Tamaqua earns split to stay alive

Tamaqua wrestled until its couldn’t Thursday night as the Blue Raiders edged out an upset over Notre Dame (Green Pond) before getting a 59-6 wake up call from Saucon Valley.

The Blue Raiders made it to the quarterfinals of the Class AA District Dual tournament before the Panthers ended their night.

“I don’t think they went out there and quit,” said Tamaqua head coach Jim McCabe. “They did what they could against a much older and physically-prepared team.”

The young Blue Raiders line up included six freshmen and four sophomores.

“It was a learning experience for them tonight to see what it’s like against a really, really good team,” said Mccabe.

Tamaqua scored only six points in the match, coming from a Bronson Strouse forfeit win at 220 pounds.

Saucon Valley showed its experience early, winning the first six bouts by either a pin, major decision or technical fall.

The Panthers won every bout where they sent out a wrestler.

One pin came as quick as 36 seconds for Saucon’s Josh Jones as the team moved on to the District 11 semifinals where it will face Lehighon on Saturday.

Tamaqua’s first contest of the night came against a much more evenly-matched opponent.

While still being the lower seed of the tournament, Tamaqua proved to be relentless in its effort of making it out of the first round.

The Crusaders got off to an early 12-0 start, receiving a forfeit and a Richie Markulics fall at 120 pounds.

The Blue Raider’s Aaron Coccio responded the very next match, getting a fall in just 57 seconds making the team score 12-6.

Notre Dame then took the next two matches and scored 10 points before handing Tamaqua two forfeits.

The forfeits came at 145 and 152 and giving back 12 points to the Blue Raiders and tightening the score to 22-18.

After an Isaiah Dejesus 9-3 decision for Notre Dame, Nate Wickersham grabbed an important pin late in his match to keep Tamaqua in striking distance. 25-24

His teammate Carson Krell backed him up with a fall in just 47 seconds.

Jim McCabe stressed the importance of bonus points in this match.

“We knew that there was a chance for us to potentially get 39 points, the question was how to allow them not to get the 42,” he said. “A couple matches our guys didn’t give up pins and that was the difference”

After two more Tamaqua wins they lead the Crusaders 39-25.

A forfeit at heavyweight and a pin at 106 left Notre Dame just short in its comeback attempt 39-37.

“I’m very proud of our team this year,” said McCabe. “I’m happy that we pulled out that first round upset and I’m happy that the hard work has paid off to get us where we are today.”

THE TURNING POINT ... After Nate Wickersham’s exciting late fall in his bout, the momentum of the match swung in Blue Raiders’ favor.

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS ... Tamaqua’s Caleb Sell battled off of his back many time throughout his match but did so successfully, only giving up a major decision.

Tamaqua 39, Notre Dame 25

106 - Anthony Morello (ND) pinned Michael Shlanta in 1:11; 113 - Josh Bauman (ND) forfeit; 120 - Richie Markulics (ND) pinned Randolph Steigerwalt in 1:46; 126 - Aaron Coccio (T) pinned Bryan Lynch in :57; 132 - Ryan McGuire (ND) pinned Pierce Demetriadis in 5:07; 138 - Nicholas Vonelli (ND) maj dec Caleb Sell, 13-0; 145 - Brandon Mader (T) forfeit; 152 - Reeze Szabo (T ) forfeit; 160 - Isaiah DeJesus (ND) dec Kahlid Holland, 9-3; 170 - Nate Wickersham (T) pinned Liam Carrol in 3:36; 182 - Carson Krell (T) pinned Maxwell Battista in :47; 195 - Alex Ziegler (T) dec. Eshan Swartz, 2-0; 220 - Bronson Strouse (T) pinned Robert Fiedler in 1:43; 285 - Anthony Schiraldi (ND) forfeit.

Saucon Valley 59, Tamaqua 6

120 - Double Forfeit 126 - Joshua Jones (SV) pinned Aaron Coccio in :33; 132 - Nicholas Rosengrant (SV) dec. Pierce Demetriadis, 6-1; 138 - Justin Kyra (SV) pinned Caleb Sell in :36; 145 - Jason Jones (SV) pinned Reese Szabo in 2:15; 152 - Thomas Spirk (SV) pinned Kahlid Holland in 1:07; 160 - Angelo Mahaffey (SV) maj. dec. Nate Wickersham, 9-1; 170 - Braydyn Lugardo (SV) dec.Carson Krell, 12-5; 182 - Dane Csenesits (SV) pinned Brandon Eberts, 07; 195 - Jarrett Hirschbeck (SV) over Alex Zeigler, :48) 220 - Bronson Strouse (T) won by forfeit; 285 - Timothy Weaver (SV) won by forfeit; 106 - Dane Druckenmiller (SV) dec. Michael Shlanta, 9-3; 113 - Kevin Dyer (SV) over Randolph Steigerwalt, 18-10;