On a weekend where traditional wrestling powers Nazareth, Bethlehem Catholic and Northampton dominated the District 11 3A wrestling tournament at Parkland, Emmaus had a good showing by coming away with a sixth-place finish in the team standings and advancing two wrestlers to this weekend’s Northeast Regional 3A tournament.

Nick Velde (132) and Kordell Waiters (152) advanced to this Saturday’s tournament at the Charles Chrin Community Center in Palmer Township with their third-place finishes at districts.

Velde topped Dawson Miller of East Stroudsburg South 9-5 in his consolation round final, while Waiters pinned Zack Orsargos of Stroudsburg in 1:33.

The top three wrestlers in each weight advanced out of districts, making this year’s tournament even more difficult.

“I knew what I had to do to move on to next week,” said Velde. “I thought I should have been in the top two, but that’s something I can strive for next week.”

Velde advanced to the semifinals but lost to eventual champion Matt Mayer of Bethlehem Catholic by fall in 3:32. He bounced back with a 10-2 major decision over Parkland’s Nathan Kresge in the consolation round before topping Miller for the coveted bronze medal.

“Hopefully next week I have better luck with my seeding in the bracket, but I’m ready to get back to work this week in the room,” he said. “I felt good in the tournament and thought I was in pretty good shape. Now I just want to get better.”

Waiters overcame a first period takedown by Orsargos in the consolation final before packing him away with a big victory to push him through to regionals for the first time.

“He chose bottom in the second period and I capitalized on that by cradling him up for the pin,” Waiters said. “Last year, I fell short of making it to regionals by one match, so this is big for me. I’ve been working for this the past four years and it’s nice to finally to get there.”

It may have been the quietest District 11 Class 3A wrestling tournament in history without fans over the weekend at Parkland High School, but there was one final roar at the conclusion of Sunday’s championship round that was loud and clear.

Nazareth freshman heavyweight Sean Kinney caused those roars for the Blue Eagle coaching staff and team, as his pin over Stroudsburg’s Sebastian Khamis in 2:52 was enough to give Nazareth the team title over Bethlehem Catholic by the slightest of margins.

The Blue Eagles came away with 10 wrestlers to advance to next week’s Northeast Regional 3A tournament, which helped them amass 231.5 team points to Bethlehem Catholic’s 230.5 to steal the team trophy.

Nazareth had four champions on the night with Kinney rounding things out, but his teammates Drew Clearie (189) and Chase Levey (215) helped that dream come true with pins in their championship bouts to catapult Kinney to three straight falls for the Blue Eagles. Nazareth’s Charlie Bunting (113) also won gold, as he topped Becahi’s Cael McIntyre 2-1 for a decisive win that played a huge role in the title race.

Bethlehem Catholic, however, advanced 10 wrestlers to regionals and crowned the most champions on Sunday, walking away with five crowns.

One of those champions was sophomore Tyler Kasak (126), who coasted through his bracket en route to a 16-1 technical fall win in 4:00 over Pottsville’s Parrish McFarland.

It was the second straight district championship for Kasak, who took this weekend’s action as business as usual, considering the circumstances.

“I see every match like it’s the state finals,” Kasak said. “It’s no different if there’s a full gym or it’s empty. I have the same mentality and mindset. I was happy with how I wrestled. Scored a lot of points and thought I did well.”

Becahi’s other champions included Dante Frinzi (120), Matt Mayer (132), Andrew Harmon (138) and Evan Gleason (152).

For Harmon, it was his first district gold medal, as he pinned Northampton’s CJ Fritz in 4:47.

“I knew that I needed to finish my shots in the match [against Fritz] and eventually it worked out for me,” Harmon said. “Winning districts was what I envisioned coming into the tournament, so it feels good to come away with gold.”

Other place-winners for the Hawks included Charlies Pavis (106, third), Trey Miletics (145, third), Landon Muth (160, second) and Anthony DeRosa (189, third).

Northampton took third in the team standings with 161 points and had three champions on the afternoon, as Jagger Condomitti (160) led the way for the Kids with a pin over Becahi’s Landon Muth in 5:24. It was the third pin of the tournament for Condomitti, who also scored a 23-8 technical fall over Liberty’s Christian Reid in the semifinals to coast his way to the Outstanding Wrestler award.

