12/13/18
With a starting lineup featuring four freshmen and two sophomores, Thad Smith knew heading into this, his first season, that his team was going to go through some growing pains.
He also knew that the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC) didn’t do his team any favors by sending his young squad north to Stroudsburg to open up its 2018-19 campaign.
Smith and his Emmaus squad had its hands full – and then some – on Wednesday night as they were able to win just one of the 14 bouts in falling to an experienced and talented Mounties squad that pleased their fans with a 52-6 drubbing of the Hornets.
“They’re a very good team and I think they are one of the top five teams in District XI,” said Smith in the hallway outside of his team’s locker room. “We wanted match-ups and I wanted to see where our kids stood. This was our first match of the season and they’ve already had four matches under their belt.”
And it showed.
Stroudsburg led by just a 9-6 margin after the first three bouts, but after that, it was all Mounties as they reeled off wins in the final 11 matches to defeat Emmaus for the second consecutive season (58-13 in 2017). The loss also marked the third straight year that the Hornets started their season 0-1.
Emmaus’ lone win of the night came at 120 pounds where highly-touted freshman Nick Velde got his high school career off to a great start with a first period in pin in 1:06 over Stroudsburg junior Muhammad Ansari.
“I was really impressed with Nick tonight,” said Smith. “He didn’t let it (the moment) become too big for him. He went out wrestled exactly the way he does in the room. He goes out, he establishes control and he attacks.”
Velde’s classmates, however, were not as fortunate in their varsity debuts as Quinn Scott (126), Jack Brion (145) and Jared Groller (152) all suffered defeats.
Scott battled a tough customer in junior Jeff Pasciak in a 9-0 major decision loss; Brion also had his hands full against senior Braden Breithaupt, a transfer from Pocono Mountain East, with a second-period fall in 2:13; and Groller, another highly-touted ninth-grader, also hung around for a while before suffering a 9-1 major decision defeat to senior Andrew Schnedier.
“I wasn’t upset with my freshmen at all,” said Smith. “First match. Big lights. I thought they tried to rise to the level.”
In the feature match of the night at 170 with two PIAA state qualifiers, Stroudsburg sophomore Lenny Pinto defeated Hornets junior Caden Wright 10-5. The two also battled a year ago during the regular-season with Pinto also coming out on top 12-5.
Both sophomore Kordell Waiters (132) and senior Jackson Karrat (138) were also victims of running into the heart of Stroudsburg’s loaded middle weights. Waiters ran into one of the state’s best in senior Cameron Enriquez, a three-time state qualifier, and suffered a 24-8 technical fall, while Karrat also had to deal with a state qualifier in junior Patrick Noonan in a 11-5 defeat.
Emmaus will return to action on Saturday at 10 a.m. competing in the 1st Annual Kutztown Tournament.
Follow the team on social media on facebook (Emmaus wrestling) and on twitter (@Emmaussports) to keep up to date with the Hornets throughout the season.
Stroudsburg 52, Emmaus 6
106 – Josh Jasionowicz (S) won by forfeit, 6-0 Sb
113 – Mark Ortiz (S) dec. James Bowie (E) 7-3, 9-0
120 – Nick Velde (E) pinned Muhammad Ansari (S) in 1:06, 9-6
126 – Jeff Pasciak (S) won by major dec. 9-0 Quinn Scott (E), 13-6
132 – Cameron Enriquez (S) won by tech fall 24-8 Kordell Waiters (E), 18-6
138 – Patrick Noonan (S) won by dec. 11-5 Jackson Karrat (E), 21-6
145 – Braden Breithaupt (S) pinned Jack Brion (E) in 2:13, 27-6
152 – Andrew Schneider (S) won by major dec. 9-1 Jared Groller (E), 31-6
160 -Zach Orsidas (S) dec. Chris Tigar (E) 6-4, 34-6
170 – Lenny Pinto (S) dec. Caden Wright (E), 10-5, 37-6
182 – Albin Deda (S) dec. Andrew Migliore (E), 8-2, 40-6
195 – Juwan Little (S) dec. Liam Dottery (E), 8-3, 43-6
220 – Julian Sparks (S) dec. Luigi Mannino (E), 5-3, 46-6
HWT – Sebastian Khamis (S) pinned James Santichen (E) in 1:35, 52-6