The Bethlehem Catholic wrestling team’s latest win over Notre Dame-Green Pond may have been the most chaotic.
The Golden Hawks needed five falls, including a set of four consecutive pins from 121 to 139 pounds, and some savvy wrestling from its upperweights to hang on to the victory.
Bethlehem Catholic beat the Crusaders 37-27 Saturday night at Notre Dame.
“I did my job, needed to get the pin for the team and we ended up coming out with the win today,” said Bethlehem Catholic sophomore A.J. Gomez, who won by fall at 127. “We were the big underdog but we all did our job.”
The Golden Hawks have now beaten Notre Dame seven straight times since the two programs began meeting each almost winter starting in the 2019-20 season.
“I love the yelling, I love the pressure,” Becahi sophomore Nico Emili said of the atmosphere at Notre Dame’s packed gym. “You get all the ‘Oohs and ahs,’ when you score, the crowd goes crazy… This gym, with how close the bleachers are to the mat, you feel everyone there. You can almost feel them breathing on you. I love it.”
The Golden Hawks (3-1) led 30-16 with four bouts to go and put Notre Dame (4-1) in pin-out-to-win territory when junior Mason Thomas took sophomore Cole Retos down three times in a 13-3 major decision at 172.
Senior Dominic Sumpolec (189) gave the Crusaders a jolt when he pinned junior Zach Papcsy in 1:21.
Senior Connor Smalley (215) continued to pursue takedowns against Becahi junior James Bozzi but never came that close to the pin Notre Dame needed in a 21-4 tech fall in 5:53.
“James Bozzi, it was like a little kid wrestling a neanderthal. Smalley is a big boy,” Bethlehem Catholic coach Mike Cole said of Bozzi, who weighed in 24 pounds less than Smalley. “It was fabulous to see James do his job.”
Even if Smalley had secured the fall, junior Connor Gillahan capped the win for the Golden Hawks with a 2-1 victory at heavyweight courtesy of a reversal in the third period.
“You know when you wrestle Bethlehem Catholic, you’re going to have to be on your A Plus game and we were not really close to that tonight,” Notre Dame coach Matt Veres said. “Take a loss, you learn from it. As frustrating as it is, you have to get back in the room and find ways to get better. Hopefully we’ll see them in the end of January, team districts.”
Becahi trailed 9-0 after the opening two bouts.
Freshman Michael Nicosia successfully avoided being turned by fellow freshman Max Quarry in an 11-0 win for the Crusaders’ highly touted 107-pounder. At 114, Cael Muller clinched a 16-1 tech fall halfway through the third period when he was eventually awarded a fourth and final takedown.
Then came four-straight falls for the Golden Hawks.
“I would say the most important thing is Mikey Nicosia and Gino Bozzi not getting pinned,” Cole said. “Those kids were outmanned and they went out there and they toughed it out. That was huge.”
Emili was denied an opening takedown after a lengthy scramble with freshman Cole Schwartz at the end of the first period of their bout at 121. Schwartz looked in control on top in the second, but Emili quickly reversed Schwartz to his back for a fall in 3:38.
“When I caught him in that scramble, I felt that he was prone on his back,” Emili said. “So I knew I would be able to catch him there later in the match. It’s all about staying patient and retaining information that you gather in a match.”
Becahi sophomore A.J. Gomez worked a fall out of a similarly low-scoring, slow-tempo bout when he hit a single leg takedown and locked Notre Dame freshman Trey Neith up in a cradle shortly after for a fall in 4:58.
“This week, in practice, that’s all I was working on. Sweep, shelf and straight to the cradle,” Gomez said. It was right there, open opportunity, went for it. I knew I was going to get it.”
Like Emili, freshman Jack Cole earned a reversal-to-a-fall in his bout at 133 against fellow freshman Mason Roncolato. At 139, sophomore Andre Cerrato locked freshman Tyler Coad in a headlock at the edge of the mat and secured the fall in 3:46 to extend the Golden Hawks’ lead to 24-9 after six bouts.
“I don’t watch the matches but I do pay attention to the score, momentum shifts,” Emili said of Becahi’s string of pins. “I knew, after they took the momentum on their side after the first two matches, I knew I had to take it right back to our side and kick start it for the team.”
“You make one mistake against a good wrestler from Becahi, they’ll clamp you,” Veres said. “Some of those guys just put a pace on some of our guys and wore them down and they pinned them. Five guys getting pinned, you go to any match like that, it’s gonna be tough to come back and win.”
The Crusaders got a win they desperately needed at 145, albeit in controversial fashion.
A five-point move put Notre Dame senior Gavyn Kelton up 6-1 over junior Reef Dillard. Dillard cut the deficit to 7-3 with a reversal with 40 seconds left in the third before a second stall call on Kelton made it 7-4.
As the final seconds ticked down, Dillard went for an upper body takedown at the edge of the mat and had Kelton on his back. With the gym erupting with noise, referee Larry Deiter could not hear the final buzzer go off. After a lengthy discussion at the scorers table, the takedown was waved off and Kelton won 7-4.
Becahi senior Keanu Dillard delivered an expected pin at 152 before senior Jared Gonzalez earned a 9-0 major at 160.
The Golden Hawks are set to host Freedom 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Crusaders travel to national prep power Wyoming Seminary 7 p.m. Friday.