Much like the entire season has been so far for the Emmaus wrestling team, head coach Jeff Arbushites might not have been sure how his team would fare over the weekend at the Zephyr Duals.

The results, however, were impressive for the Hornets.

Emmaus completed a successful day at Whitehall High School with a second-place finish in the 16-team event on Saturday. The Hornets won their first three matches before falling to High Point Regional out of New Jersey in the championship match, 48-21.

“The unexpected has been the theme,” Arbushites said. “We talked a lot about coming together as a team. We don’t really have that two, three, or four-blue chippers on it. So, we have to find a way. Your biggest guns don’t always fire on point. The other guys have to find a way to pick up the slack. And so far, so good.”

Emmaus defeated Northwestern (54-21), Quakertown (43-30) and Bangor (31-30) to earn a spot in the championship.

Making it to the final against High Point Regional was an accomplishment in its own right. And despite facing a team in High Point that was expected to be the favorite, a number of Hornets put together solid outings on the mat.

Chase Pavelko got Emmaus on the board with a decision early on at 126 pounds, while Tyler Corpora (145) and Caden Wright (152) picked up a technical fall and a pin, respectively. Reed Custer and Jared Skibinksi also picked up decision victories, back-to-back at 170 and 182 pounds.

Wright, a freshman, and Reed Custer, a senior at 170 pounds, are both coming off injury-riddled seasons last winter. But the two are now at full strength, and the results are being seen in the early portion of the 2017 season.

“He [Custer] goes out there and he doesn’t care about the color of the uniform, the name of the kid or the score,” Arbushites said. “He goes out there and does what he can for Reed and the team.”

Pavelko, one of six Hornet seniors, is a captain who has impressed personally and made sacrifices for the betterment of the team as well.

“He’s won some big ones,” Arbushites said. “And for the team, he dropped a weight so that we had that opening and we could put our best lineup out there with Jackson Karrat, who is also coming back off of a little bit of abbreviated freshman season.

“Peyton Brown is really coming around. Jimmy Bowie, my undersized and under-seasoned 113-pounder, has had a couple of big wins. I can go right up the lineup for you.”

A spot in the championship match was on the line when the Hornets took on Colonial League power Bangor, unbeaten at 4-0 in the conference, in the semifinals round. But Emmaus was able to grind out a one-point victory over the Slaters.

“I expected something very tight, very close and very well-coached,” Arbushites said. “I knew we had to do something unexpected in there. You don’t expect Reed to go out there and pin [Jesse] Rocco, a quality opponent. I knew we were a little bit light up top, and I didn’t want to gamble or bank on that.”

The early going of this year hasn’t necessarily been as successful as last season, but it’s where Arbushites had hoped his team would be at come mid-January. Now, the Hornets are hoping to put together a strong finish to 2017, and a healthy one at that.

“It’s kind of the opposite theme,” Arbushites said. “Last year we started out like a ball of fire, and we were held together with scotch tape and chewing gum. This year is a little different. We started out a little bit slow. We didn’t have everyone where they needed to be. I had some academic issues and a couple of early-season injuries, but we’re falling into place and hitting our stride a little bit at the right time.”