Entering the month of January, the Emmaus wrestling team had three losses — all to three strong programs in Pottsville, Northampton and Easton.
They closed the month with just one more defeat, that coming to perennial power and nationally-ranked Nazareth.
Other than that, the Hornets haven’t tasted defeated and now, they’ve put themselves in great a position to reach the post-season.
Especially after what took place Thursday night at Whitehall High School.
“When we came back from our Christmas break I sat the kids down in our (wrestling) room before our first practice and said to them ‘there’s absolutely no reason why you guys can’t run the table,” said the Hornets first year head coach Jim Best. “Other then the Nazareth match, we set ourselves up well for district duals.”
“I could see how intently they were listening and I could see the fire in their eyes and they understood what was on the line tonight and they came through. Credit to our guys.”
Best, who took over the program from Thad Smith, was referring to Thursday night’s all-important, heart-stomping 35-30 road win over Whitehall which punctuated an outstanding 8-1 month for his team.
Emmaus won seven of the 13 matches as they upped their overall mark to 13-4 and 6-3 in the EPC. Currently, they are seventh in the latest District XI 3A rankings. The top eight teams will qualify for the team tournament which is set to get underway next Saturday, February 4.
Sophomore Jesse Scott clinched the victory in the final match of the night at 160 as he won a thriller over senior Hudson Saylor, 3-2. The win by Scott (17-8) avenged for an earlier-season 10-6 loss to Saylor at the Hurricane Classic over the holiday break.
“Wrestling a guy for the second time is always a little bit more difficult because the first time, unless you watch a lot of film on him, you don’t really know what to expect or their style,” admitted Scott. “The second time around the kid knows what you’re going to do and he knows what I’m going to do so it’s always a little bit of a tighter match. I always love a rematch. It was good.”
Scott also knows the importance of last night’s victory, which was the fifth straight for the Hornets over the Zephrys since 2019.
“This is a big win, it keeps us in the team district race” said the soft-spoken Scott. “At the beginning of the season, no one really knew what was going to happen with us in having a new coach and we lost a good amount of seniors, so there were definitely a lot of question marks. But I think it’s super big for us to show what we still have as a program and where we are headed into the future.”
Scott’s win was one of five in the last six matches for the Hornets, who trailed 22-12 after Whitehall had won five of the first seven.
Freshman Logan Armstrong (127) and sophmore Chance Henry (133) got the rally started as Armstrong scored a reversal at the buzzer to defeat sophomore Dayvion Marshmon 4-3 and then Henry followed that up with arguably the best night of the match as he rallied to score a 12-11 overtime win over sophomore Nolan Schmeckenbecher.
“Logan Armstrong, in my mind, has made that transition from junior high to high school and he knows that you have to wrestle six full minutes, not a 4 1/2-minute match anymore,” said Best of his ninth-grader who improved to 14-11. “Tonight, he proved that to me.”
“And the win at 133?
“That was huge,” said Best. “A huge victory for Chance.”
Senior Noe Bridges, in his first varsity match of the season, came up with a big win late in the dual scoring a 5-3 victory over sophomore Trokon Kai at 145.
Earlier, senior Jake Gross improved to team-best 23 wins on the season with a second period fall over freshman James Hopkins at 215 and classmate EJ Boney followed it up with a fall in the second over junior Ryan Tran at 285.
Whitehall’s six victories on the night came from Jack Kocher (172), Melquan Warren (189), Wilmont Kai (107), Kade Pascoe (114), Damond Pasco (121) and Seth Pascoe (139). The Zephyrs dropped to 8-5 overall and 3-4 in the league.
Emmaus will return to the mat at 7 p.m. next Wednesday as they travel to Pleasant Valley.
To stay up to date on Emmaus wrestling, follow on Twitter (@Emmauswrestling) and like Emmaus wrestling on facebook.
Emmaus 30, Whitehall 25
172 – Jr. Jack Kocher (W) dec. So. Reilly Bechtel 3-2
189 – Sr. Melquan Warren (W) pinned So. Massimo Tranguch in 1:00
215 – Sr. Jake Gross (E) pinned Fr. James Hopkins in 2:48
285 – Sr. EJ Boney (E) pinned Jr. Ryan Tran in 2:42
107 – Fr. Wilmont Kai (W) pinned Fr. Jackson Max in 4:33
114 – Fr. Kade Pascoe (W) dec. Sr. Alex Issa 2-0
127 – Fr. Logan Armstrong (E) dec. So. Dayvion Marshmon 4-3
133 – So. Chance Henry (E) dec. So. Nolan Schmeckenbecher 12-11, 3 OT
139 – Jr. Seth Pascoe (W) dec. Fr. Xayden Sallit 1-0
145 – Sr. Noe Bridges (E) dec. So. Trokon Kai 5-3
152 – Sr. Marco Albanese (E) won by forfeit
160 – So. Jesse Scott (E) dec. Sr. Hudson Saylor 3-2
PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy of Scott Bechtel)
