2/21/19
A year ago, Caden Wright became Emmaus’ first District XI champion in the last six years.
Can he repeat and become only the program’s second wrestler to accomplish that feat since Troy Newhard did in 2011 and 2012?
Teammate Jackson Karrat has put together an outstanding season with a team-leading 24 wins.
Can he make it to regionals in this, his final season at Emmaus?
And how will two talented freshmen – Nick Velde and Jared Groller – fare in their first-ever appearances on the big stage at districts?
Those are all questions that will be answered as the 70th Annual District XI Class 3A Tournament gets underway on Friday at Liberty High School’s Memorial Gymnasium.
Earlier this week, during one of his team’s final practices, first year head coach Thad Smith gave us his thoughts on the five wrestlers in his lineup that had the best chance to place in the top five at districts and reach next week’s Northeast Regional Tournament.
Here’s a look:
Caden Wright
Junior – 170 pounds
Record – 19-4
Last year – 31-7, District XI Champ @ 160, runner-up at Northeast Regional, state qualifier
Top seeds in weight class – Soph. Lenny Pinto, Stroudsburg (28-5); Sr. Josh Talijan, Liberty (21-5); Jr. Shane Quick, Pottsville (24-4), Soph. Isaiah Reinert, Easton (18-9)
Smith: “He’s looking and feeling good. I don’t know if he’s at 100 percent but he’s pretty close. He knows that he’s going to have to go out there and wrestle. He’s put in two great weeks of practice and he’s worked hard. It’s a tough weight class. The key is get to the finals. “
Jackson Karrat
Senior – 138 pounds
Record: 24-6
Last year – 17-12
Top seeds in weight class – Sr. Devon Britton, Northampton (16-3); Jr. Matt Lackman, Becahi (17-4); Jr. Dashawn Farber, Nazareth (24-6); Jr. Steven Storm, PM East (26-2); Sr. Nick Colasurdo, Solehi (23-1)
Smith: “If Jackson wrestles to his ability and mentally stays tough in this tournament, I think he can get through this grind. If anybody can do it, it’s him and I’d love to see it. He deserves it. There’s definitely a different vibe about him this season. His work ethic is non-stop and he’s always asking questions; always wanting to know how he can better. “
Kordell Waiters
Sophomore – 126 pounds
Record: 20-9
Last year – 20-9
Top seeds in weight class – Jr. Patrick Noonan, Stroudsburg (27-5); Sr. Patrick Gould, ES South (21-1); Sr. Michael Torres, Liberty (24-6); Sr. Dillon Murphy, Becahi (17-8), Fr. Xavier Arner, Whitehall (22-6)
Smith: “It’s a brutal weight and it’s going to be a grind. The biggest thing is that he needs to believe in himself. Kordell can be one of the best and we’re expecting him to be one of the best but he needs to believe that.”
Nick Velde
Freshman – 120 pounds
Record: 19-6
Top seeds in weight class – Cameron Enriquez, Stroudsburg (27-4), Matt Maloney, Liberty (26-1), Sean Pierson, Nazareth (23-2), Sam Hanley, Northampton (14-5), Tyler Cunningham, Whitehall (25-5)
Smith: “An unbelievably tough weight class. For a freshman, it’s going to be tough, but if anybody is going to do it and weather the storm it’s going to be Nick. He has to understand that a loss doesn’t end your day, you can still come back for the fifth and that’ s really what you’re wrestling for, a top five finish.”
Jared Groller
Freshman – 152 pounds
Record: 19-11
Top-seeds in weight class – Jr. Cole Handlovic, Becahi (25-5); Sr. Mike Kistler, Northampton (28-5); Jr. Jake Dressler, Nazareth (22-6); Sr. Andrew Schneider, Stroudsburg (21-5), Sr. Paul Mastrogiavanni, Bangor (24-4)
Smith: “There’s an opportunity for him (to get to regionals). It’s an interesting weight class because you have those guys that have ‘been there, done that’ in state-caliber kids and then you have that next tier where you have six or seven kids. I think it’s going to be who puts the best tournament together and I think Jared very capable of being able to do that.”