With the COVD-19 situation hopefully behind them, Catasauqua’s athletic teams finally hit the mat and the floor this week.

Catasauqua’s wrestling team began the season Monday night in Pen Argyl, and the Rough Riders dropped a hard-fought, 39-30 game to the Green Knights.

Junior Jaryn Hartranft, a two-time district runner-up and state qualifier at lower weights, opened his season with a pin at 160 pounds. Junior Dominic Melendez also registered a fall at 189.

Freshman Mikhail Fehr (106), junior Cole Brown (126) and sophomore Gavin Fehr (138) all won by forfeit.

Due to injuries and some open holes in the lineup, the Roughies couldn’t fill the 113, 132, 145,152, 215, and 285 weights.

Fehr, who won 28 matches and finished sixth at districts last year, was happy to be back.

“It was pretty exciting to be back on the mat after a very long offseason,” said Fehr. “The atmosphere was a little off since there weren’t any fans, but it wasn’t much different besides that.

“We were looking really strong as a team until injuries took a few wrestlers out of the lineup. I still feel though we had a good match with the wrestlers we had. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to wrestle, but I am looking forward to our next matches.”

The Roughie girls team hosted Colonial League favorite Notre Dame with Rutgers recruit Antonia Bates, and the Roughies fell, 43-17.

With basically an inexperienced lineup, Catty had trouble finding its rhythm, but they battled throughout the contest.

“We had a lot of kids in new positions,” said head coach Mark Seremula. “We missed our share of open shots. When you get the open shots, you have to make them.

“I thought we handled their full-court pressure and 1-3-1 well. But we shot 3-for-10 from the foul line, and we have to be better.”

Seremula was encouraged by his team’s second-half performance.

“They outscored us 15-10,” he said. “When you can hold a good team like that to 43 points, that’s saying something. Our big girls rebounded well on the defensive end.

“Playing a team like theme can only make you better. Our goal is to win one of the next two games.”

Catasauqua’s boys’ team didn’t have an easy night either, as they were thumped by Notre Dame, 94-59.

Roughies’ head coach Eric Snyder tried to slow the Crusaders’ attack with a matchup zone.

“They shot extremely well,” said Snyder. “We didn’t play the world’s greatest defense. We didn’t play with enough intensity defensively.

“We played them in a man (defense) last year, but they went through us like Swiss cheese. When we crowded their shot, we had a better chance. They were physical, intense and aggressive.”

Snyder saw his team make adjustments after they shook off some rust.

“We played them even in the second quarter and we made some runs,” he added. “But we needed to hit some big shots and we didn’t.

“We get right back at it soon, and we’ll see where we are.”

Senior Derek Troxell, who led the team with 24 points, knows it was the first step.

“This was not what we were expecting,” he said. “Notre Dame shot the lights out, and we couldn’t find ways to stop them. It was our first game, and we will learn from it. We’ll get ready for Southern Lehigh and Bangor.”