Five Northwestern wrestlers made the podium and two earned titles Sunday at the Colonial League Wrestling Championships.

Freshman Trent Croll (133) and sophomore Luke Fugazzotto (172) took first place in their weight class to lead the Tigers to a fifth-place finish as a team in the second annual league tournament.

Croll entered the event as the third seed at 133 pounds. He pinned his first opponent then avenged an early season loss to Pen Argyl’s Aiden Korr by beating him by major decision in the league semifinal match.

In the title bout, Croll got an early takedown and opened a 7-3 lead on top-seeded David Mballa (Wilson) before Mballa got a few takedowns and gave up escapes in order to try to catch up.

Croll got his sixth takedown of the match in the third period to seal the win, 16-12.

“It felt really good being a freshman winning this tournament,” Croll said. “I had confidence I could beat the Pen Argyl kid. The Wilson kid I never wrestled before, but I knew I had a chance against him and I made it happen. I was watching his matches and he was really fast, so when I got the early takedown I was pretty confident I would win that match.”

Fugazzotto spent less than three minutes on the mat Sunday at Catasauqua High School. He pinned his first opponent in 1:17 then showed Pen Argyl’s Shane Moser the lights in just :51 in the semifinal.

The title bout was more of the same as Fugazzotto put Southern Lehigh’s Cody Wesner on his back in :58.

“I feel like I wrestled good for the level of competition here,” said Fugazzotto. “I was just trying to get my stuff and trying things and overall dominance pretty much.”

After winning last year’s district title, the Tiger sophomore is looking to become a state medalist this season.

Northwestern freshman Braydon Uricchio (114) took third place in the league tournament. After dropping his semifinal bout to eventual league champ Keith Barker of Southern Lehigh, Uricchio won two straight matches, pinning both opponents in the second period.

Noah Schlofer (215) and Jackson Huber (285) both took fourth place at leagues.

Schlofer, a senior, won his first bout then fell to eventual champ Jakub Gloc Salisbury) before winning in the consolation semifinals to get to the third-place bout. He dropped the third place bout 2-1 to Northern Lehigh’s Jack Tosh.

Huber, a junior, lost to Salisbury’s Sam Krauss in his first match and in the third-place match. In between those losses he beat Southern Lehigh’s Reilly Steckert 10-2 and pinned Pen Argyl’s Brayden Krasnopera in 1:28.

Southern Lehigh took the team title at the event with Wilson taking second place and Pen Argyl third. The league’s two unbeaten teams, Saucon Valley and Notre Dame (Green Pond) didn’t send most of their top wrestlers to the league tournament after both competed in tournaments the days before.

Northwestern heads into this week at 2-8 overall and 1-4 in league matches with four dual meets left, including three league matches. In 17th place in the District 11 Class 2A rankings, the Tigers would likely need to win all four matches to have any chance of reaching the district team tournament.

Colonial League

Wrestling Championships

Team Standings

1. Southern Lehigh 123.5, 2. Wilson 118.5, 3. Pen Argyl 114, 4. Bangor 113, 5. Northwestern 102, 6. Palmerton 97.5, 7. Catasauqua 94.5, 8. Northern Lehigh 76, 9. Palisades 69, 10. Salisbury 68.5, 11. Notre Dame (Green Pond) 40, 12. Saucon Valley 38

Northwestern Lehigh

Individual Results

107 - Aris Gabri-El

Gabri El pinned Joshua Breyer (So. Lehigh) in :59

Thomas Pasquariello (Palmerton) pinned Gabri-El in 1:12

Paul Laubner (Notre Dame) pinned Gabri-El in 2:16

114 - Braydon Uricchio

Uricchio pinned Gavin Hacker (Catasauqua) in 4:27

Keith Barker (So. Lehigh) pinned Uricchio in :32

Uricchio pinned Noah Gosart (No. Lehigh) in 2:52

Third-place match: Uricchio pinned Hacker in 2:13

121 - Noah Griffith

Mason Wenhold (Saucon Valley) pinned Griffith in 1:28

Griffith pinned Matthew Gombert (Palmerton) in 3:31

Griffith dec. Madacyn Rivera (Pen Argyl), 9-5

Cody Mazzocca (No. Lehigh) pinned Griffith in 1:17

133 - Trent Croll

Croll pinned Aidan Ortiz (Palmerton) in 4:27

Croll major dec. Aiden Knorr (Pen Argyl), 11-3

Championship match: Croll dec. David Mballa (Wilson), 16-12

139 - William Turner

Turner pinned Brody Campagna (So. Lehigh) in 3:48

Michael Segata (Salisbury) major dec. Turner, 14-1

Rider Heckman (Wilson) major dec. Turner, 14-2

145 - Katie Brensinger

Danny Thatcher major dec. Brensinger, 11-1

Brensinger pinned Jakob Darois (Notre Dame), 3:42

Jordan Tocci (Salisbury) tech. fall Brensinger, 18-8

152 - Justice Weaver

Alex Tripoli (Salisbury) pinned Weaver in :33

Ashton Beckowski (Saucon Valley) pinned Weaver in :17

172 - Luke Fugazzotto

Fugazzotto pinned Lane Frankenfield (Palisades) in 1:17

Fugazzotto pinned Shane Moser (Pen Argyl) in :51

Championship match: Fugazzotto pinned Cody Wesner (So. Lehigh) in :58

215 - Noah Schlofer

Schlofer dec. Ryan King (So. Lehigh), 2-1

Jakub Gloc (Salisbury) pinned Schlofer in 3:10

Schlofer pinned TJ McLain (Bangor) in 4:14

Third-place match: Jack Tosh (No. Lehigh) dec. Schlofer, 2-1

285 - Jackson Huber

Sam Krauss (Salisbury) pinned Huber in :53

Huber major dec. Reilly Steckert (So. Lehigh), 10-2

Huber pinned Brayden Krasnopera (Pen Argyl) in 1:28

Third-place match: Krauss pinned Huber in :27