POTTSTOWN - Boyertown's string of District 1 Class 3A team titles was snapped at three Saturday with a 38-24 loss to Council Rock South in the championship match at Pottsgrove High.
Hunter Vogels won his 100th career match for the Bears (20-3), who took a 20-17 lead on a pin by Elijah Jones, but then dropped the next three matches. Boyertown will still head to Hershey for a PIAA Class 3A first-round match Thursday against District 3 champion Exeter.
Owen J. Roberts also earned a state berth with two wins, including a 39-24 victory over Downingtown West for third place. The Wildcats (16-2) will host a PIAA preliminary-round contest Monday against District 12 runner-up Archbishop Wood at a time to be announced.
"We put in a good effort," said Bears coach Pete Ventresca. "They had a little too much for us at the end. They have a really good team. They deserved to win."
The top-seeded Bears opened with a 9-4 decision by David Campbell at 126 pounds, but the second-seeded Golden Hawks took the next four bouts to take a 17-3 lead. Then Chris Berry, Vogels and Jacob Miller won decisions for Boyertown and Jones won by a fall in 1:55 for a brief lead. But all the Bears could manage after that was a major decision by Matt Wilde.
"We wanted to try to do something nobody else had done before - four in a row," said Ventresca. "But it didn't happen. I think we got the most out of our kids. They wrestled well just to get here.
"Miller wrestled well. Elijah always does. Hunter Vogels is wrestling well. The guys hung in there tough. We've got to go out to Hershey and see if we can do something out there."
Upper Perkiomen had been the only other team to win three titles in a row (2004-06) and forfeited the 2007 title for using an ineligible wrestler.
Earlier, Owen J. Roberts needed to beat Methacton for the second time in four days in order to earn a state berth and came through with a 34-24 win. Then the Wildcats won their third straight match after a quarterfinal loss Friday night to avoid a long trip to Central Dauphin Monday.
"I was really pleased with the way the kids responded," said Wildcats coach Stephen DeRafelo. "Were they going to throw in the towel or come out swinging? I couldn't ask anything more from everybody who took the mat.
"We were aggressive. We got the back points, which is a situation we've been struggling with, so that helped us quite a bit."
Roberts had beaten Methacton 31-26 in a Pioneer Athletic Conference match Wednesday.
"It was a dogfight the other night," said DeRafelo. "We knew it was going to be a dogfight again."
But the Wildcats won the first four bouts against Methacton to take a 16-0 lead and did the same thing against Downingtown West for a 13-0 advantage.
"In the beginning of the season, I didn't know if we had enough talent to get there (Hershey)," DeRafelo said. "This way (with a home match on Monday), I think we have a decent shot to get our kids out there again."
In the Class 2A final, Bishop McDevitt defeated Faith Christian 43-42 on Criteria H, most first points scored (11-9).