Team Standings

1. Nazareth 231.5; 2. Bethlehem Catholic 230.5; 3. Northampton 161; 4. Easton 92; 5. Emmaus 83; 6. Liberty 62; 7. Stroudsburg 61; 8. Pottsville 58; 9. Whitehall 54; 10. Freedom 51; 11. Parkland 44; 12. East Stroudsburg South 37; 13. East Stroudsburg North 34; 14. Blue Mountain 28; 14. Pocono Mountain East 28; 16. Bangor 25; 17. Pocono Mountain West 23; 18. Allen 20; 19. Pleasant Valley 16; 20. Southern Lehigh 15; 21. Dieruff 5.

Emmaus District 11

Wrestling Results

Geovanni Lainez (Sr.) No. 5 at 116

Lainez pinned Manny Lopez (Stroudsburg) in 1:00

Austin Noe (Northampton) tech. fall Lainez, 18-2

Lainez pinned Kaleb Contes (Parkland) in :38

Kadon Brish (Blue Mountain) dec. Lainez 7-2

Marco Albanese (So.) No. 5 at 120

Albanese dec. Aaron Ciampittiello (Parkland), 10-3

Dalton Monger (Pottsville) major dec. Albanese, 10-0

Albanese pinned Joey Bodnar (Freedom) in 1:33

Albanese pinned Aidan Micheli (Northampton) in 1:20

Jake Doone (Nazareth) dec. Albanese, 5-2

Nick Velde (Jr.) No. 4 at 132

Velde pinned Robert Curley (Bangor) in :36

Velde pinned Cade Sawyer (Southern Lehigh) in :11

Matt Mayer (Bethlehem Catholic) pinned Velde in 3:22

Velde major dec. Nathan Kresge (Parkland), 10-2

Velde dec. Dawson Miller (East Stroudsburg South), 9-5

Braulio Hurtado (Jr.) No. 7 at 138

Joshua Montesino (Dieruff) dec. Hurtado, 4-3

Ryan Santiago (Liberty) inj. def. Hurtado, 6-3 at 2:16

Evan Camire (So.) No. 5 at 145

Camire pinned Blake Bender (Pottsville) in 1:06

Camire dec. Nicholas Foster (Nazareth), 4-2

Dagen Condomitti (Northampton) dec. Camire 4-2

Trey Miletics (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Camire, 12-11

Kordell Waiters (Sr.) No. 2 at 152

Waiter pinned Andreas Zannikis (Southern Lehigh) in :51

Waiters pinned Alex Klaver (Bangor) in :29

Noah Okamaoto (Nazareth) dec. Waiters, 3-2

Waiters pinned Dillon Anderson (Pleasant Valley) in 2:42

Waiters pinned Zack Orsargos (Stroudsburg) in 1:33

Quinn Scott No. 5 at 160

Scott pinned Gentry Knapp (Pleasant Valley) in 2:52

Christian Reid (Liberty) dec. Scott, 11-4

Scott inj. def. Dylan Bohorad (Pottsville), 2-0 at :25

Edwin Moya (Parkland) dec. Scott, 5-3

Jack Brion (Jr.) No. 8 at 172

Brion pinned Christian London (Stroudsburg) in 3:24

Dominic Falcone (Easton) pinned Brion in 3:14

Brion major dec. Bryce Shappell (Pottsville), 14-1

Adrian Gacek (Parkland) dec. Brion, 7-0

Cody Lafaver (Sr.) No. 9 at 189

Alex Neeley (Parkland) dec. Lafaver, 8-6

Jo-Voni Grullon (Liberty) by forfeit over Lafaver

Trevor Gitski (Jr.) No. 7 at 215

Gitski pinned Nico Spezza (Bethlehem Catholic) in 3:10

Chase Levey (Nazareth) dec. Gitski, 9-3

Gitski pinned Brandon Stiehler (Pocono Mountain West) in 2:33

Matthew Bogardo (Freedom) dec. Gitski, 5-1

Connor Carter (Sr.) No. 5 at 285

Carter pinned Carson Czarnecki (Northampton) in 2:36

Sean Kinney (Nazareth) pinned Carter in 4:31

Carter dec. Xavier Ramos (Dieruff), 10-4

Czarnecki pinned Carter in 2:43