RECAP — The final numbers that lit up the scoreboard at Northampton’s Pete Schneider Gymnasium on Thursday night said it all: Northampton 74, Emmaus 0.
So why did it feel so much worse for Thad Smith afterwards?
Because he knew his kids could wrestle so much better and didn’t.
Facing a talented and stacked Northampton squad, Smith, the Hornets first year head coach was fully aware of the uphill battle his young squad was facing a top-tier K-Kid team that had just two closely-contested losses on its resume in 32-26 defeat to Bethlehem Catholic and 32-28 setback to Liberty.
But did he expect not to win a single bout and a 74-0 outcome?
“It’s the most embarrassing match of my life,” said a disappointed Smith outside his team’s locker room. “I don’t think we showed up to wrestle. They (Northampton) went out to shut us out and they did everything they had to do that.”
And in the process, handed Emmaus one of its worst losses in program history.
Northampton won all 14 bouts in the match that lasted just 1-hour, 11-minutes, and blanked the Hornets for the first time since the 2016-17 season when Emmaus was shutout by nationally-ranked Bethlehem Catholic 64-0.
The K-Kids rolled up eight pins on the night and picked up bonus points in all but two of the bouts.
“I thought there were three (bouts) that we could be in but when they bumped up their lineup I knew we were in trouble,” said Smith who wasn’t pleased with Northampton’s juggling of its lineup. “Our kids didn’t show up tonight. I think they went out there and wrestled not to lose rather than wrestle to win. “
“Our guys wrestled on their heels a lot,” he added. “They were afraid and that’s not how we wrestle. We’re not afraid of people. We had a great week of practice and I thought we were going to at least compete and we didn’t do that at all.”
The onslaught began at 113 as K-Kids freshman Alex Hanley started the dual rolling up a pin over Hornets sophomore Gio Lainez in 4:47.
Both of the closest bouts of the night when Northampton’s way as sophomore Noah Reichelderfer defeated Emmaus’ tough freshman Nick Velde 6-1 at 120 and Traisach Roland edged senior Chris Tigar 4-2 at 160.
Emmaus, which dropped to 3-4 in the EPC and 7-5 overall, was without the services of its top wrestler junior Caden Wright (170) who is still nursing an injury. He’s expected back this weekend when the team returns to the mat bright and early at 8 a.m. on Saturday competing in the Denver Duals at Cocalico High School.
Like Emmaus wrestling on facebook, follow @Emmaussports.com on twitter for continued updates on the team throughout the season.
Northampton 74, Emmaus 0
113 – Alex Hanley (No) pinned Gio Lainez (Em) in 4:47, 6-0 No
120 – Noah Reichelderfer (No) won by dec. 6-1 Nick Velde (Em), 9-0
126 – Ethan Szerencsits (No) won by major dec. 15-6 Kordell Waiters (Em), 13-0
132 – Blaise Wagner (No) pinned Quin Scott (Em) in 1:46, 19-0
138 – Julian Chlebove (No) tech fall Jackson Karrat (Em), 24-0
145 – Jagger Condomitti (No) pinned Jack Brion (Em) in 3:08, 30-0
152 – Mike Kistler (No) pinned Ethan Macik (Em) in :54, 36-0
160 – Erik Schreck (No) tech fall Jared Groller (Em) 17-0, 41-0
170 – Traisach Roland (No) dec. Chris Tigar (Em) 4-2, 44-0
182 – Riley Gallagher (No) pinned Conner Carter (Em) in 2:54, 50-0
195 – Jayden Bortz (No) won by forfeit, 56-0
220 – Blake Lambert (No) pinned Luigi Mannino (Em) in 3:28, 62-0
285 – Hunter Werkheiser (No) pinned James Santichen (Em) in 1:27, 68-0
106 – Ryan Stilgenbauer (No) pinned James Bowie (Em) in :36, 74-0