The Northampton and Easton wrestling rivalry dates back to the 1940s, but it is unlikely that there have been many meetings that generated more drama than their dual meet did last Saturday. On paper, it looked like the Rovers were poised to snap the Kids’ 7-match winning streak between the schools and claim their first win since 2015.

The result seemed even more certain as the match reached the 215-pound weight (it started at 107) tied at 25 with the two K-Kids slated to decide the match each in their second year of wrestling at any level.

First Joe Doumat faced off against Tyler Cocciolillo, the 2022 District XI 3A 4th place finisher at 215. The two big men seemed determined to wage a battle of headlocks, so even though the first period was scoreless, fireworks seemed inevitable. The Rover escaped to open the second period and scored the match’s first offensive points with a takedown. Doumat escaped and hit a 4-point move near the end of the period to take a 5-4 lead (he was penalized for locked hands) into the final stanza.

A Doumat reversal to start the third bumped the advantage to 7-5 once Cocciolillo escaped. With both wrestlers looking for a throw, any result was still possible. Doumat came up with another 4-pointer to push the lead to 11-5 and render Cocciolillo’s late reversal irrelevant. The Kids led 28-25 with one match to go.

A beaming Doumat talked about his match after the meet was over.

“I went in as the underdog,” he said. “I have to give it him (Cocciolillo), it was a good match. It was the best match I’ve ever had so far. It was crazy.”

A shoulder injury caused him to miss the entire football season and he confessed it played a role in his decision to wrestle.

He added, “It’s the only reason why I wrestled this year. I needed to get that competition senior year somehow. It was going to take me out of wrestling too, but I’m going to keep fighting through it.”

By this time the savvy fans in attendance realized that if the team scored ended in a tie, Northampton would win the match on criteria by winning 7 of the 13 bouts. It was up to Gavin Grell to not give up any bonus points to Anthony Embardino at 285.

The Rover heavyweight took a 7-1 lead into the final period, needing to extend the margin by two points to secure the win for Easton. Embardino was penalized a point for spitting on the mat and Grell escaped with 1:43 left in the match to make the score 7-3. Grell held his more experienced opponent scoreless and when the final horn sounded, the Northampton side of the gym erupted in cheers.

Although the ending bouts were fresh in everyone’s mind, head coach Joe Provini was quick to point out the results of earlier matches that put the K-Kids in position to win.

“Matthew Sommer (107) doesn’t give up a fall. Zayne Dayoub (114) in a close match gets a fall,” he said. “We’ve got Chase Grabfelder (139) who is unbelievably good and tough…he only got majored today (by Easton’s best wrestler, Oliver Fairchild). He’s a hero of the day. He went out and fought for 6 minutes and he earned 2 team points (by not giving up a fall).”

Other winners for the Kids were Carson Wagner (121) 7-0 dec vs Chris Kelly. Trey Wagner (127) 5-0 dec vs Ben Fanelli. Aiden Micheli (133) 13-4 maj dec vs Jayvon Simms. Austin Noe (145) 10-0 maj dec vs Quentin Hammerstone. Dagan Condomitti (172) 23-8 tech fall in 5:40 vs Giovani Macario.