12/31/18
Competing at the 51st Annual Tony Iasiello Christmas City Tournament over the holiday break, there’s never been an expectation that any school other than the hosts would dominate and run away with the team title.
And as expected, that’s exactly what took place last Friday and Saturday at Bethlehem Catholic High School as the Golden Hawks crowned six champions in finishing in first place with 264 points.
The question then is always who’ll finish second.
Thanks to an all-around team effort that included nearly half of its lineup medaling, coach Thad Smith’s squad took home that honor as they improved on their third place showing from a year ago by moving up one spot and finishing second in the 19-team field.
“I was really happy. I thought we wrestled extremely well,” said Smith, the Hornets first year coach by phone on Monday. “There’s a buy-in with these kids and they are working hard in the room and it’s showing up on the mat.”
“I thought we took a big step towards that this weekend. We had a young lineup and it was a total team effort.”
Emmaus had six of its wrestlers medal in the tournament led by freshman Nick Velde (120) and junior Caden Wright (170), who both finished runner-up in their respective weight classes.
Velde, who was not amongst the top eight seeds in his weight class, went 3-1 in the tournament and advanced to the finals for the first time in his young high school career.
“I kinda thought Nick had this in him,” said Smith of Veldeo who’s 8-2 on the season. “Whenever he goes out on the mat he always go out with a plan and executes that plan. “
Unfortunately in the finals, Velde ran into Dylan McGee from powerhouse Blair Academy who pinned the Hornets freshman with a second period fall in 3:10.
“That kid is good. He’s 40-2 in his career,” said Smith of McGee. “He is long and he slapped all cradle on Nick and that was all she wrote.”
Wright, the No. 2 seed, lost to two-time defending state champion Edmund Ruth of Susquehanna Township by major decision 18-8. Ruth was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.
“Ruth is good and he’s a class act,” said Smith. ” He’s powerful, but Caden was able to get some good shots in on him. He didn’t back down .”
Senior Luigi Mannino improved on his sixth place finish from a year ago by taking fourth at 220.
“Luigi turned a huge corner this weekend,” said Smith. “The match he lost was probably his best.”
Sophomore Kordell Waiters, who finished runner-up a year ago at 113, took fifth place in a tough 126-pound weight class as did senior Jackson Karrat at 138.
“Those were two of the toughest weight classes in the entire tournament,” said Smith. “I thought they both wrestled really, really well, all things considered.”
The Hornets third fifth-place finisher was 152-pound freshman Jared Groller who went 3-2 in his first-ever appearance in the tournament.
Sophomore Sam Moratori (132) and freshman Bryce Agostinelli (195) went 1-2 in the tournament with both picking up their first-career varsity wins.
Senior James Bowie (106), sophomore Gio Lainez (113), freshman Jack Brion (145), senior Chris Tigar (160) and sophomore Conner Carter (182) didn’t place in their respective weight classes.
Emmaus will return to the mat at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 3 when they travel to Tamaqua for a non-league match. The Hornets will also compete at the Zephyr Duals at Whitehall High School on Saturday beginning at 8:30 a.m.
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2018 Tony Iasiello Christmas City Tournament (Team standings) – 1 – Becahi 264, 2 EMMAUS 124.5, T3 – ES South/Faith Academy 111.5, 5. Lehighton 102, 6. Hershey 99, 7. Bald Eagle Area 96, 8. Scranton 94, 9. Blair Academy 91.5, 10. Port Jervis 91, 11. First Colonial 89.5, 12. Susquehanna Twp. 78, 13. Wallenpaupack 60, 14. Solehi 52, 15. Roman Catholic 48, 16. Dieruff 43, Annville-Cleona 42, 18. Schuylkill Valley 29, 19. Executive Education Academy 4