Two Emmaus girls wrestlers earned league titles last weekend.

The Hornets’ Ariana Koberlein and Olivya Kroope both took first place at the East Penn Conference Championships Saturday at Easton Middle School.

Kroope entered as the No. 1 seed and defending champ in the 155-pound bracket

Koberlein entered the tournament as the fifth seed at 148.

Both finished the event on top of the podium.

“I’m pretty proud of myself, “ said Koberlein, a sophomore who didn’t place at last year’s EPC Championships. “I was hoping to get at least third so getting first was a real win.”

Koberlein pinned Nazareth’s Sophia Tiers in 5:39 in her opening bout Saturday. She got a win by forfeit in quarterfinals before knocking off top seed Alexis Horvath (Freedom) 13-6 in semifinals.

Koberlein, who improved to 21-6 this season, beat Pleasant Valley’s Josie Fetterman 7-2 in the title bout.

She said one key to her success was not losing confidence against top opponents and not being overconfident against lesser foes.

“I made sure I stayed level-minded and ready to go out and wrestle as hard as I could no matter who else stepped on the line,” Koberlein said. “Heading into districts I’m looking to place, make it to regionals and we’ll see from there.”

Kroope, a defending league and district champ, won all three of her matches in the first period.

She pinned Freedom’s Jaslin Plaza in 34 second in the first round. She showed Easton’s Ellia the lights in 1:17 in semifinals then put Parkland’s Natalie Deutsch on her back in 37 seconds in the title bout using a quick double underhook to get the Trojan to the mat.

Kroope, who is committed to wrestle at Edinboro University next year, is doing her best to enjoy her senior season while also competing at a high level.

“Most of my matches were pretty short but in almost all of them I did something I don’t always do,” she said. “I did a lot of things well. I been working on not getting as nervous and just staying in position. That’s been my number one thing. Things we work on in the room I try to employ while I’m wrestling. That’s the biggest thing, trying things to see what I like and what works.

“Another one of my goals is not to worry so much about rankings and just thinking about my next match, think about what I’m going to do in practice the next day.”

With the end of her high school wrestling career just over a month away, Kroope, who has won 64 matches over the past three seasons, has been thinking about everyone who contributed to her success.

“I just want to thank all my coaches and my teammates,” she said. “Everyone has been working real hard. We had some things happen in the room but everyone has come out of it better.”

The Hornets’ Hailey Laible also made it to a title bout Saturday before finishing second overall.

Laible (142) outlasted Stroudsburg’s Olivia Applewhite 22-18 in a first-round match. She pinned Liberty’s Lidia Whistleon in 2:32 in the semifinal round. In the title bout, Parkland’s Laura Volpe pinned Laible in 54 seconds.

Emmaus has one other medal winner Saturday as Lillian Erbrick took third place at 106.

Erbrick, a freshman, pinned Valerie Encarnacion (East Stroudsburg South) in the quarterfinal round before losing to Northampton’s Emilee Gaughran, 5-3, in the semifinals.

A 7-0 win over Freedom’s Leilani Matias put Erbrick in the third-place bout, where she was pinned by Nazareth’s Adrianna Raschilla in 1:39.

Emmaus finished third as a team at the EPC Championships, behind Parkland and Nazareth.

The Hornets wrestled two dual matches last week, falling to Liberty 38-33 on Wednesday, Jan. 21, and Parkland 56-18 the next day.

Against Liberty, Nitzana Jamaica (100), Erbrick (106), Koberlein (148), Kroope (155) and Jocelyn Vargas (170) pinned their Hurricane opponents, while Brynn Koberlein (136) won by decision.

Against Parkland, Jamaica, Ariana Koberlein and Kroope were Emmaus’ only winners. All three pinned their Trojan opponents.

The team is back in action Wednesday with a trip to Pocono Mountain East for the regular season finale.

This year’s girls District 11 Championships are slated for Feb. 14-15 at Freedom, with regionals a week later, Feb. 22 at Quakertown High School.

EPC Championships

Team Scores

1. Parkland 225, 2. Nazareth 136, 3. Emmaus 119, 4. Liberty 115, 5. East Stroudsburg South 110.5, 6. Pocono Mountain West 102, 7. Easton 101, 8. Northampton 76, 9. Stroudsburg 73, 10. Pleasant Valley 70, 11. Pocono Mountain East 64.5, 12. Freedom 59, 13. Allen 35, 14 Whitehall 30, 15. Bethlehem Catholic 7, 16. Dieruff 6, 17. East Stroudsburg North 3.

Championship Finals

100 - Chelsea Dressler (Nazareth) tech. fall Mya Jiminez (ES South), 20-5 in 2:51; 106 - Peyton Schneck (Parkland) major dec. Emilee Gaughran (Northampton), 10-1; 112 - Morgan Hyland (Easton) pinned Kendal Balkam (Nazareth) in 3:18; 118 - Joey Cappa (ES South) pinned Danielle Williams (Easton) in 2:31; 124 - Elaina Medadante (PM East) dec. Saige Rittenhouse (Parkland); 130 - Kamora Gilbreath (PM East) tech. fall Jadah Canty (Freedom), 15-0 in 2:24; 136 - Angelina Spachman (Parkland) major dec. Myla Good (Nazareth) 10-1; 142 - Laura Volpe (Parkland) pinned Hailey Laible (Emmaus) in :54; 148 - Ariana Koberlein (Emmaus) dec. Josie Fetterman (Pleasant Valley), 7-2; 155- Olivya Kroope (Emmaus) pinned Natalie Deutsch (Parkland) in :37; 170 - Jasmine Chapman (Stroudsburg) pinned Jennifer Szmak (PM West) in 3:02; 190 - Lizkarla Grullon-Vasquez (Parkland) pinned Ellie Rumbalski (Liberty) in 5:02; 235 - Karla Montes de oco (Allen) pinned Danielle Glaser (Northampton) in 1:26.