North Schuylkill's Cadyn McGraw celebrates with his coaches after winning the 215-pound title Saturday at the District 11 Class AA Wrestling Championships. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)

BETHLEHEM — Sporting a black eye and a big bag of ice taped around his knee, nothing could take the huge smile off the face of North Schuylkill’s Cadyn McGraw.

The junior 215-pounder had just ascended to the top of the podium Saturday, dominating Pen Argyl’s Nuallan King 7-1 in the finals of the District 11 Class AA Wrestling Championships at Bethlehem Liberty’s Memorial Gym. Seeded fourth, McGraw (28-13) knocked off No. 1 seed Silas Day of Salisbury 5-2 in the semifinals, then twice countered King shots for takedowns.

After a scoreless first period, McGraw chose bottom for the second period and got the escape for a 1-0 lead. King (27-9) went for a leg attack, but McGraw reacted quickly, dropping heavy hips, pushing King’s head to the mat and circling behind for a takedown and a 4-0 lead.

McGraw also did a great job riding on top, repeatedly breaking down King flat to the mat. King had so much trouble on bottom, he chose neutral for the third period. McGraw countered another King shot in a similar fashion for another takedown and a 7-0 advantage. King escaped in the final seconds, but it was too little, too late.

“It feels amazing, especially after all the work I put in,” McGraw said. “I sure took a beating, black eye, busted up knee, but I got it done. … I’m just excited that I won it. I really worked for it, and I got there.

“I thought there was a slim chance, and in the semis in beat the 1 seed,” McGraw added. “I got to the finals. I said (that) I had this, and I did it.”

The Schuylkill League’s other finalists — Tri-Valley’s Owen Wolfgang at 107, Mahanoy Area’s Kyler Quick at 189 and North Schuylkill’s Sander Stokes at 285 — had to settle for silver.

Stokes (24-12) came the closest to victory, getting a takedown and an apparent two back points at the final buzzer, but the officials waved off the two-point near fall, allowing Catasauqua’s Jacob Ramos to escape with a 7-6 decision.

Quick (30-11) ran into a powerhouse in Saucon Valley’s Jared Rohn, who scored one takedown in each period to defat Quick 10-3.

Likewise, Wolfgang (29-9) ran into a buzzsaw in Saucon Valley’s Carter Chunko. Chunko took a 17-1 technical fall in 1:57.

In the semifinals, Wolfgang trailed Williams Valleys’ Magnus Monger heading to the second period. Wolfgang took top and turned Monger for the fall in 2:30.

“I was nervous, but I just had to keep going,” Wolfgang said after the semifinals. Thanks to my teammates for pushing me at practice so I could keep moving and have that energy to keep pushing forward.

“Coach wanted me to go top, so I went top and got it done,” Wolfgang added. “It feels amazing. No better feeling than that.”

Tamaqua’s Aiden Schlier (127), Williams Valley’s Xzavion Tennis (133), North Schuylkill’s Nate Sterner (145), Mahanoy Area’s Rory Dixon (160) and Williams Valley’s Camron Green (285) wrestled back to take third place in their respective weight classes.

Williams Valley’s Monger (107), North Schuylkill’s Alex Deritis (114), Tri-Valley’s Jaxson Bruso (133), Pine Grove’s Aaron Osatchuck (139), Tri-Valley’s Noah Hanlon (145), Williams Valley’s Colin Crisswell (160), Tri-Valley’s Hunter Updegrave (172) and Pine Grove’s Zach Kurtz (189) took fourths.

The top four placewinners (plus some fifths) advance to the Southeast Regional on Feb. 28 and March 1 at Bethlehem Freedom High School. The top five placewinners at regionals will move on to the PIAA Wrestling Championships on March 6-8 at the Giant Center in Hershey.

District 12 Class AA declined its third qualifier for the Southeast Regional. So the District 11 fifth-place wrestler and the District 3 seventh-place finisher will be compared at each weight class, and whoever has more points will get the spot in regionals.

Those fifth-place finishers still in the running to advance include North Schuylkill’s Gaige Mentusky (107) and Easton Edwards (121); Tamaqua’s Brody Schlier (133) and Jacob Hehn (189); Pine Grove’s Austin Martin (160), Robbie Schaeffer (215) and Scout Frantz (285); and Mahanoy Area’s William Stoyer (172).

Big day for Sterner

After getting upset in Friday night’s quarterfinals, Sterner rolled to four straight victories Saturday to take his bronze.

All four of the wins were pins: in 1:29 over Tamaqua’s Francis Hill, in 55 seconds over Catasauqua’s Jonathan Cordon-Pinto, in 3:39 over Salisbury’s Nathaniel Tone and in 4:06 over Hanlon in the latest chapter of their rivalry.

The fall against Tone, which came on a cradle, marked the 100th career victory for Sterner (31-8 season, 101-49 career).

“It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,” Sterner said. “It feels great. I had to wrestle the best I ever wrestled to make sure I get it.”