It all comes down to this.

After months of slogging away on the mat and sacrificing so much off of it, the moment wrestlers from around the state have worked for is finally here.The PIAA Wrestling Championships, set to begin tomorrow at the Giant Center in Hershey, will feature the best talent Pennsylvania has to offer, all hoping to end the three-day tournament with medals - preferably gold - hanging around their necks.While several Times News wrestlers will be making second, and in some cases. third. trips to the state tournament, a number of area grapplers will be competing in the individual tournament for the first time.Two pair of teammates, Lehighton's Tegan Durishin and Wyatt Clements, and Northern Lehigh's Cameron Kates and CJ Young, along with Pleasant Valley's Trent Thomas and Tamaqua's Tanner McHugh, will be looking to continue already successful postseasons with a trip to the podium in their first try."I thought this would be possible. Getting three guys out there is really nice," said Lehighton head coach Danny Williams of the team's three qualifiers, which also includes Connor Frey, who is making his third trip to Hershey. "We really hoped for Zach (Kemmerer) to be out there as our fourth guy. ... But to get Wyatt, Connor and Tegan out is awesome."I thought all three of them had really strong (regional) tournaments. And that's what you look for, because if you have a strong tournament here, then you get out to states and that momentum just keeps on going. And that's what we're looking for, to get on the podium out there."Momentum is something Kates and Young will certainly have on their side. Kates has been in district and regional finals in back-to-back weeks, and Young capped his regional tournament with his 100th career victory en route to a fifth-place finish at last week's regional tournament."I'm proud of it," said Kates. "This has been my goal all along, to get to states."For Young, the prospect of going to Hershey without the thought of if, or when, he will earn his 100th career victory, is something that will make the trip much more enjoyable for the talented senior."It means a lot to me," Young said of reaching the milestone. "Knowing that I have 100 wins, there's a lot of pressure off now going into next week because regardless of what happens out there, I know I have my 100 wins. But I still want to do really good out there."Young wasn't the only one with the burden of reaching 100 wins and qualifying for the state tournament on his mind this past weekend, as McHugh hit the mark Friday night and capped his regional tournament with a state-qualifying sixth place result Saturday."It's fun to know that I get to keep going," said McHugh. "For a lot of kids, their seasons were over two weeks ago. And to know that I'm still going, in the last week of the season, is just great."I know that I just have to wrestle like I've been wrestling. Everyone here (at Regionals) is tough and I know everyone at the next level (States) is going to be even tougher. But I know I can accomplish a lot there, too."Being battletested is an aspect of McHugh's game that Tamaqua head coach Jon Mashack believes will help the junior as he heads to Hershey for the first time."Tanner has not lost a match by more than three points this season to very tough competition," the coach noted. "He is gaining in confidence and focus with every challenge. I believe he has never been more prepared for a competition."After falling to Freedom's Evan Callahan in the District 11 Class AAA 220-pound final a week prior, Thomas showed laserlike focus in a rematch with his counterpart in this past Saturday's Northeast Regional final.Thomas proved he was ready, turning the tables on Callahan and capturing his first regional crown with a 3-1 overtime victory."Wow, what a great tournament Trent had this past weekend," said Bears' head coach Justin Micklos. "I cannot begin to express how proud of Trent I am. He has accomplished something not many people in PV history were able to do. Last week he wrestled a hard match in the district final against Callahan and ended up a point short."This past week we worked on a few things with Trent. He hung on every word in the practice room and took full advantage of it in the regional final match. I think the difference in this week's match was the amount of confidence he came in with. He knew it was a very winnable match, he just needed to wrestle tough, and he did."Micklos doesn't plan on making many changes to a formula that has worked much of the season for Thomas."This week at states our expectations for Trent will be the same as they were all year: wrestle smart, wrestle with confidence, and most important, have fun and everything else will fall into place," he said.BY THE NUMBERS… A look at a few statistics heading into this weekend's state tournament: 8 - All eight schools - Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern, Palmerton, Panther Valley, Pleasant Valley and Tamaqua - will have at least one representative in Hershey. 8 - There are also eight returning state qualifiers from last year's tournament: Jim Thorpe's Kevan Gentile, Lehighton's Connor Frey, Northern Lehigh's Matt Schmall and Ryan Farber, Northwestern's Caleb Clymer and Quentin Bernhard, Palmerton's Jared Mooney and Panther Valley's Ali Capobianco. 