Emmaus sent out one of its best wrestlers to start the District 11 team duals on Thursday at Liberty High School. And while Tyler Corpora was able to earn a decision victory at 145 pounds to open the Hornets’ match against No. 7 seed Easton, the remainder of the evening wasn’t nearly as successful.

The Red Rovers won 10 of the 14 bouts, including five wins by fall, to defeat No. 10 Emmaus 44-15 last week and advance to the District 11 Class 3A semifinals.

“They really left a few kids out of their lineup, which I think would have probably awarded them a couple more bonus points,” head coach Jeff Arbushites said. “But I did see some good things. I don’t think we finished things off very well, but I think we came out and wrestled, at least initially.”

Easton was without at least three of its regular varsity starters against Emmaus, and could have been missing up to six that have seen significant mat time, according to Arbushites. It was a curveball thrown at the Hornets.

“I was a little surprised when we weighed in,” Arbushites said. “I think I could have coached it to keep the score closer, but the outcome the same. But I think the way I did it and if, and it’s a big if, all the chips fell into place, that would have been our only viable chance of winning the match.”

The match began pretty much the way Arbushites had planned.

Corpora grinded out a 3-1 victory over the Red Rovers’ Gaven Krazer. Then, a forfeit victory a couple of bouts later at 170 pounds gave Emmaus a 9-6 advantage four matches in.

But that’s the last time Emmaus held a lead in its district match. Easton won the next four bouts and went ahead 24-9 as the lower weight classes started to hit the match. The Red Rovers’ Ethan DiRenzo (182) and Jonathan Pineda (285) picked up decisions, while Max Viduszynski (195) and Kendall Flores (220) won by fall.

“Their lesser experienced kids are going to have an idea, and they did,” Arbushites said. “It’s not an accident Easton is where they are. If you ask an Easton fan, they are probably a little bit on edge because it’s not usually where they want to be. Easton is Easton. You have to come to wrestle, and you can’t make a mistake.

“We also have two major kids out of the lineup, which I think makes a huge difference. I could have flipped things around differently in the middle, which probably would have made a difference.”

When the match got underway at the lower weights, starting at 106, Peyton Brown shut down Easton’s Colby Duffy for a 4-0 decision to get Emmaus within half of the Red Rovers at 24-12. The Red Rovers, however, would win the next four bouts before Jacob Alcaro ended the match with a victory at 138 pounds.

The loss may have ended Emmaus’ run as a team in 2017, but there is still some wrestling in store for the Green Hornets.

The District 11 Class 3A individual tournament will be held at Liberty High School on February 24-25. A number of Emmaus grapplers are hoping to advance their seasons onto regionals and perhaps to states.

“It’s not about the team anymore,” Arbushites said. “It’s not about me moving you around trying to find the best matchups, [or] trying to maybe control a heavy-favored match and expand upon a match where we are a favorite to earn large bonus points.

“It’s really now about finding a way to score that one point to win that 5-5 contest, or win that 3-3 contest, so that you can advance to the next round.”

Easton went on to lose to eventual champion Nazareth after its victory over the Hornets.

The Rovers won two matches in the consolation bracket. First was a 34-30 victory over Liberty, followed by a 45-24 romp over Pottsville. Northampton ended the their run in the next round.