2/26/19
Caden Wright went in with a game plan against nemesis Lenny Pinto that he thought would give him his best chance of winning a second straight District XI Class 3A individual title
Unfortunatey, the game plan didn’t work as the Stroudsburg sophomore phenom had other ideas.
Pinto, who has handed Wright two of his five losses this season, continued his success against the Hornets junior as he came out firing on all cylinders from the opening whistle as he defeated Wright 11-5 to capture the 170-pound championship on Saturday night at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium.
“My game plan going in was don’t let him score in the first period and keep it close because I knew he gasses towards the end,” said Wright who was looking to become Emmaus’ second wrestler to capture District XI gold in back-to-back seasons.
“He (Pinto) came out shooting which completely threw me off my game plan.”
Pinto, the top seed, scored three takedowns in the first period and led all from start to finish as he captured his first district title.
Wright, meanwhile, had to settle for silver after defeating Bethlehem Catholic’s Mikey Lewis by injury default in last year’s final at 160.
“I was very disappointed because that’s the worse he has beaten me since last year,” said Wright referring to a 12-5 setback to Pinto a year ago. “I took a step back.”
Wright (22-5) had cruised through his first three matches to reach the finals, defeating Parkland’s Josh Wieder by technical fall (16-0), pinning Northampton’s Traisach Roland in just 1:31 and defeating Easton’s Isaiah Reinert 8-2.
He was the only Emmaus wrestler to reach the finals and the lone Hornet that will compete at regionals which gets underway on Friday back at Liberty High School.
Teammate Jackson Karrat (138) was looking to punch his ticket to his first-ever appearance to this week’s Northeast Regional Tournament, but the Hornets senior fell one match short as he dropped the fifth-place match to Southern Lehigh’s Nick Colasurdo 6-3. Only the top five placewinners move on to regionals.
Karrat finshed in sixth-place after going 3-3 in the two-day tournament. He ended the season at 27-8, recording the most wins by an Emmaus wrestler.
Northampton wound up winning the team title with 256.5 points. Nazareth finished second (232.5) followed by Liberty (214.5) and Becahi (206.5). Emmaus was 11th overall (63.5 points)
District XI Class 3A Tournament – Emmaus wrestlers
106 – #9 seed James Bowie (0-2)
Lost to Connor Bevan (Free) 7-2
Lost by major dec. to Connor Werner (Lib) 17-8
113 – #12 Gio Lainez (1-1)
Lost by fall to Alex Hanley (No) in 2:44
Won by fall vs Logan Segeda (PV) in 1:21
Lost to Luis Vargas (Free) 9-2
120 – #8 seed Nick Velde (2-2)
Won by dec. vs Jamar Harrison (All) 9-0
Lost by tech fall to Cameron Enriquez (SB) 20-4 (3:13)
Won by dec. vs Trey Miletics (BC) 6-5
lost by fall vs Connor Huber (Free) 2:45
126 – #8 seed Kordell Waiters (2-2)
Lost by dec. vs Blaine Wilson (Naz) 17-9
Won by fall vs Grim Gonzalez (Die) in 2:18
Won by dec. vs Lucas Kern (Park) 2-1
Lost by dec. vs Wiley Kahler (Potts) 8-5
132 – Quin Scott (0-2)
Lost by fall to Dew Clearie (Naz) in :44
Lost by decision vs Josh Grol (Whall) 6-3
138 – #5 seed Jackson Karrat (3-3)
Won by major dec. vs Haider Sohail (Sburg) 15-2
Lost by major dec. vs Stephen Storm (PME) 19-9
Won vs Colby Duffy (Easton) 7-5 OT
Won by major dec. vs Aiden Toussaint (Whitehall), 14-3
Lost by major dec. vs Matt Lackman (Becahi) 15-2
Lost by dec. vs Nick Colasurdo (SL) 6-3
145 – #14 seed Jack Brion (0-2)
Lost by fall to Jason Rezac (Lib) in :44
Lost by fall to Jared Reto (Bangor) in 4:57
152 – #7 seed Jared Groller (2-2)
Lost by fall to Brandin Reber (Blue Mt) in 1:24
Won by fall vs Mason Lansenderfer (Park) in :15
Won by dec. vs Jake Koerwitz (Easton) 1-0
Lost by dec. vs Andrew Schneider (Stroudsburg) 9-2
160 – #16 seed Chris Tigar (2-2)
Won by dec. vs Toby Renninger (Blue Mt) 7-2
Lost by fall to Luca Frinzi (BC) in 3:06
Won by dec. vs Sean Cunningham (Wh) 5-1
Lost by dec. Alex Womack (PV) 8-6
170 – #2 seed Caden Wright (3-1)
Won by tech fall vs Josh Wieder (Park) 16-0
Won by fall vs Traisach Roland (No) 1:31
Won won dec. vs Isaiah Reinert (Ea) 8-2
Lost by dec. vs Lenny Pinto (Stroudsburg) 11-5
182 – #10 seed Conner Carter (1-2)
Won by dec. Jonah Lopez (All) 6-3
Lost by major dec. vs Joey Schrader (Bangor) 10-2
lost vs Henry Pavis (BC) 8-4
195 – #13 seed Bryce Ebinger (1-2)
Lost by pin to Cruise (East) in 3:37
Won by dec. vs Alex Brunetti (PME) 7-1
Lost by dec. vs Jarius Rosado (BC) 3-2
220 – # 8 seed Luigi Mannino (1-2)
Lost by fall vs Brian Finnerty (ESN) in 1:10
Won by fall vs Dustin Tocci (Lib) in 4:27
Lost by dec. vs Izah Bright (Whall) 4-3
285 – #12 seed James Santichen (1-2)
Lost by dec. vs Daniel Opong-Duah (ESS) 5-0
Won by fall vs Justyce Searock (Naz) 2:50
Lost by fall vs Cory Border (Park) in 3:31