Wrestling – Emmaus celebrates Senior Night with second-ever win over Liberty 29-26; freshman Bayard and senior Issa shine late in the dual for the Hornets

RECAP >> Only once in the program’s long history has Emmaus been able to defeat Liberty.

Make it twice.

And this win, make no mistake about it, was big — for a number of reasons.

In their final home match of the season on Senior Night, the Hornets won seven of the 13 bouts and used a late rally in the dual to earn a thrilling 29-26 come-from-behind win before a near-capacity and boisterous crowd that packed into ‘The Hive’ at Emmaus High School.

The match, sponosored by BSI Corporate Benefits and aired LIVE on The Eastern Pennsylvania Sports Network with former Emmaus head coach Thad Smith serving as a color analyst, lived up to the hype – and then some – as the Hornets defeated the Hurricane for just the second time, but more importantly, won its third straight in the EPC to move to 4-2 while also improving their hopes of qualifying for the District XI Class 3A team tournament.

With Freedom (currently No. 8) and Whitehall (No.9) still ahead of the Hornets (No. 10) and both opponents still on the schedule in the next two weeks for head coach Jim Best’s team, last night’s win certainly was an important one.

Trailing 23-20 with three bouts to go, Emmaus got a huge momentum win from freshman Aiden Bayard at 114 as he pinned senior Bradlee Kopfer in just 1:14 followed by senior Alex Issa’s workmanlike 3-0 victory at 121 over junior Sergio Laracuente that clinched the win.

Seniors Marco Albanese (145), Lord Henry (172) and Jake Gross (215) all picked up big victories in their final appearances at home as did sophomore Jesse Scott (14-5 major decision @ 160) and sophomore Massimo Tranguch (4-0 win at 189).

Liberty’s wins came from junior Kam Abboud (133), freshman Adriaan DeLeon (139), senior Ryan Santiago (152), junior Seth Kolb (285), sophomore Jasiah Pagan (107) and junior Jack Evans (127). The Hurricane dropped to 2-3 with the loss.

Prior to the match, Albanese, Henry and Gross along with classmates EJ Boney, Noe Bridges, Taliesen Frantz, Aiden Horn, Lord Henry, Ohm Patel and Billy Tigar were all recognized along with their parents.

Emmaus will be back in action on Wednesday, January 18 when they travel to Freedom at 7 p.m. The match will be carried LIVE on The Eastern Pa. Sports Network beginning at 6:40 p.m.

To stay up to date on Emmaus wrestling, follow on Twitter (@Emmauswrestling) and like Emmaus wrestling on facebook.

Emmaus 29, Liberty 26

133 – Jr. Kam Abboud (L) tech fall Soph. Chance Henry 15-0, 4:46 (5-0 L)

139 – Fr. Adriaan DeLeon (L) dec. Fr. Xayden Sallit 2-1 (8-0)

145 – Sr. Marco Albanese (E) pinned Soph. Damian Lopez in 1:24 (8-6)

152 – Sr. Ryan Santiago (L) pinned Sr. Taliesen Frantz in :59 (14-6)

160 – Soph. Jesse Scott (E) major dec. Sr. Elijah Reid 14-5 (14-10)

172 – Sr. Lord Henry (E) major dec. Sr. Daniel Rivera 16-5 (14-14)

189 – Soph. Massimo Tranguch (E) dec. Sr. Jesse Potter 4-0 (17-14 E)

215 – Sr. Jake Gross (E) dec. Soph. Dante Morrison 8-4 (20-14)

285 – Jr. Seth Kolb (L) dec. Sr. EJ Boney 3-2 (20-17)

107 – Soph. Jasiah Pagan (L) pinned Fr. Jackson Max in 1:00 (23-20 L)

114 – Fr. Aiden Bayard (E) pinned Sr. Bradlee Kopfer in 1:14 (26-23 E)

121 – Sr. Alex Issa (E) dec. Jr. Sergio Laracuente 3-0 (29-23)

127 – Jr. Jack Evans (L) dec. Fr. Logan Armstrong 6-1 (29-26)