The Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic provided Emmaus fans proof that the Hornets are for real.

Thad Smith’s grapplers finished seventh in the 26-team tournament, held last Tuesday and Wednesday at Liberty High School’s Memorial Gym.

“We wrestled very well overall,” Emmaus head coach Thad Smith said. “We had five place winners and we were missing two weights.”

The tournament showed Smith and his grapplers where they are at and what they need to do to go further.

“This was a great tournament to gauge where we are at as a team and what we need to work on to get better going forward,” he said.

Marco Albanese was one of two Emmaus wrestlers to reach the finals, and he earned it at 132, beating Phillipsburg’s Luke Geleta in a superb wrestling match featuring, skill, technique, and endurance from both young men. Albanese outlasted Geleta in a thriller, 8-6.

“Marco wrestled a hard six minutes in all of his matches and beat some quality opponents to win the tournament,” Smith said. “He is a very smart wrestler who never seems to get rattled and finds a way to win, even with only seconds left on the clock.”

Another Hornet wrestler who impressed during the tourney was Nick Velde, who also made the final, but had to default due to an injury in the second period.

“We thought it was best to stop the match and try to limit his injury, so he is healthy the rest of the season,” said Smith.

Overall 11 Emmaus boys participated and all “wrestled well and showed progress,” according to Smith. “With a couple of breaks in the blood round, we could have had three guys placing.”

Jake Gross put together an outstanding tournament, placing eighth, while Jared Groller and Trevor Gitski each took fourth at 215 and 285, respectively.

“They both wrestled really well, and Trevor got to wrestle the returning state runner up (Nazareth’s Sean Kinney) in the semis,” Smith noted. “He needs to see what it takes to get to that level. He wrestled great considering he was giving up 40 pounds.”

With 2021 finished, Smith has been impressed by several Emmaus wrestlers. Albanese and Velde have been lights out, with Albanese “wrestling at a different level” and Velde “living up to expectations. A surprise might well be freshman Jesse Scott, who is showing talent and composure which transcend his youth. Smith was 8-0 at 132 pounds going into the Holiday Classic and was one match away from placing.

“His weight (126 at the tourney) was extremely tough and he was knocked out by a state place winner (Spring Ford’s Quinn Smith).”

Emmaus results from Bethlehem Holiday

Wrestling Classic

106 - Carter Salomon

Hunter Brown (Stroudsburg) pinned Salomon in 1:30

Gus Smith (Spring-Ford) pinned Salomon in 2:59

113 - Alex Issa

Alex Issa (Emmaus) won by forfeit over Tahir Parkins (Nazareth)

James Garcia (Wilson West Lawn) pinned Issa in 1:09

Evan Moretz (Freedom) pinned Issa in 4:12

126 - Jesse Scott

Quinn Smith (Spring Ford) major dec. Scott, 13-4

Scott dec. Nate Kresge (Parkland), SV-1 2-1

Braxton Appello-Fries (Nazareth) dec. Scott, 7-1

132 - Marco Albanese

Albanese pinned Andrew Lindros (Council Rock So.) in 1:33

Albanese dec. Tyler Cunningham (Whitehall), 4-3

Marco Albanese dec. Javien DeLeon (Liberty), 6-4

Championship Match: Albanese dec. Luke Geleta (Phillipsburg), 8-6

138 - Nick Velde

Velde major dec. Gavin Cole (Council Rock South), 12-1

Velde dec. Joey Bodnar (Freedom), 10-3

Velde dec. Joe Innamorato (Phillipsburg), 5-0

Championship Match: Kake Doone (Nazareth) injury def. Nick Velde in 2:46

145 - Caleb Baldwin

Baldwin dec. Seth Pascoe (Whitehall), 7-1

Zachary Borzio (Quakertown) pinned Baldwin in :43

Baldwin pinned Keenan Fernandez (Wilkes-Barre) in 2:42

Liam Packer (Phillipsburg) dec. over Baldwin, 6-0

152 - Drew Schmidt

James Geiger (Easton) pinned Schmidt in 3:22

Schmidt dec. Brady McMahon (Pennridge), 3-2

Mason Beckowski (Saucon Valley) pinned Schmidt in :37

160 - Quin Scott

Scott dec. Noah MacIlroy (Freedom), 8-5

Matt Colajezzi (Council Rock South) tech. fall Scott, 16-0

Hunter Cleaver (Phillipsburg) pinned Scott in 2:57

189 - Jake Gross

Gross dec. Sawyer Quayle (Liberty), 6-2

Bryce Molinaro (Hazleton) pinned Gross in 1:24

Gross dec. Nathan Peters (Northwestern Lehigh), 7-1

Gross pinned Kalani Adams (Northern Lebanon) in 4:20

Gross won by forfeit

Michael Hynes (Easton) major dec. Gross, 11-3

Seventh-Place Match: Kaden Roesener (Quakertown) pinned Gross in :37

215- Jared Groller

Groller pinned Noah Schlofer (Northwestern Lehigh) in 2:26

Lucas Doyle (Council Rock So.) dec. Jared Groller, 3-1

Groller pinned Drew Tibbitts (Quakertown) in :39

Groller tech. fall Peter Youngcourt (Hazleton), 16-0

Groller dec. Tyler Pfizenmayer (Saucon Valley), 7-4

Third-Place Match: David Pierson (Phillipsburg) won by forfeit

285- Trevor Gitski

Gitski major dec. Chase Washington (Pennridge), 17-6

Gitski dec. Zayd Afif (Parkland), TB-1 2-1

Sean Kinney (Nazareth) pinned Gitski in 2:00

Gitski (Emmaus) dec. over Charles Socki (Council Rock So.), 5-3

Third-Place Match: Caleb Mussmon (Hempfield) dec. Gitski, TB-1 2-1