The Emmaus wrestling competed at the District 11 3A individual wrestling tournament held last Friday and Saturday at Liberty High School in Bethlehem.

Four Emmaus wrestlers advanced to this weekend’s PIAA Northeast Regional by placing in the top five in their weight class.

Nick Velde (138), Quinn Scott (152), Jared Groller (215) and Trevor Gitski (285) will all compete in this weekend’s tournament back at Liberty High School where they will take on the top wrestlers from districts 2 and 12. The top four grapplers in each weight class will move on to the state championships in Hershey March 10-12.

Groller was the Hornets’ top finisher at the meet, taking second place with a loss to Nazareth’s Chase Levey in the title bout. Groller pinned his first opponent then won by a slim 5-4 margin in his second bout before an injury default sent him to final.

Gitski won four matches at the tournament, all by decision. He beat Bethlehem Catholic’s Elijah Thompson twice in the event, both times by tiebreaker and once in the third-place bout.

Scott and Velde both finished fourth at districts. Scott won a pair of matches by decision before falling to eventual champ Dagan Condomitti of Northampton in the semifinals.

A win in the consolation semifinals put Scott in the third-place match, where he fell to Bethlehem Catholic’s Jake Dailey.

“I’ve never been in the semifinals of any tournament, middle school or high school,” said Scott, a senior. “This year had a lot of ups and downs I will say. But it feels really good to be a captain and that’s what’s really kept me going this year.

“I haven’t had the best year, but I’ve won close matches. I haven’t been dominant, but this whole year I’ve just been kind of wrestling and having fun with my teammates. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment in my last go around.”

Scott wasn’t feeling very good about his postseason chances after a late-season loss in a dual meet against Whitehall. But Hornet head coach Thad Smith helped him find the right mindset heading into districts.

“To be honest, he’s kept me around,” Scott said. “After senior night we wrestled Whitehall and I got my butt handed to me. I was all down and I was just in a bad spot. He brought me into his office and talked to me. It turned me around and it just did a complete 180.”

Velde will return to regional this year after placing third last year and competing in a super-regional, which was held last year so that the field at the state championship meet could be reduced to eight grapplers in each weight class.

Velde pinned his first two opponents before falling to eventual champ Tyler Kasak of Bethlehem Catholic. He pinned his consolation semifinal opponent to earn a spot in the third-place match against Jake Doone of Nazareth, who pinned Velde in 3:33.

Emmaus finished sixth as a team at districts with 106 points. Nazareth won the Class 3A title with 305 points. The Blue Eagles crowned five champs and had 12 regional qualifiers. Bethlehem Catholic (288.5) and Northampton (154) were second and third, respectively, in the team standings. Bethlehem Catholic crowned seven champs Saturday evening, while Northampton crowned one. All 14 Class 3A district champs came from those three schools.

In Class 2A, where Saucon Valley beat Notre Dame (Green Pond) for the team title, all 14 district champs were members of those two teams.

Below are Emmaus results from the District 11 Class 3A Wrestling Championships.

Alex Issa (113)

Mark Ortiz (Stroudsburg) pinned Issa in 3:17

Colin Seefeldt (Blue Mountain) def. Issa by forfeit

Aidan Horn (120)

Connor Demcher (Pottsville) pinned Horn in 1:38

Thomas Ruiz (East Stroudsburg So.) dec. Horn, 1-0

Jesse Scott (126)

Keegan Demarest (Pocono Mt. East) major dec. Scott, 10-0

Scott pinned Joshua Ramirez (East Stroudsburg So.) in 2:57

Johnny Colon (Whitehall) tech fall Scott, 24-9.

Marco Albanese (132)

Albanese pinned Amir Sohail (Pocono Mt. West) in 1:54

Albanese dec. Payton Fasnacht (Blue Mountain), 6-0

Tyler Cunnigham (Whitehall) dec. Albanese, 7-2

Aidan Micheli (Northampton) dec. Albanese, 3-1 SV

Fifth-place match: Ayden Rader (Nazareth) major dec. Albanese, 12-2

Nick Velde (138)

Velde pinned Robert Bibeau (East Stroudsburg No.) in :47

Velde pinned Leo Kern (Parkland) in :59

Tyler Kasak (Bethlehem Catholic) major dec. Velde, 14-6.

Velde pinned Cael Harmon (Pocono Mt. East) in :29

Third-place match: Jake Doone (Nazareth) pinned Velde in 3:33

Caleb Baldwin (145)

Christopher Jurado (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Baldwin, 8-6

Baldwin pinned Killian Ursu (Stroudsburg) in :26

Ryan Santiago (Liberty) pinned Baldwin in 1:31

Quinn Scott (152)

Scott dec. Victor Carrasquilla (Parkland), 7-5

Scott dec. Joshua Montesino (Dieruff), 6-2

Dagen Condemnitti (Northampton) pinned Scott in 5:03

Scott pinned James Geiger (Easton) in 3:20

Third-place match: Jake Dailey (Bethlehem Catholic) major dec. Scott, 11-1

Drew Schmidt (160)

Kevin Malone (East Stroudsburg No.) pinned Schmidt in 3:13

Schmidt pinned Aaron Nonnemaker (Pleasant Valley) in 2:09

Noah MacIlroy (Freedom) pinned Schmidt in 3:14

Jack Brion (172)

Brion dec. Kenyan Jones (East Stroudsburg So.), 9-5

Giovanni Macario (Easton) dec. Brion, 10-3

Brion pinned Bryce Shappell (Pottsville) in 1:53

Vinny Hebel (Nazareth) dec. Brion, 3-2

Jake Gross (189)

Dylan Osorio dec. Gross, 5-3

Gross pinned Anthony Lyden (Freedom) in 2:11

Melquan Warren (Whitehall) dec. Gross, 9-3

Jared Groller (215)

Groller pinned Brian Welser (Dieruff) in :54

Groller dec. James Barnuzza (Pleasant Valley), 5-4

Groller def. Malachi Walters (Pocono Mt. West) by injury default

Championship match: Chase Levey (Nazareth) pinned Groller in 1:54

Trevor Gitski (285)

Gitski dec. Seth Kolb (Liberty), 2-1

Gitski dec. Elijah Thompson (Bethlehem Catholic), 2-1 TB2

Matthew Cruise (Easton) pinned Gitski in 3:50

Gitski dec. Glenn Pittius (Pocono Mt. West), 5-3

Third-place match: Gitski dec. Thompson, 4-2 TB2