Northampton’s wrestling team will have an opportunity to test their mettle in one last regular season tournament before they prep for the postseason stretch run when they head to Council Rock South this weekend for the Escape the Rock tournament.

The K-Kids finished 18th as a team last year and came away with four medalists, but should be able to improve upon that performance with the team they bring to the field this year.

Head coach Seth Lisa fully expects that to happen as well.

“We are always looking for steady improvement through the season,” said Lisa. “This is a very tough tournament with multiple states represented, so its important to have all of our wrestlers score points and fight.”

Last year, Logan Ninos (120, eighth); Jagger Condomitti (126, seventh); Devon Britton (132, fourth) and Hunter Werkheiser (HWT, seventh) each medaled at their respective weight classes. With the addition of Julian Chlebove (138) to this year’s team, the Kids will certainly be in contention for a gold medal.

Chlebove lost 3-1 to Hanover Park’s Nick Raimo in 2017, the last time he participated in the event, but will look to make his mark this time around.

Lisa feels his whole team can compete for medals and feels this event will be a good measuring stick for them heading down the stretch.

“We believe everyone has a chance to medal,” said Lisa. “Our guys have been in tough competition all year and this is another opportunity for us to improve. I think we have five seeded wrestlers in the top eight, so those boys are probably our most favored.

The seeded wrestlers for this weekend are: Chlebove is first at 132, Condomitti is third at 145, Werkheiser is seventh at HWT, Sam Hanley is seventh at 120 and Michael Kistler is seventh at 160. Britton won’t be wrestling at this year’s tournament, as he’s recovering from surgery last week. His timetable to return is close to the district postseason.

While that is a blow for Northampton’s lineup, Lisa is using this event to gauge how far along the team has progressed.

“This is our last major event before district duals so we want to see a lot of energy, and fight,” he said. “Conditioning should be in nearly top shape as well. It would be good to have a good showing this weekend.”