. 12 Palmerton match.Lehighton is the seventh seed and will face No. 10 Panther Valley in the opening round. The winner will take on second seed Wilson."One of the good things about making the duals is that we get an extra competition late in the season," said Palmerton head coach Justin Petersen."If we didn't have this match we would only have one match (Whitehall, on Feb. 8) from Jan. 24 to Feb. 24. That makes it very tough for our kids to stay motivated during those practice days."The Blue Bombers got plenty of momentum in their last competition, a 42-36 win over rival Northern Lehigh that essentially secured their spot in the team tournament."I definitely see more confidence in their approach," Petersen said of his team. "However, I always preach to them to never get too high and never get too low."Each opponent brings a new challenge that we need to be prepared for, and that's how we're going to approach this postseason."While the tournament will fill a potential gap in the schedule for some teams, others will already have plenty on their plate.Northwestern and Panther Valley competed in the two-day Coal Cracker Tournament this past Friday and Saturday. The Tigers also faced Class 2A No. 1 seed Saucon Valley in the Colonial League tournament Monday.Despite the busy schedule, it won't change how Northwestern head coach Jim Moll is approaching this week's competition."District Duals is always a great event," said Moll. "It is a busy week for us with league duals on Monday, but our preparation doesn't change at all. We will still practice hard and lift hard. We started morning workouts the first week of January, and we will continue to come in early for those workouts all week long."The kids are working hard, and we are seeing the improvements we want to see. We still have some things I want to see us do better, so there is no reason to change the way we have been doing things to this point in the season."In addition to competing in the Coal Cracker Tournament, the Panthers also have a match scheduled for Wednesday night against Halifax.Lehighton's match against No. 3 seed Pine Grove that was scheduled for Tuesday was postponed until Feb. 14.Still, with the individual district tournament close to three weeks away (Feb. 24 and 25), the chance to get in more quality mat time is something few coaches would trade."Anytime we can get into some pressure situations, it will be good for our young guys as well as our experienced guys," said Petersen. "It's hard to replicate these situations in the room, so this will be a good opportunity for them to feel that before they get into individual districts.""That's why (we) will always do it," added Panther Valley head coach Tim Robb. "The experience is irreplaceable."The race to the end of the season is most certainly on, and this week could provide the head start many teams are looking for."My expectations for this weekend are simple: Compete," commented Moll. "We are getting to the point of the season where one point can mean the difference between advancing or going home."So we have to be ready to compete for every point that goes on the board. If we compete the way I know our guys can, I think we can do well."*****SCHEDULE … Northwestern, Palmerton, Lehighton and Panther Valley will all be competing at Northern Lehigh High School on Thursday. First round matches are scheduled for 6 p.m., with the next round set to get underway at 7:30 p.m.Action will resume with consolation matches Saturday at 9 a.m. at Freedom High School. The championship semifinal matches are scheduled for 10:45 a.m. The finals are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Should it be necessary, the true second place match will take place at 7:30 p.m.The top two finishers in each class advance to the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships. The preliminary round for states is scheduled for Monday, with the first round slated for Feb. 9.******LAST YEAR … Saucon Valley (2A) and Bethlehem Catholic (3A) took home the titles at last season's District 11 Team Championships. The Panthers defeated Lehighton in the finals. Northwestern defeated the Indians in the true second place match to earn a spot in the state tournament. Nazareth defeated Easton 37-23 in the Class 3A true second place match.******RECORD BREAKER … Tamaqua's Tanner McHugh broke Garth Lakitsky's school record for career wins Saturday at Panther Valley's Coal Cracker Tournament. McHugh had to earn it, getting a 4-3 decision over Notre Dame Green Pond's Blake Daniel in the 132-pound semifinal. Daniel was ranked 13th at 132 pounds in Off the Mat's most recent Class 2A state poll.******CHAMPS … Bethlehem Catholic repeated as Eastern Pennsylvania Conference champs on Saturday, downing Nazareth 40-20 in the final. Becahi is ranked No. 8 nationally by Intermat; Nazareth is the No. 14 team in the nation. The Golden Hawks (No. 1) and Blue Eagles (No. 2) are the top seeds in District 11 Class 3A's bracket. Perhaps another meeting is coming in the Class 3A championship match on Saturday?