1/25/19
Thad Smith got the perfect gift for his 50th birthday on Wednesday night.
No, it wasn’t the cake or balloons that his team presented him with.
Rather something better.
How about a season-best effort from his young squad.
That was enough reason for celebration for Emmaus’ first-year coach.
Winning nine of 14 bouts and wrestling its best match of the season, the Hornets had their way with Whitehall as they rolled to a 40-16 win over the Zephyrs before a nice-sized crowd that gathered inside “The Hive’ on Hall of Fame and Alumni Night.
“I believe so,” said Smith confirming that this indeed was his team’s best performance to date. ” I told the boys that we needed a statement match. We haven’t had that all season but I think tonight we made that statement. The kids stepped up.”
“I also told them I didn’t want to lose on my birthday,” he joked.
With the win, Emmaus closed out their Eastern Pennsylvania Conference schedule at 4-4 and improved to 10-6 overall. The Hornets also got revenge for a 35-32 defeat to the Zephyrs a year ago. Whitehall fell to 3-5 in the league and 10-7 overall with the loss.
Emmaus trailed just twice (3-0 and 6-3) after dropping two of the first three bouts, but despite that, the performance in the beginning of the dual from freshman Jack Brion battling back to nearly upset Aiden Toussaint 9-8 in an entertaining match at 145 fueled the rest of the night, according to Smith.
“I think it all started with Jack,” he said. “He came out and set the tone. Everybody thought we were going to give up six there and he went out and wrestled an unbelievable match against a ranked kid and almost pulled the upset. He fired up everybody from there.”
Brion’s classmate, Jared Groller, followed suit by earning an impressive 8-6 decision at 152 over Zephyrs junior Kai Clark and the Hornets were off an running as they won seven of the next eight bouts in jumping out to a commanding 30-9 lead.
Junior Caden Wright started the run at 170 with a second period fall (2:27) over Mike Hernandez, sophomore Conner Carter did the same at 182 decking Tim Ritter in 1:34 and fellow sophomore James Santichen also earned a six-point win at 285 with a quick first period fall in :47 seconds over Steele Hess that brought the fans to their feet.
Emmaus also got wins from seniors Bryce Ebinger (195), Luigi Mannino (220) and James Bowie (106) in that stretch of six straight victories.
Freshman Nick Velde clinched the win at 120 with an impressive 14-6 major decision over fellow freshman Johnny Colon and senior Jackson Karrat closed out the dual at 138 needing just :36 to pin Zack Beblavy for his 60th career win.
Prior to the match, Emmaus held its Wall of Fame ceremony to induct one of its former alumni. This year’s recipient was Mike Hoosier (Class of ’99).
The Hornets will return to the mat this Saturday as they’ll travel to Easton’s Shawnee Middle School to compete in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Tournament. Emmaus will be in action at 3:15 p.m. in the ninth-place match likely against East Stroudsburg South
Emmaus 40 , Whitehall 16
145 – Aiden Toussaint (W) dec. Jack Brion (E) 9-8, 3-0 W
152 – Jared Groller (E) dec. Kai Clark (W) 8-6, 3-3
160 – Sean Cunningham (W) dec. Chris Tigar (E) 3-2, 6-3 W
170 – Caden Wright (E) pinned Mike Hernandez (W) in 2:27, 9-6 E
182 – Conner Carter (E) pinned Tim Ritter (W) in 1:34, 15-6 E
195 – Bryce Ebinger (E) dec. Jhonangel Guzman (W) 7-2, 18-6 E
220 – Luigi Mannino (E) dec. Izak Bright (W) 3-1, 21-6 E
285 – James Santichen (E) pinned Steele Hess (W) in :47, 27-6 E
106 – James Bowie (E) dec. Wilfred Jiminez (W) 7-6, 30-6 E
113 – Tyler Cunningham (W) dec. Gio Lainez (W) 10-5, 30-9 E
120 – Nick Velde (E) major dec. Johnny Colon (W) 14-6, 34-9 E
126 – Xavier Arner (W) dec. Kordell Waiters (E) 4-2, 34-12 E
132 – Josh Grol (W) dec. Quin Scott (E) 11-3, 34-16 E
138 – Jackson Karrat (E) pinned Zack Beblavy (W) in :36, 40-16 E