Bethlehem Catholic beats Stroudsburg
Herrmann, Lackman both get reversals to win their matches.
Saturday night’s Stroudsburg at Bethlehem Catholic dual meet was never about the outcome.
The Golden Hawks, even at less than full strength, won handily 56-12, and will win many matches in that fashion this season. They are good.
The meet was about the four potential bouts involving state medal contenders.
Two never materialized. The two that did, delivered.
Bethlehem Catholic won both because its wrestlers — Kenny Herrmann and Matt Lackman made sure the matches were contested mostly on the mat.
Herrmann beat Cam Enriquez 3-1 in a tie-breaker at 132 pounds, courtesy of a reversal with a few seconds left in his 30-second period on bottom.
Lackman knocked off Patrick Noonan 2-0, thanks to a reversal halfway through the third period.
Neither Golden Hawk had a takedown from neutral, but made sure only the first periods were wrestled from that position.
“Tonight it shows that [Enriquez
that
and Noonan] played into the game plans of their opponents,” Stroudsburg coach Sean Richmond said. “That’s why they were in close matches.
“For both of them, their strength is on their feet. You need to get out from bottom. Cam did, but he burned up almost the whole period to do it.
“It’s important to win on the mat, but also to wrestle to your strength. Both only had two minutes on their feet. Both could have pushed the pace a little more.”
At 132, Herrmann escaped nine seconds into the second period. Enriquez needed all but nine seconds to get out to even the match and force overtime.
In the extra 30 seconds, Enriquez nearly had a takedown at the edge of the mat in front of the Bethlehem Catholic bench, but Herrmann got out of that trouble.
Herrmann then worked a reversal with three seconds left in his 30-second stretch from bottom in the tie-breaker before riding out Enriquez.
“Sean, his attitude I know coming from Easton, is that he wants to get the best competition for his kids,” Bethlehem Catholic assistant coach Jeff Karam said [more on that later]. “That’s a good thing for his team and that’s good for our team.
“Those are matchups who you see on a Saturday night in Hershey.”
Lackman, a returning state medalist who was fifth last week at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, and Noonan had a tremendous flurry in the first period that led to no scoring.
The Bethlehem Catholic junior then rode out the Stroudsburg junior in the second period before getting a reversal from bottom 50 seconds into the third.
Lackman then rode out Noonan again to hang on.
“He’s a hard-working kid,” Karam said of Lackman. “He’s in that room every day. He’s there all off season. He’s putting his time in. He’s putting the work in.
“He’s good in every position. High school kids usually are good in one position. Matt is good on top, good on bottom, good on his feet. And, he’s a great scrambler. He’s a tough one to beat.”
Missing in action
Bethlehem Catholic first-year coach Rick Thompson wasn’t on the bench Saturday because of an illness.
“You know he must be really sick to miss a match,” Karam said.
No rematch
Bethlehem Catholic’s Luca Frinzi beat Stroudsburg’s Lenny Pinto three times last year, the last two in the District 11 and Northeast Regional finals.
The two did not meet again Saturday.
Frinzi beat Zach Orsargos 15-4 at 160 pounds.
Pinto decked Henry Pavis in 3:19 at 170.
Frinzi won last year’s matchups by a total of six points — 7-4, 3-2 and 5-3.
Richmond said Pinto isn’t in a position now to get down to 160.
Heavyweights will have to wait
Jase Crouse pinned Khamis, just not the experienced one.
Crouse beat Sebastian Khamis, Sami’s younger brother, in 1 minute, 9 seconds at 285 pounds.
Sami Khamis expected to go out for the night’s final bout, but was pulled back by Richmond.
“He’s probably not very happy with me,” Richmond said. “As a coach, our priority is to protect our athletes. There was nothing to gain while he’s not 100 percent.”
Sami Khamis is still recovering from an injury sustained during football season.
Up next
Karam expects Bethlehem Catholic to be at full strength (coach included) in time for next week’s slate that begins with a trip to Emmaus on Wednesday. Stroudsburg hosts Northampton, also Wednesday.