The Parkland wrestling team found itself ahead early on in its match against Emmaus last week The Trojans were riding a ton of positive momentum, but things quickly changed as Emmaus fought back and won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference match 48-19 last Wednesday night at Parkland High School.

The Trojans won the first two bouts via a 5-3 decision by Joe Dolak (145) and a 16-3 major decision from Luke Yatcilla (152) to go up 7-0 early on. They then won the fourth bout with a pin by Jacob Ortman in 4:37 at 170 to go up 13-6 with all of the momentum on their side.

“Our guys there wrestled with technique and did a great job,” said first-year head coach Jon Trenge. “When you have solid moves like they do, you’ll be successful. It was big for us to pick up those wins early on, unfortunately we couldn’t hold onto the lead then.”

The Green Hornets earned two consecutive pins after Ortman’s fall to take the lead, and then won eight of the last 10 bouts to earn the victory.

Last year’s District 11 runner-up Caden Wright earned a pin at 182, followed by another fall at 195 by Trevor Gitski to put Emmaus ahead 18-13 where it would stay for good.

Emmaus then recorded a 6-2 decision at 220 before a run of three straight pins at 285, 106 and 113 put this one away.

The teams split the final two bouts as the Trojans tallied decisions at both 120 and 132 by Nathan Kresge and Lucas Kern respectively.

It may not have been the result he had hoped, but Trenge has seen positive things that he can take away and use in his first year as the head man.

“I like the camaraderie,” Trenge said. “They’re good kids to coach and have fun competing and love to learn. They take instruction well. We just need to get stronger. I like the fight and competitiveness they’ve shown, but we have some room to grow and improve. We’re a young team. Hopefully they respond.”

Parkland bounced back just 24 hours later with a victory over East Stroudsburg North. The Trojans will be back on the mat this weekend at the Hurricane Invitational at Liberty High School.