DAVE KENNEDY/For the Express Penns Valley's Max Dinges works for a take down during the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey.

In 2025, districts – both team and individual – went about as well as Penns Valley could have hoped.

The program made its first PIAA team tournament since the event’s inauguration in 1999, earning its first state win over Quaker Valley in the process. And two weeks later, seven Rams would qualify for regionals, four reaching district finals, as they finished as District 6 Class AA runners-up for the second time this decade.

It was success that wasn’t quite replicated at regionals, as just two of their seven qualifiers — Max Dinges and Erik Carlile — advanced to the final stage, with then-juniors Conner Myers and Brayden Lisowski falling one win short. But though its regional showing was bittersweet, it had set the stage for what was to come.

All seven qualifiers would return the following season, four being underclassmen and many making strides over the offseason. Cut to this year’s postseason, Penns Valley had turned seven regional qualifiers in 2025 into seven state qualifiers in 2026, a program record that added more history to an already storied campaign.

Throughout its 2025-26 season, the team has built on its previous step up in just about every way.

It completed its first undefeated regular season of dual competition since 1966, finishing 11-0 with four state-ranked wins. It earned back-to-back PIAA team tournament bids, upped its team point total at districts to 195 and posted its highest placement (fourth) at the Southwest Regional ever, since moving to the region in the late 1990s.

Technically, the only case in which it didn’t move upward was team states, where it fell to Derry in pigtails to close out its run. But even then, both injuries and luck of the draw were a factor, with key starters Brayden Lisowski and Cael Smith out and Derry going on to take fourth in the Class AA bracket.

It can certainly be argued that this was the best season in Penns Valley history.

Even with the ups and downs its seven state qualifiers endured, from six being eliminated by the time the blood round was over to Max Dinges’s heartbreaking state title loss, depth of this level is rare and should be celebrated. Over half its starters finished among the best talent the state of Pennsylvania has to offer, an accomplishment the team took great pride in.

“I’m very happy and excited for the wrestlers and their families,” said Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker on qualifying seven for states.

“It’s everybody. Our club is very giving and supports these kids to have these opportunities, so it’s nice to season it. This is what it takes to wrestle at this level, so I just hope everybody in the Penns Valley area feels like a part of it.”

It’s a situation that made the state tournament more memorable and fun than the last for the Rams that made it back.

Even with some early departures and a Day 2 shakedown, having so many Penns Valley wrestlers represent the team throughout the early rounds was special. Out of 115 teams, they were tied for fourth in qualifiers on the Class AA side – second out of public schools – and it felt like there was always a Ram wrestling throughout Day One.

“It’s super fun,” said Dinges on having so many teammates there competing.

“We’ve had some ups and downs, but it’s great to be with here with a great group of guys. They make it fun. They make you want to come into the room. It’s another reason I’m having fun now, and my coaches are having fun.”

The excitement isn’t over either. Though the departures of state qualifiers Conner Myers, Brayden Lisowski and Robert Martin sting, four of the Rams that competed at the Giant Center this past week are set to return for another go next winter, including a sophomore coming off back-to-back top three finishes in phenom Max Dinges.

Dinges heads into his junior season seven career wins short of 100, a two-time District 6 runner-up, two-time regional finalist – one-time champ – and now, a returning PIAA finalist. Erik Carlile is now a three-time state qualifier and enters his senior campaign coming off his best effort at the event, where he made the blood round and finished 2-2.

Junior Tripp Watson and sophomore Evan Lisowski have now had the chance to experience individual states firsthand, with Lisowski picking up a win. And with standout freshman Cael Smith set to return from injury next season, there’s a great chance next year’s tournament is once again full of Penns Valley representation.