It has been an eventful start to the wrestling season for Northwestern Lehigh (1-1 Colonial, 1-2 overall). The team opened with an appearance at the Rough Rider Tournament in Catasauqua where they finished sixth in the team standings with three wrestlers in the championship round. In dual meets, the Tigers had three matches in four days to start their schedule.

At the Rough Rider Tournament, Luke Fugazzotto, Dalton Clymer, and Buck Miller all reached the championship round with Miller pinning Lake Lehman’s Josh Ryan in 3:27 to win the title at 189 pounds. Fugazzotto and Clymer lost their matches at 160 and 172, respectively.

The dual meet season opened against Lehighton (0-0 Schuylkill, 2-0 overall), who downed Northwestern 53-19. Fugazzotto (160), Clymer (172), Miller (189) and Noah Schlofer (215) all won their matches, with Fugazzotto and Clymer winning by fall. Miller added a 4-0 decision and Schlofer won a major decision by beating Wyatt Sherer 10-2. The Tigers lost five weight classes by forfeit.

“Some of our kids had long seasons in other sports, and I think it has affected them a little,” said coach Joe Killar. “We are first starting to get into wrestling shape now and it might take us a little while to get going, but we should be OK. It’s great for the kids to play other sports though, so we understand that and realize that it is just part of life.”

Next up was a match against rival Northern Lehigh, which went to the Tigers by a 34-18 score. The match started at the 215-pound classification and Dart DeLillo opened things with an 11-1 win to set the tone. Schlofer won at 285, Josie Wehr won by fall in 1:54 at the 126 classification over Cody Mezzocca. Nate Geiger (132) and Clymer (172) also picked up wins on falls for Northwestern Lehigh, with Clymer pinning Chase Moffitt at the :45 mark in his match. Hunter Greenawalt (138), Katie Brensinger (145), and Buck Miller (189) won their matches by decision and Northern Lehigh (0-1, 0-2) forfeited the 160-pound class to Fugazzotto. .

Friday, Northwestern faced Salisbury in the home opener and fell by a score of 45-23. The Tigers had to forfeit at 133, 114, and 121 and there was a double forfeit at 107.

Northwestern looked to be taking command with four straight wins when Greenawalt won by a fall at 152 and Fugazzotto followed that up with another fall at 160 to cut the Falcons lead to 18-12.

Clymer picked up a technical fall at 172 to cut the lead to 18-17 and Northwestern went up 23-18 when Northern Lehigh forfeited the 189-pound weight class to Miller.

The Falcons (1-0, 2-0), which have a co-op agreement with Central Catholic and have several Viking wrestlers on their team this season, fought back to get the win with victories at 215, 285, and 127 and forfeits at 114 and 121.