EHS wrestlers rout Central Catholic
Coming off a dominant performance in the US Military Duals in South Carolina two weeks ago, the Emmaus wrestling team had a few days off to prepare for its next match. They may not have needed that much time.
The Green Hornets rolled to a 71-3 victory over Central Catholic last Thursday night on senior night at Emmaus High School for their 14th win of the season.
"We knew coming into the match that they did not have a great team and that they were missing some guys," said Tom Alcaro. "We just wanted to have a good night and have everyone wrestle well and gain some confidence. We were able to get that done tonight."
Emmaus (14-6 overall, 4-3 East Penn Conference) won 13 of the 14 bouts and was never challenged against the under-powered Vikings.
Freshman Gabe Schray (106) and sophomores Chase Pavelko (113), Jake Alcaro (138) and Jared Skibinski (152) all registered pins in the victory, while junior Lucas Schaf (132) won thanks to a 19-3 technical fall.
The senior Alcaro picked up his 20th win of the season (20-1) with a 7-1 victory while fellow senior Cole Franklin won with a forfeit at 160.
Tyler Corpora (120) also won via an 8-1 decision. It also helped the Green Hornets that the Vikings were faced with three forfeits within the first four matches, and there were six overall forfeits.
The lone loss came at 145 when Jason Torok won a riveting match against Matt Hamati in a 4-2 decision.
The win comes at a good time for Emmaus. The next night the Green Hornets defeated East Stroudsburg South on the road 55-12 in the final regular season match before the District 11 Duals begin this Thursday.
Emmaus is on a roll and peaking at the right time.
"We're in a good spot and wrestling well right now," Alcaro said. "Let's just hope we can keep this going."
The Hornets earned the No. 9 seed for the district team tournament and will take on No. 8 Nazareth in the first round. The winner of that match faces top-seeded Bethlehem Catholic in the second round. The Hawks are a Class AA team but are wrestling in the Class AAA bracket this year.