Imagine being the sixth-ranked AAA wrestling team in Pennsylvania and headed to the district duals tournament. In most PA districts you would be the top-seeded team and have a walkover in the first round.

Not in District XI.

The Konkrete Kids drew the fifth seed and their fourth-seeded opponent in the quarterfinals was fourth-ranked Notre Dame-Green Pond. (Nazareth, Emmaus, and Bethlehem Catholic were ranked and seeded 1, 2, and 3.)

With dynamic 152-pounder Chase Grabfelder out due to illness, Northampton started behind the eight ball and they just came up a bit short as they fell 35-30.

Head coach Joe Provini explained, “We lost the toss again, that hurt us down low. We knew we needed 27, 33, and then if we could win 52, 60, 72, we would need heavyweight. Not having Chase changed everything we were going to do through the middle. Chase is one of the toughest kids I’ve ever coached, so I know he wanted to be here, but without him, we had to bump up.”

He continued, “We had to take it on. It was next man up. And I’m very proud of the way my team responded. They wrestled a great team and we didn’t miss a beat. And we had some big wins.”

Davi Glykas fought back from a 5-0 deficit to get a pin in the second period to give the K-Kids a big lift with 6 teams points right out of the gate at 127.

Trey Wagner won a tough, 5-4 decision against three-time state qualifier Gavyn Kelton at 145.

Seldom-used Giuliano Labbadia delivered a tech fall at 160.

The K-Kids held a 24-9 lead after seven bouts, but NDGP is strong at the upper weights and at the very bottom. They won five of the last 6 matches, including three pins and a tech fall.

The team will now turn its attention to individual districts which start February 20 at Liberty. Wagner, Grabfelder, Gabe Ballard, and Brayden Wenrich were all district finalist last year with Wagner and Wenrich taking home titles.

All four of those guys have their sights set squarely on the state championships in Hershey. For the rest of the team, it will be an opportunity to prove themselves and try to advance out of the toughest district in the state.

Notre Dame-Green Pond 35,

Northampton 30

127 - Davi Glykas (N) pinned Cole Schwartz (ND), 3:36 (0-6), 133 - Jacob Volpe (ND) dec. Matthew Sommer (N), 7-0 (3-6), 139 - Jeff Cemelli (ND) pinned Zachary Hartzell (N), 3:50 (9-6), 145 - Trey Wagner (N) dec. Gavyn Kelton (ND), 5-4 (9-9), 152 - Carter Chlebove (N) won by tech. fall over Jared Gonzalez (ND), 18-2 5:50 (9-14), 160 - Giuliano Labbadia (N) won by tech. fall over Dominick Tocci (ND), 20-4 5:50 (9-19), 172 - Gabriel Ballard (N) won by tech. fall over Cole Retos (ND), 15-0 4:00 (9-24), 189 - Dominic Sumpolec (ND) pinned Nick Harding (N), 0:33 (15-24), 215 - Connor Smalley (ND) pinned Joell Small (N), 1:16 (21-24), 285 - Noah Knorp (ND) dec. Brandon McEntire (N), 5-1 (24-24), 107 - Maximus Quarry (ND) pinned Benjamin Schoeneberger (N), 3:16 (30-24), 114 - Brayden Wenrich (N) pinned Tanner Shear (ND), 0:59 (30-30), 121 - Cael Muller (ND) won by tech. fall over Cade Strauss (N), 16-0 3:13 (35-30)