It has certainly been a long time coming for head coach Eric Snyder and the Salisbury wrestling team.

The Falcons, which hadn't won a wrestling match since the 2007-08 season, were able to break that barrier and give Snyder his first win since he's been a part of the program beginning in 2008-09.

A week ago, the Falcons (1-5 in Colonial League) used four pins to defeat Notre Dame (Green Pond), 37-30, for their first win in nearly six years.

"I was just so happy to be a part of us finally winning something," said Trent Stump, who earned a pin against the Crusaders. "I wanted to push the team to be able to get that win, especially for coach [Snyder]."

"We don't win the match without getting the kids, and without the kids actually going out there and wrestling like they did," Snyder said. "It feels good. The kids were pumped. We're proud of them."

Snyder understood his team certainly had the opportunity at earning its first victory against the Crusaders since he joined the Falcons' staff. And in the hours leading up to the match, he saw a different attitude amongst the kids.

"I wasn't sure going into Wednesday after the Monday and Tuesday practices because they didn't really come ready to go," Snyder said. "But they showed up Wednesday, and you could tell when they walked into the room. It was a different attitude they had when they walked in before they got on the bus."

The Falcons' junior high team won as well for its first win over the course of that time period.

Zach Adams (120 pounds) was one of the four Falcons with pins against the Crusaders in the varsity. In the second-to-last match, Adams' fall helped put a stamp on the Falcons' victory.

"It was pretty exciting," Adams said. "I knew I had to win for that match."

Stump (160), Wes Maron (170) and Alexander Nicholas (195) all won by fall. Nico Scarcia (138) won on a major decision and Teddy Denver (220) won via decision.

Three days later, the Falcons participated in the Dieruff Duals, where they competed against three nonconference squads: Dieruff, Pocono Mountain East and Berwick. Despite falling in each meet (65-9 to Dieruff; 51-24 to Pocono Mountain West; and 54-25 to Berwick) Snyder was pleased with his team's effort and fight.

"Overall, the guys wrestled well," Snyder said. "Even the matches that we lost there against Pocono Mountain West, the kids wrestled well.

"I really thought we had a chance to beat Berwick if we got the right matchups. We did the same kind of thing against Berwick that we did against Notre Dame. The matchups just didn't really fall our way this time."

Stump, who wrestles a majority of his matches at 152 pounds, and is now 12-7 on the season, went 3-0 during Saturday's Dieruff Duals. He secured pins against Dieruff's Devante Palmer and Joey Knoell of Pocono Mountain West, while earning a major decision against Luke Fisher of Berwick.

"I had to breakthrough a mental barrier because I didn't really know the kids I was going against," Stump said. "But after I got that first win, I broke through that and I just went out and wrestled."

Adams built off his pin against the Crusaders by winning two of his three matches on Saturday. He pinned Berwick's Zachary Fish, and earned a decision over Pocono Mountain West's Alphonso Lee.

"I've been practicing all week on this move that I've been doing," Adams said. "I've just been trying it, and it's been working."

Shane Simononis earned two forfeits (Berwick and Pocono Mountain West) and a decision against Dieruff. Matthew Heiserman won via decision against Pocono Mountain West. Scarcia recorded a pin against Pocono Mountain West and Denver earned a decision against Berwick.

The Falcons travel to Southern Lehigh on Wednesday for their next match.