Just four Upper Perkiomen wrestlers earned a spot in the third leg of the postseason grind. The ride started at the sectional level, progressed to districts and picked up steam this past weekend at regionals with a chance to qualify for the upcoming PIAA Tournament in Hershey – the ultimate destination.

                A top-four finish at regionals would punch a ticket to Hershey, with Upper Perk competing in the AAA Southeast Regional Tournament at Council Rock North High School this past weekend in one of the state’s five regional sites.

                Of the Indians’ four entries, all four came up just short of a trip to states as the contingent mustered a collective fifth- and sixth-place finish. It was the first time in over a decade that Upper Perk has not sent at least one wrestler to the big dance, where the Indians and its storied program are no stranger to the Giant Center, or before that, the Hersheypark Arena.

                But alas, there is good news.

                Take a look at the ages of those four regional qualifiers and you’ll see that all four have a chance next season to improve on this year’s showing. The group includes a pair of stellar freshmen in Dylan Steffenino (103) and Wolfgang McStravick (112), as well as Dalton Fleming (152), a sophomore, and junior Dan Rodenberger (125).

                Rodenberger earned a trip to regionals last season, but for the underclassmen, it was their first. And while Upper Perk’s wrestlers know what it’s like to go toe-to-toe with the very best, there are still growing pains to be learned at the postseason level. From that perspective, the Indians’ regional showing isn’t all that bad.

                Steffenino looked like the early favorite to earn a trip to states. His postseason push, which included section and district titles, continued into regionals as he won his opener in a 3-1 decision against Norris-town’s Zach Fuentes. Steffenino downed Fuentes in the district semifinals, also by a two-point margin, en route to gold.

                McStravick also made it to the fifth-place match, albeit by a more circuitous route. He dropped his opener to CRN’s John Dutrow, 9-0, who also got the best of McStravick in the district consolation semifinals. McStravick boun-ced back from there, though, with a 6-2 nod against Adam Kolb (Boyertown) before falling to Great Valley’s Collin Henry, who went on to take fourth. In the fifth-place match, LaSalle’s Bryan Pflanz proved too much for McStravick, as the former went on to win by a 6-3 count.

                Rodenberger started out strong in a 5-3 win against Conestoga’s Ben Hartshorn, but ran into eventual champ Matt Rappo (CRS), who sent Rodenberger into the consolation bracket. In the consis, Rodenberger met up against a familiar foe in Council Rock North’s Adam Slezak, who won a previous meeting in districts in a third-place match. Slezak won again at regionals, this time by a narrow 4-3 decision.

                Fleming bowed out in his regional debut as his solid sophomore campaign ended in a pigtail match he dropped, 8-6, to rival Owen J. Roberts’ Jordan Moser.

                As a team, Upper Perk finished tied with Chichester for 30th  of 49 with 15 points. Council Rock South won the title with 111 points followed by LaSalle (93) and Boyertown (84.5). Other area schools of note included Methacton (eighth), Quakertown (13th), Spring-Ford (15th) and Pottsgrove (16th).