RECAP >> Heading into the District XI Class 3A individual wrestling tournament Thad Smith had the number of six in his head.
Six meaning the number of wrestlers he thought that his Emmaus team could place in the top four of the rugged district.
“We were hoping,” said the Hornets fourth year head coach. “Our goal was to get six, but I’m still happy with how we wrestled overall as a team and anytime you can send four to regionals out of District XI you have to be pleased.”
Indeed.
Emmaus had one of its best showings in recent history as they finished sixth overall in the team race and four of its wrestlers – Jared Groller, Trevor Gitski, Nick Velde and Quin Scott, all seniors – will head to next week’s Northeast Regional Tournament back at Liberty High School’s Memorial Gymnasium.
“I’m very happy for both Quin and Trevor because they’ve never had the experience (of going to regionals),” said Smith. “Nick and Jared have been there before.”
Powerhouses Nazareth and Bethlehem Catholic, the Nos.1 and 2 ranked teams in the state, dominated the tournament with the Blue Eagles winning the team race with 305 1/2 points and crowning five champions, while the Golden Hawks were right behind in second at 288 1/2 points and seven champs.
Northampton was third (154 points), followed closely behind by Easton (150 1/2) and Pottsville (118). The Hornets finished ahead of Freedom, Liberty and Parkland who finished seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
“We felt this year that we were a better tournament team than a dual meet team,” said Smith. “We figured we could put a nice tournament together and place in the top seven.”
Groller, who didn’t wrestle a season ago, was the Hornets highest placewinner as he finished runner-up at 215 going 3-1 and advancing all the way to the finals before falling to top-seeded Nazareth senior Chase Levey by fall in 1:54. It marked the first time in three years that Emmaus had a finalist (2019 – Caden Wright).
“We thought he had a good shot at getting to the finals when we saw his draw,” said Smith of Groller the who finished third two years ago. “He put togther a good match in the finals and he just got caught in a cradle. I thought as the tournament went on that he just kept getting better and better.”
Groller is now 26-6 on the season and will compete in regionals for the second time in his career.
Not to be outdone by his teammate, Gitski also had a strong showing winning four of his five matches, including a number of nailbiters.
“He had a great tournament,” said Smith of his Gitski who’s undersized at the 285-pound classification. “He’s giving up so much weight.”
Gitski, the No.3 seed, placed third and defeated Becahi junior Elijah Thompson twice in the tournament, both by the ultimate tiebreaker, 2-1 in the quartefinals and 4-2 in the third-place match. His other two wins were also tight – 2-1 over Liberty sophomore Seth Kolb and 5-3 over PM West senior Glenn Pittius.
“Trevor just has a motor that keeps going and going. The only thing he needed was confidence and I think he has that now,” said Smith .
At 138, Velde finished fourth and went 3-2 with all three of his victories coming by fall in the first period. His two losses came to top-seed and undefeated Becahi junior Tyler Kasak and to Nazareth junior Jake Doone.
“Kasak is one of the best in the country and I thought Nick wrestled him pretty well,” said Smith of Velde’s 14-6 major decision loss in the semifinals. “Doone also knows how to wrestle him. It’s the third time he has beaten him this season.”
Scott, competing in districts for the final time in his high school career, also had a tournament to remember going 3-2 and finishing fourth at 152.
“Special, right,” said Smith of Scott’s performance. “The kid has been in our program for a long time and he put it all together. As the tournament progressed he was gaining confidence.
“I knew he could do it,” added Smith. “The two weeks leading up to the tournament were some of the best practices I have ever seen from him. I had a lot of confidence in him.”
After losing in the semis to top-ranked Dagen Condomitti of Northampton, Scott bounced back with a fall in 3:20 over Easton sophomore James Geiger to assure a top four finish.
Perhaps one of the surprises of the tournament was that Hornets junior Marco Albanese, the No.1 seed at 132, didn’t qualify for regionals after finishing sixth.
“I was heartbroken for Marco, but he was in a tough weight class and it happens,” said Smith. “Overall, he had a fantastic year and luckily he’s only a junior so he has another shot at this.”
Albanese (28-6) won his first two matches to reach the semis but then lost his next three to Whitehall senior Tyler Cunningham (7-2), Northampton junior Aidan Micheli (3-1 SV) and Nazareth senior Ayden Rader (12-2 major dec.) in the fifth-place match.
Senior Jack Brion (172) went 2-2 in the tournament, classmates Caleb Baldwin (145) and Drew Schmidt (160), junior Jake Gross (189) and freshman Jesse Scott (126) all went 1-2, while juniors Alex Issa (113) and Aidan Horn (120) both went winless (0-2).
“Jesse wrestled really well and Baldwin wrestled hard,” said Smith. “Jack also had a good draw and some close matches but it just didn’t work out for him. He had a really good week of practice and I was disappointed for him. He’s a great kid and a pleasure to coach.”
As a team, Emmaus was presented with the Sportsmanship Award which Smith was also proud of.
“It shows the character of the kids on our team,” he said. “We emphasize that. Be gentlemen at all times. It’s a nice award.”
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Jared Groller (2nd at 215)
Nick Velde (4th at 138)
Quin Scott (4th at 152)
