The Northampton wrestling team claimed 3rd place at the EPC championships on Saturday with 42-26 win over Easton.

With both teams nursing some injuries and illnesses, there were a few matchup changes from the regular season dual meet with the Rovers just two weeks earlier.

Head coach Seth Lisa explained.

“We got two flus. We got two bum legs. We were banged up,” he said. “They’ve been banged up. It’s the end of the year. Right now it feels good to get done with the regular season and get ready for district duals.”

The absence of some of the K-Kid regulars appeared to have opened to the door to a possible Easton upset. Northampton led 32-26 with two bouts remaining and sent out junior Patrick Snoke to wrestle in his first varsity match.

The 126-pounder hit an early 5-point move to go up in the bout and then finished in style by hitting a Cement Job for the fall at the 4:17 mark to clinch the match.

The pin set off a celebration among his fellow wrestlers that showed how invested they were in their teammate’s win.

Lisa was beaming when speaking about Snoke.

“We have a hundred kids from 106 to 138 and a lot of very capable kids and one of those capable guys is Patrick Snoke. For him to get his first match tonight and come out and secure the dual meet with a fall, I’m sure that made his day. It made my day too.”

District duals start tonight and Pete Schneider Gymnasium will host both Northampton’s and Nazareth’s sections of the bracket. The preliminary matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. and the quarterfinals for 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for students and seniors.

The K-Kids come in as the 2 seed behind the Blue Eagles. They will face the winner of the Stroudsburg vs. Blue Mountain preliminary. Nazareth faces the winner between Easton and Emmaus in their quarterfinal.

Northampton will almost certainly face third-seeded Bethlehem Catholic in one semifinal Saturday at 10:45 a.m. at Freedom HS. The morning session on Saturday has the same ticket prices as above. The consolation quarterfinals start at 9 a.m. and the consolation semifinals are at 12:30 p.m.

The final and consolation final will start at 5:30 p.m. at Freedom. All tickets to this session are $7.

If the consolation winner has not wrestled the final’s loser, there will be a true-second-place match at 7:30 p.m. to decide District XI’s second entrant into the state tournament. This is the path the K-Kids took last year on their way to a state runner-up finish.