The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference schedule didn’t get off to the best of starts for the Emmaus wrestling team when it hosted Northampton last week. The Konkrete Kids left little doubt from the beginning of the match, defeating the Hornet grapplers 57-9.

Hornet head coach Jeff Arbushites and those Hornets were in dire need of a bounce-back performance sooner rather than later. Emmaus wasted little time in getting back to its winning ways

The next night, Emmaus won the first five matches in a 46-26 win over Dieruff Thursday at the Huskies’ home. The Hornets won nine of the 13 contested bouts, including six by fall.

“I expected it to be a little bit closer to be honest with you,” Arbushites said. “A couple of kids came up big that I wasn’t sure about. But as I look back on the match, I think we were even a little bit better in some weights where we didn’t feel so well on the scoreboard.”

Arbushites pointed out that those classes were at 119 where Jacob Hexamer fell to Miguel Kena via a tech fall; at 138 where Chris Tiger was pinned in the first period; and 220 where Luigi Mannino suffered a tough 4-0 decision defeat.

“I think we just have to get a little bit more confidence, and believe in ourselves and be a little more physical,” Arbushites said. “And I think we could have offered a little more into those matches.”

But it was the middle weight classes, where the match started at 152 pounds, that the Hornets did their damage.

Tyler Corpora started the match at 152 with a quick pin in the opening period, and then Caden Wright followed that up with a fall of his own in the final 20 seconds of the second period to give Emmaus a quick 12-0 advantage. Reed Custer grinded out a decision at 170. Jared Skibinski pinned his opponent in 59 seconds at the 180-pound class. Bryce Ebinger did the same to Dieruff’s Victor Alvarado late in the second period.

That five-match stretch gave Emmaus a commanding 26-0 advantage it would never look back from.

“We had a little bit of a surprise on the scale,” Arbushites said. “[Jacob] Alcaro was actually small enough to weight one class lower, and weighed in late enough last night that he was eligible for the class. So, we weighed him and Corpora in at 145, which gave me a little bit of play. We lost the toss, but it didn’t affect the outcome.”

Emmaus’ next win came at 106, four bouts later, but it may have been the most impressive of the night. Jimmy Bowie had trailed the entire match, including at 10-2 early in the third period. But the sophomore turned the match 180 degrees in the final moments with a pin over Wilfredo Escobales.

“Every team has that kid,” Arbushites said. “He came through big a couple of times for us last year. And believe it or not, it factored in whether we won or lost a match. I don’t know if it was that big of a match tonight. But to come back from down 6-0, keep battling, sticking with the philosophy, sticking with what you know, and closing it out in the third period is great for him.

That set the tone for the Hornets over the final six bouts. Peyton Brown earned an 11-0 major decision at 113 to push the Hornets’ lead to 37-9. Chase Pavelko (132) picked up a 5-3 decision three bouts later, and Alcaro ended it with a quick pin in the first period.

Many of those later matches were key points for Emmaus in grooming its talent in hopes of replacing last year’s graduates. Those key grapplers that are no longer with the team include Emmaus’ most recent 100-win member Lucas Schaf, Matt Hamati and Dan Oberle.

“You look to the younger kids to look for some younger leadership,” Arbushites said. “And you obviously look to a pretty heavily-weighted senior-season team.”

Emmaus will travel to Pocono Mountain West on Wednesday, followed by a Friday matchup against EPC favorite Bethlehem Catholic. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m.