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HERSHEY &#8212; When it comes to wrestling on the state level, District 2 teams don&#8217;t get any respect. Just about every coach in the district would agree that the programs need to be more productive to earn higher praise.Over the last several years though, D2 has been getting more notice.And this weekend, Tunkhannock started to turn some heads at Hershey&#8217;s Giant Center during the PIAA Team Championships. Heard all across the arena were things like &#8220;Tunkhannock looks impressive&#8221; and &#8220;This Tunkhannock team is better than I thought.&#8221;The Tigers were just two individual matches away from being just the second team in the district to finish in the top eight in the state and left fans, competitors and media members in Chocolatetown with a good first impression.&#8220;It makes us proud (to hear that) because I know our guys are working hard and they do everything they can to win,&#8221; Tigers coach Bob Hegedty said. &#8220;They work really hard and we really can&#8217;t ask anything more of them.&#8221;It was the Tigers&#8217; state debut, and given the district&#8217;s lack of success on the state level with just six Class 3A teams ever winning a dual at the PIAA Championships in 16 previous seasons, naysayers had reason to be down on the team.But Tunkhannock, which entered the event ranked No. 20 in the state by PA Power Wrestling, turned those doubts around. First the team gave eventual Class 3A state champion Bethlehem Catholic a good match in Thursday&#8217;s opening round before more than doubling the score of their next opponent, Father Judge in the consolation round. The Tigers were then eliminated by Canon McMillan, but not before making the two-time state champions win the last two matches of the dual to do so.&#8220;I thought our guys wrestled well all weekend, they really didn&#8217;t back down at all,&#8221; Hegedty said.Getting supportEven though Lake-Lehman&#8217;s tournament run ended after two matches, the team stuck around in Hershey with multiple members from the team, and coaches in attendance on Friday night to watch Tunkhannock&#8217;s match against Canon McMillan. The Tigers were out to become the first WVC team to win two matches at the state tournament.The support Tunkhannock received from teams in the district was not just in Hershey. Delaware Valley, which is the only team in Class 3A from D2 to win twice at Giant Center winning twice in 2012 and 2013, was cheering on the Tigers from more than 100 miles away and was hoping to get some company.&#8220;Good luck Tunkhannock we hope you join us!&#8221; the Delaware Valley team tweeted on Friday night prior to the match.After the loss, the Warriors account showed more praise, also for the Black Knights.&#8220;Tunkhannock &amp; Lake Lehman thanks 4 representing d2 @ state duals. You guys are class acts. # D2 let&#8217;s keep working &amp;make a name 4 ourselves.&#8221;Going StreakingThough Tunkhannock did not equal DelVal&#8217;s district eliteness, the squad did help continue a streak for D2 teams in Class 3A. The Tigers&#8217; win on Friday morning was the sixth straight year that a team in the classification won at least one dual. The streak was started in 2011 by Delaware Valley, continued by the Warriors the next two seasons before Wyoming Valley West won a match in 2014. Scranton was victorious in the consolation round last year.On the opposite side, the district has now gone winless in Class 2A at states for the last eight years since Berwick defeated Towanda in a consolation match in 2008.Golden Hawks reignBethlehem Catholic won its fifth state championship in six years on Saturday, but first in Class 3A when it soundly defeated Boyertown 37-12 in the championship match.The Golden Hawks, who are ranked sixth in the country by InterMat, had won four straight Class 2A titles from 2011-14 before taking third last year, their first bumping up to 3A.The easy victory on Saturday came after the team narrowly defeated Belle Vernon by just three points in the semifinals. Belle Vernon, champions from the WPIAL went on to defeat District 11 runner-up Nazareth in the third-place match by two points.No shutout hereThe extremely rare wrestling perfect game was pitched in the first round of the Class 2A Duals Tournament on Thursday when District 11 champ Saucon Valley shutout District 12 champ Bishop McDevitt, 84-0. That score meant Saucon won every match by fall or forfeit. McDevitt only forfeited three weights, and eight of Saucon Valley&#8217;s 11 falls came in the first period.The Panthers finished as runner-up in the state losing to Brookville, 33-24 in the finals as Brookville won its second state title, but first since the inaugural team tournament in 1999.Reynolds beat Boiling Springs, 45-21 to claim the third-place medal in Class 2A.As for McDevitt, the team was also shutout in the first round of consolations, 76-0 to Wyalusing.That&#8217;s a lot of weightIn an attempt to not allow many bonus points, Hegedty bumped up normal 220-pounder Ricky Stevens, a 27-match winner this season, to heavyweight in Friday night&#8217;s match against Canon McMillan. Under normal circumstances, that&#8217;s not a huge deal.But it was on Friday for Stevens, who earned a huge pin for the Tigers at 220 earlier in the day. Stevens went against the Big Macs&#8217; Brendan Furman, who is ranked eighth in the state and was a returning state qualifier. It&#8217;s not that Furman was that much better than Stevens. The problem for the Tiger senior was that he was outweighed by more than 70 pounds.Stevens weighed in just over 200 pounds, while Furman&#8217;s weight was close to the 285-pound limit.&#8220;Ricky wrestled tough. He&#8217;s been wrestling tough all year,&#8221; Hegedty said. &#8220;He&#8217;s done what we&#8217;ve asked of him all year. He battled as hard as he could giving up a lot of weight.&#8221;<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Dave Rosengrantdrosengrant@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Dave Rosengrant at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @tldrosengrant</shirttailMeta></div>

Tunkhannock wrestling helps District 2 earn respect at Hershey