And then there were four.

                What started out as a 10-person Upper Perkiomen contingent heading into this past weekend’s District 1 AAA North Tournament at Quakertown High School whittled itself down to just four wrestlers who will move on in pursuit of a state berth.

                Those who will continue their respective postseasons at the regional level did so by virtue of a top-five finish in districts.

                They include: Section 2 Tournament champion Dylan Steff-enino (103), who added district gold to his ever-growing trophy collection; fellow freshman Wolfgang McStravick (112) who notched a fifth-place finish; Dan Rodenberger, a junior at 125, who will make his second straight regional appearance thanks to his fourth-place effort and Dalton Fleming, a sophomore who notch-ed fifth in a nailbiting consolation match at 152.

                All four will make the trek to Council Rock North High School this weekend, the site of the AAA Southeast Regional Tournament. The third leg of the postseason, which started at the sectional level, will see the top four place winners in each of the 14 weight classes advance to the PIAA AAA Tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey in search of a state medal.

                Steffenino’s golden run came via a third-period pin and two decisions. He opened with a fall over Bensalem’s Mike Pritchad, continued with a semifinal 10-8 nod over Zach Fuentes (Norristown) and ran up an 11-4 decision against Ryan O’Connor (Neshaminy) in the final. In the process, Steffenino, who interestingly wasn’t ranked in the top five on the official District 1 web site as of Feb. 16, ran his record to 29-5.

                Wolfgang McStravick also found his way into the semifinals after a 4-0 decision of Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s Justin Staudenmay-er, but fell to eventual champ Josh DiSanto, 10-5, in the semis. He battled back, though, in the consolations, edging Ty Gardner (Norris-town), 4-2, for his regional spot.

                Rodenberger took the long way to his fourth, dropping his opener and then winning the next three out of four. His 1-0 setback to Anthony Prisco (Bensalem) preceded a win by injury default over Harry S. Truman’s Sean Edmonson, a fellow junior who won his 100th match this year after three 30-plus win seasons.

                Fleming’s fifth at 152 was equally as dramatic as he lost in his opener, then won three of four. Fleming pulled off a 9-7 decision in his first consolation match against Hatboro’s Mike Lynch, then got past Central Bucks East’s Joe Mannino, 7-3, before falling to the ever-tough Eric Koch (Quakertown). Fleming rallied in his final bout with a 1-0 victory over North Penn’s Randy Haun.  

                Tribe wrestlers who saw their seasons end included Avery Scripture, Ray Young, Marty McStravick, Cody Ambrose, Nate Pompei and Nick Hale.

                Scripture, a freshman at 119, sat out the majority of the season due to injury but made a respectable run at the postseason to finish with a 6-5 season mark. Young, also a promising freshman, bowed out at 130 after two matches to finish 9-20. Marty McStravick, another grappler plagued with injuries for the better part of the season, went 2-2 in just his 15th bout of the year after wins over Connor Koellner (Neshaminy) and Chuck McLean (Norristown).

                Ambrose capped his solid junior season with a 26-11 record after going 1-2. Those 26 wins in 2009-10 more than doubled his win total as a sophomore. Pompei, a fellow junior who nearly tripled his win total this year compared to his freshman and sophomore seasons, went 2-2, including a double overtime nod against Stephen Stemme (Neshaminy) and an injury default.

                Hale, a senior, worked his way into the semifinals with a 4-2 decision of PW’s Sam Morison but fell to champ Jamie Callendar (CRN), who is closing in on 150 career wins. Hale then was edged 3-1 in the fifth-place match to Souderton’s Robert Smothers to finish 26-12.

                As a team, Upper Perk finished in sixth place with 67 points behind Council Rock South (140.5), Council Rock North (104.5), Norristown (94), Upper Moreland (86) and Quakertown (81.5). Those team scores did not reflect matches wrestled Monday night as wrestlers who competed in the maximum of five matches got a chance to rest and finish things out two days later.