This weekend the Northampton wrestling will return to competition for the first time since their January 27 dual meet against Nazareth. The District XI AAA individual tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday at Parkland. No spectators are permitted.

Head coach Seth Lisa discussed the team’s preparation given that the wrestlers had just three bouts all year.

“We try to have high-paced practices to replicate some of those bouts that we missed. Nothing is going to make up for not having 30 matches,” he said. “There’s just no way to do that. We know that at least locally, everybody’s in the same situation.”

The team had the opportunity to participate in district duals last weekend, but along with every other AAA team except Bethlehem Catholic, opted out. Lisa explained the decision.

“If we had been able to get the week in and have Nazareth on Wednesday and Beca on Friday (the last week of January) and see where we stand and get more information, then maybe it would have been a harder decision,” Lisa said. “It just didn’t seem like it was worth it (to risk COVID exposure when only the district team champion qualifies for states).”

Lisa expected to submit weight class entries into districts matching the team’s dual meet lineup for their three contests this year. ne notable exception will be at 152 pounds where senior Noah Reichelderfer will not compete due to a previous commitment.

It is possible that not everyone in the Northampton lineup will get to compete. The committee is restricting the number of entries into each weight class to 16 in order to minimize the chances of COVID exposure. There are 21 AAA schools in the district, so it’s possible that up to 5 wrestlers per weight class will be denied the chance to participate. The seeding meeting took place after Press deadlines.

The K-Kids’ three returning state qualifiers, Carson Wagner (106), Dagen Condomitti (145), and Jagger Condomitti (160), were all 3-0 this season and will likely earn #1 seeds.

The rest of Northampton’s lineup and their season records:

Freshman Austin Noe (113) 3-0 (2 by forfeit). Sophomore Aidan Micheli (120) 1-2. Senior Patrick Snoke (126) 2-1. Sophomore Mason Basara (132) 1-2. Junior C.J. Fritz (138) 3-0. Senior Blaise Wagner (172) 1-2. Freshman Landon Roland (189) 1-2. Senior Kyle Perl (215) 2-1. Sophomore Carson Czarnecki (285) 1-2.