For Emmaus senior Caden Wright, this past weekend’s PIAA Northeast Class 3A Regional tournament was shaping up much like districts just a week prior.

The Hornet grappler, for the second time in as many weeks, was set to meet Easton’s Isaiah Reinert in the semifinal round with a spot in the finals on the line. But after a 2-1 defeat to Reinert in districts, Wright once again found himself on the short end of a one-point decision at regionals, a 3-2 setback on Saturday afternoon at Liberty High School.

Wright, however, rebounded with two consecutive victories in the consolation round to earn his third straight trip to states. He pinned Hazleton’s Jake Marnell in an ultimate tiebreaker to finish third in the loaded 182-pound weight class.

“[Reinert] took a single, and I tried to sit the corner to a nearside cradle,” Wright said. “When I sat the corner, he elevated my leg and finished the shot. I got a point on the escape, but wasn’t able to finish with the takedown. I can’t change it anymore, so I had to take that loss and move on. I’ll see him at states. I lost a tough one to him last week, too.

“I obviously didn’t want to wrestle for third. I was planning on coming in here and winning the tournament. But the next best thing is third. I took a loss and I have to move on.”

After that loss to Reinert, Wright regrouped. He had little trouble taking down Northampton’s Riley Gallagher, 6-0, in the consolation semifinals round. It was the second time in as many weeks the two met with Wright coming out victorious.

That win cemented his position in states, but Wright wasn’t finished. He outlasted Marnell, earning the fall in 7:30, in the third-place match to earn a bronze medal.

“I’ve wrestled Riley before, and I know that he’s a tough competitor,” Wright said. “I knew he wasn’t going to be able to hold me down. And then when we were on our feet, I was pretty confident I was going to score, but I didn’t.

“I actually need to fix that. I have to score on my feet more often. For the most part I think I wrestled tough.”

Wright made the jump to 182 pounds in his final high school season for a number of reasons. But one of the main ones allowed him to use his speed on his feet to his advantage against some of the stronger grapplers.

“It was my senior season, and I just didn’t want to worry about my weight at all,” Wright said. “I just wanted to come out here and have fun. Being 182 actually benefited my team during the season. I had a pretty decent season, so I just thought come the postseason, I’ll stay at 182.

“As the season went on I realized that I was getting slower on my feet, just because there’s more weight to move. I actually had to keep my weight a little lower, so I could stay light on my feet.”

Wright pinned George Washington’s Cristian Alicea in 1:11 in the first round, and then edged Marnell for the first time in the quarterfinal round via a 4-3 decision.

The other Hornet grappler that competed in regionals was Jared Groller at 170 pounds. A year after not placing at districts, the Hornet sophomore earned a spot at regionals, went 3-3 and placed sixth.

After pinning Wilkes-Barre’s Carl Johnson in the first round in just 22 seconds, Angel Garcia of Mariana Bracetti Academy earned a tech fall (17-0) that sent Groller into the consolation bracket

His run was far from over though. He pinned St. Joseph Prep’s Mike Marrone in the second round of the consolation bracket in 50 seconds. He then advanced to the consolation semifinals after defeating Delaware Valley’s Gavin Brazanskas, 7-4.

Groller, however, was pinned by Father Judge’s Brenden Spicer to end his chance of advancing to states. Nazareth’s Joseph Capobianco then picked up a fall in the fifth-place match, leaving Groller with sixth place.

“I expected the [consolation semifinals] to go differently,” Groller said. “I was hoping I would wrestle better and was very upset how it went. [Spicer] was just more into the match than me. I should have gone harder.”

Groller finished his season 25-10.

The PIAA Class 3A tournament will begin on Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey. Wright, who will face Conestoga’s Matt Hamilton in the first round, realizes it’s do-or-die time.

“I’ve lost in the [quarterfinal] round in each of the past two years, so this year is do it or never,” Wright said. “I have to get on that podium. And I think I can win the whole tournament; I just have to go in there with the right mindset and get after it.”