3 - There are three returning medalists from last season: Gentile (4th, 106), Frey (7th, 182) and Schmall (8th, 132).OFF THE MAT UPDATE… With the season winding down, the Times News area retained its strong presence in Off the Mat's March 8 (Issue No. 10) Class AA state rankings. Northern Lehigh continued to lead the way, with Matt Schmall (138, 15th), Ryan Farber (160, 4th), CJ Young (170, 18th) and Cameron Kates (285, 5th) all earning recognition. Lehighton was close behind, as Tegan Durishin (145, 10th), Connor Frey (195, 1st) and Wyatt Clements (220, 10th) all made the list for the Indians. Quentin Bernhard (126, 10th) and Caleb Clymer (145, 9th) were all honored for Northwestern. Panther Valley's Ali Capobianco (152, 16th) and Dylan Moyer (7th, 182) were selected, as were Tamaqua's Tanner McHugh (126, 14th), Jim Thorpe's Kevan Gentile (106, 3rd) and Palmerton's Jared Mooney (182, 5th).SEE YOU ON THE MAT… The following are potential opening-day matchups at the PIAA Championships for Times News area Class AA wrestlers.At 106 pounds, Gentile will get the winner of the preliminary bout between Pen Cambria's Chase Proudfit (28-13) and Bermudian Springs' Landon West (35-10) in the first round. Gentile pinned West in 58 seconds in the quarterfinals of last week's Southeast Regional tournament.Gentile could face Chestnut Ridge's Aaron Burkett (37-3), the No. 1 ranked 106-pounder according to Off the Mat, in the semifinals. Gentile suffered a quarterfinal loss last year to Burkett, who was the eventual runner-up at 106 pounds. Gentile, who dropped from second to third in this week's Off the Mat rankings, would not face Southern Columbia's Jaret Lane, the sophomore that jumped him in the poll, until the finals.Bernhard and McHugh will both start their respective tournaments with matches in the preliminary round in the 126-pound bracket. Bernhard will face Warrior Run's Jeremy Hanford (31-9), ranked 19th by Off the Mat, while McHugh will take on Ellwood City's Tyler Alberts (31-6), ranked 13th by Off the Mat."It means a lot. It feels good to be able to make it back out there," said Bernhard. "I definitely didn't want to go backward (and not qualify as a senior). I feel like I would have looked back on that and regretted it if I didn't make it again."I feel good knowing that I've improved, because the last two years I was sixth at Regionals, but this year I took fifth. I'm looking forward to going out there to wrestle and we'll see what happens."Schmall will also open in the preliminary round at 138 pounds. The senior will begin the tournament with a match against Berlin Brothersvalley's Joe Swank (28-8), ranked 14th by Off the Mat.At 145 pounds, Clymer will take on Central Cambria's Tom Opdenhoff (35-4), ranked 8th by Off the Mat, in the preliminary round, while Durishin faces a first round meeting with Reynolds senior Seth Hogue (36-8), who is No. 12 in the 145-pound rankings. Capobianco begins his journey with a match against Jeannette's Gio Vonne Sanders (26-6), ranked 7th by Off the Mat, in the 152-pound preliminary round."It feels good. It feels good to go back for a second year," said Capobianco. "Not having some of my partners is a big thing, but making it back there is definitely important."The big goal this year is to get a state medal. Now it's time to show off what I've got. This is the big one. This is a big tournament and this is where I represent Panther Valley and where I represent the other (District 11) AA programs. It's time to give it my all."It's a moment Panther Valley head coach Tim Robb feels Capobianco is ready to seize."You always want to get a guy to states. That's the ultimate goal," said Robb. "He's been in big situations. This is the goal: get to the state tournament and get a medal. That's the goal from Day 1."Northern Lehigh's Ryan Farber, the SE Regional runner-up, will face Port Allegany senior Micailum Tanner (31-3), who took third at the Northwest Regional and is ranked No. 7 by Off the Mat, in the first round in the 160-pound bracket. Farber's teammate, CJ Young, will open his first state tournament with a preliminary round match against Berlin Brothersvalley's Storm McDonald (32-7), ranked 5th by Off the Mat, at 170 pounds.Palmerton's Jared Mooney, a SE Regional runner-up at 182 pounds, will face Penn Cambria's Jacob Driskel (35-6), who is ranked No. 13 by Off the Mat, in the first round.Lehighton's Connor Frey, who captured his first SE Regional championship Saturday at 195 pounds, will face the winner of Burrell's Robert Scherer (38-12), ranked 9th by Off the Mat, and Camp Hill's Sam Teeter (30-11), ranked 19th, in the first round.Frey's teammate, Wyatt Clements, will begin his first state tournament with a 220-pound preliminary matchup against Burgettstown's Brad Hucik (34-14), who is ranked 20th.Northern Lehigh's Cameron Kates will start his quest for his first state medal in his first appearance in Hershey with a first round bout against Wyalusing's Dawson Otis (41-3), ranked 9th by Off the Mat, at 285 pounds.In Class AAA, Pleasant Valley's Trent Thomas, the Northeast Regional champion at 220 pounds, will face the winner of Greenburg Salem's Derek Berberick (32-5) and Mechanicsburg's Akira Bastiany (32-6) in the first round.WHAT TO WATCH FOR… Here is a look at the schedule for this year's PIAA Wrestling Championships at Hershey's Giant Center.Thursday, March 10Class AA Preliminaries and First Round, 9 a.m.Class AA First Round Consolations, 1:15 p.m.Class AAA Preliminaries and First Round, 4 p.m.Class AAA First Round Consolations, 8:15 p.m.Friday, March 11Class AA Quarterfinals and Second Round Consolations, 9 a.m.Class AA Third Round Consolations, 11:45 a.m.Class AAA Quarterfinals and Second Round Consolations, 2:15 p.m.Class AAA Third Round Consolations, 5 p.m.Class AA Semifinals and Fourth Round Consolations, 7:30 p.m.Class AA Fifth Round Consolations, 9:30 p.m.Saturday, March 12Class AAA Semifinals and Fourth Round Consolations, 9 a.m.Class AAA Fifth Round Consolations, 11:30 a.m.Class AA Championships, Third-place, Fifth-place, Seventh-place, 2 p.m.Class AAA Championships, Third-place, Fifth-place, Seventh-place, 7 p.m.