Emmaus had its best-ever finish at the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic this past weekend placing fifth as a team with five of its wrestlers medaling.
“The event provided an opportunity to measure our progress against high level competition, both individually and as a team,” said Hornets head coach Jim Best. “From a team perspective, we took another step forward with all of the 13 wrestlers entered into the tournament winning at least one match, which means they all contributed points to the final team score.”
Junior Jackson Max highlighted for Emmaus with his best-ever tournament, earning the individual championship at 107 with a thrilling one-point win (11-10) over Honesdale freshman Nathan Schuman in the finals.
“Jackson was seeded seventh in his weight class and wrestled into the finals in dominant fashion,” said Best. “In the finals, he got taken down early and fell behind, however, being the veteran high school wrestler that he is, he never panicked and methodically regained the lead, which held up for his first high school tournament championship.
“He will use this success as momentum to continue progressing for the January tournament and dual meet grind and eventually the post-season tournaments.”
Max went unbeaten in the two-day event (5-0) and improved his overall record to 15-3 on the season.
Sophomore Emilio Albanese, the state’s No.1 ranked wrestler at 114, also reached the finals, but had to settle for a runner-up finish after falling to Northern Lebanon junior standout Sam Wolford 7-3. It was the first loss of the season for Albanese (17-1).
“Although he fell one place short of his tournament goal (first place), Emilio navigated his was through a very talented weight class to reach the finals,” said Best. “In the finals, he wrestled another nationally ranked wrestler. He will use the setback as a learning tool, and he has already begun to game plan and make adjustments for a possible rematch with Wolford in the upcoming Mid-Winter Mayhem Tournament on January 10 and 11 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP).”
Another sophomore, Teagan Caciolo, also had a strong showing at 121 after some huge wins in the tournament.
“Teagan wrestled above his seed by placing fourth and defeating two returning state qualifiers in the process,” said Best of Caciolo who went 4-2 in the tournament.
Senior Jesse Scott (160) and junior Xayden Sallit (172) finished in sixth place in their respective weight classes.
“Both Jesse and Xayden also had solid tournaments, although neither one had a final placing that they are satisfied with,” said Best. “Like every one of their teammates, they both have very specific takeaways from the tournament that will help them become better skilled and savvier wrestlers during the month of January. Both of them clearly understand that the end game for this season is in late February and early March, not late December. “
Two other wrestlers – freshman Xyler Sallit (139) and senior Chance Henry (145) – performed well in the tournament and just missed out on medaling.
“Even though they didn’t place, Xyler and Chance wrestled deep into very talented brackets, falling just one win shy of placing in the top eight of their respective weight classes,” said Best.
The other Emmaus wrestlers that competed in the tournament included: sophomores Levi Max (127) and Tommy Fallstich (133), junior Logan Armstrong (152), seniors Massimo Tranguch (189) and Ashir Choudhry (215) and junior Logan Roth (285).
In the team race, Easton claimed the title with 178 points, while Northampton was second (172.5), Nazareth third (172) and Saucon Valley fourth (142).
Emmaus will return to league action on January 8 at 6 p.m. when they travel to Pleasant Valley.
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