Josh Harkless, Tucker Hogan placed second in District 3 wrestling

Feb. 27—SPRING GROVE — Wilson senior Josh Harkless and Daniel Boone freshman Tucker Hogan found silver linings in their first losses of the season.

Harkless and Hogan both finished second Saturday in the District 3 Class 3A Wrestling Championships at Spring Grove, losing to opponents who had previously won District 3 titles.

While not satisfied with their outcomes, Harkless and Hogan are glad to be moving on and looking forward to possible rematches.

Harkless suffered a 3-1 loss to returning champion Jake Lucas of Cumberland Valley in the 215-pound championship bout. Hogan lost a 6-5 decision to Chambersburg's Tate Nichter, who won a District 3 title in 2019.

"I still think I can beat him," Harkless said. "It comes down to technique at this point. Our strength is pretty even. I know what to work on for next week."

Harkless, Hogan and Daniel Boone senior Stephen Spitko are the only three Berks wrestlers who placed in the top three of their weight classes. They will continue their seasons Saturday in the West Super Regional at Altoona.

Spitko finished third at 126 by defeating Wilson junior Dominic Jurado 6-3 in an all-Berks third-place bout.

Harkless, a third-place finisher and PIAA qualifier last season, entered the championship match 24-0. But he knew he hadn't faced an opponent like Lucas, who entered the championship match 23-0.

"I knew it wasn't going to be easy," Harkless said.

The first period was scoreless before Lucas, a PIAA fourth-place finisher at 195 last year, got a an early escape and late takedown in the second period for a 3-0 lead.

Harkless escaped for a point in the third period but couldn't come up with a tying takedown.

Hogan, who won his first 18 bouts this season, was trying to score a winning takedown as time ran out in his bout with Nichter. Nichter scored a takedown early in the third period to snap a 4-4 tie. Hogan was able to escape but couldn't pick up the winning points.

"I felt like he had a lot better technique than me," Hogan said. "I've got to get in the wrestling room more and work on my technique. I've just got to keep wrestling.

Spitko will keep wrestling after defeating Jurado for the second time in three meetings this season.

Jurado, Wilson freshman 106-pounder James Garcia and Daniel Boone junior 138-pounder JT Hogan placed fourth.

JT Hogan, a PIAA qualifier last year, suffered a 1-0 loss to Shippensburg's Dominic Frontino to open the tournament. After winning two consolation bouts, Hogan lost to Frontino again 1-0 in the third-place bout.