Emmaus wrestling head coach Jeff Arbushites knew that his team was going to be in for a tough night last Friday in the Bethlehem Catholic gymnasium. But the Hornet head coach didn’t think that the score would turn out the way it did.

The defending PIAA Class 3A state champion Golden Hawks not only came away with the victory, but they shut out Emmaus 64-0 in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference wrestling match.

“I believe that this is the first time in my career that I have coached an Emmaus team that got shutout,” said Arbushites. “It’s disappointing, but with that being said, I think it’s also the first time that it’s taken over two hours to score any points. We were in a lot of matches, and we battled really well, but we got beat on the whistle and gave up some points at the end of periods and that is what ultimately put us in holes during the matches.

“All we can do is keep working and getting better and learn from this. That team over there is seasoned from top-to-bottom. We came out and battled with a lot of their really good wrestlers, which is what I wanted to see. I would like to see us do better, especially on the points side of it, but at the end of the day I’m proud that none of them gave up and they all gave it their all. We just have to regroup and get back after it for the holiday tournament.”

Becahi (3-0) returned just one District 11 champ back to its lineup in Michael Labriola (182 pounds), but the Hawks just seem to reload each and every year.

They put the Hornets (2-2) in a big hole early, tallying three pins and a technical fall in the first four bouts for a 23-0 lead.

Emmaus was the closest to securing points in the middle weight classes.

Tyler Corpora dropped an 8-5 decision to Michael Lewis at 145 pounds and Jacob Alcaro fell to Luca Frinzi in an 8-4 decision at 152.

The most exciting match of the evening was in the 160-pound class. Freshman Caden Wright and Tavion Banks battled to a last-second one-point decision, won by Banks 3-2. Ryan Zeiner then edged Jared Skibinski 4-1 at 170.

“I thought there were a few of those that we could’ve gotten to go our way tonight,” said Arbushites. “But again, give credit to the lineup they have over there. They really know how to battle and come out on top.”

Becahi notched three more pins in the final six bouts and cruised to the win.

Emmaus, coming off two straight wins, including a 62-9 thumping of their own against Pocono Mountain West, will regroup and compete in the Battle at the Beach at Indian River High School on Thursday and Friday.

“It’ll be nice to be wrestling away for the holidays,” Arbushites said. “There will be some good competition. It is the best of Delaware down there, and that is kind of like where we are at rankings-wise in Pennsylvania. There will be a lot of opportunities for us down there to score some district points for the postseason.”