BETHLEHEM - It took Bethlehem Liberty's K.J. Fenstermacher 12 seconds to put Pottsville sophomore Luke Gardner on his heels during Saturday night's District 11 Class AAA Wrestling Tournament finals at Liberty High's Memorial Gym.
The powerful and slick Fenstermacher built momentum with that first takedown, and the freshman rode the wave to a 9-1 major decision over Gardner in the 113-pound title bout.
The loss was just the second of the season for the second-seeded Gardner (32-2), who knocked off rising Parkland star Jacob Lizak 4-3 in Saturday morning's semifinals.
After finishing fifth at districts as a freshman, Gardner climbed three steps up the
podium in his second trip to the postseason.
"It was a good weekend until the finals, obviously,'' Gardner said. "Everybody needs to improve in something. I was clearing good off the bottom and I just stopped. He countered that. I was in on a shot and I lost it, trying to get the takedown to get the lead. There were a couple things here and there in the match that if they would have changed it could have been a lot closer.
Fenstermacher (36-3) tilted Gardner twice in the second period to extend his lead to 6-1, then added an escape and takedown in the third period to pull away.
"I knew what he was going to do," Gardner said. "I knew that's the takedown he was going to try. I came out of position and he got it.''
With regionals less than a week away, time is running out to make the necessary adjustments to compete against elite competition.
"Yeah, just got to get back in the (practice) room on Monday and start working,'' Gardner said.
In addition to Gardner, four Blue Mountain wrestlers and another Pottsville grappler will advance to the Northeast Regional Class AAA Wrestling Tournament, set for next Friday and Saturday at Bethlehem Liberty High School. The top five District 11 Class AAA placewinners extended their seasons to regionals.
Christian Gosch (138) led the Eagles' contingent with a third-place finish. Zach Yackenchick (195) took fourth, while Erech Noecker (220) and Tristen Coello (285) finished fifth. Bryant Penberth (120) placed sixth for the Eagles.
Pottsville freshman Richie Bentz made the drop to 106 pounds for the postseason and made it pay off by placing fifth, two places higher than his No. 7 seed. In his win-or-go-home fifth-place match, Bentz rallied past Emmaus' Tyler Corpora, the third seed, 6-5. Bentz scored a third-period takedown, then locked up a cradle and turned Corpora for the decisive three back points.
Noecker and Coello also won make-or-break fifth-place bouts. Noecker defeated Easton's Michael Catalano 8-5, and Coello picked up a forfeit win over Whitehall's Fouad Haddad.
Yackenchick made the semifinals Friday night, lost his first match Saturday, then wrestled back for fourth. In the consolation finals, Liberty's Orlando Miller shut out Yackenchick 5-0.
Gosch had the longest road back, losing 11-9 to Nazareth's Brock Wilson in the preliminaries, then winning five straight bouts for his bronze. Gosch outscored those five opponents 23-4, including a 1-0 decision over Wilson in the consolation finals.
"I had a lackadaisical match against Wilson, but I came back and wrestled five tough matches, came back and did the job to get third,'' Gosch said. "Hopefully I can transfer it over to next weekend.''