Flipping the switch
Nazareth wrestlers’ light turns on to beat Northampton again
Elijah Simak and Derek Fulmer were among several of Nazareth’s first-year varsity starters who heeded the advice of coach Dave Crowell and the handful of experienced Blue Eagles after a rough start to this season.
As a result, they have taken the next step in their progression.
“We’re seeing some guys at the beginning who didn’t have varsity experience that are now figuring this thing out, fighting back,” Crowell said. “Simak, Fulmer, it’s good to see those guys fight back.
“Sometimes, it’s how you look at yourself. Some guys, it’s ‘I can’t win.’ Others, it’s ‘I’m going to almost always win. Once you can turn that switch to where you think, ‘Oh, I can I win. He might be better than me, but I can win,’ that’s a big step psychologically.”
Nazareth has taken that step. Northampton’s youthful wrestlers have not. It was the difference in Wednesday night’s 37-23 Blue Eagles victory at Pete Schneider Gym.
It was evident from the first bout and it has Nazareth feeling good about itself and eager to keep pushing forward. It has Northampton searching for answers.
“We stand there and hope something happens,” Konkrete Kids coach Joe Provini said. “We have yet to just go out and wrestle. There were four matches we were going to win. There were six matches that were up in the air. We won one of them.
“Nazareth as a team goes out there and makes things happen and is pressuring us and moving us. We’re hoping for things to happen. Until I can get these guys to just forget about everything and wrestle as hard as they can, we’re going to come up short in those close matches, which was the theme of the night.”
Nazareth beat its rival for the seventh consecutive time. Northampton last won 33-27 on Feb. 2, 2019, in the District 11 Class 3A team duals.
Northampton’s Trey Wagner started Wednesday’s match with a 9-1 major decision at 133, but Provini was hoping for more of a spark to start the dual.
Nazareth then won the next five bouts, including pins by Tahir Parkins, Jack Campbell and Brayden Zuercher to build a 24-4 cushion.
Northampton got a fall from Landon Roland at 189 and a forfeit at 215, but two-time state champion Sean Kinney got a first-period pin to start a string of three wins in a row for Nazareth to clinch the match.
“Little moments in matches with a little bit of toughness, of doing things hard,” Provini said, “they did it to us. We probably got out-shot 30-5. That’s just a symptom of us standing around, hoping that things happen instead of
“We’re seeing some guys at the beginning who didn’t have varsity experience that are now figuring this thing out, fighting back.”
— Dave Crowell, Nazareth coach
taking the fight to the guy.”
Fulmer followed up Kinney’s pin with an 11-3 major decision at 107, a sign of progress for the Blue Eagles sophomore.
“Just practicing hard in the room,” Fulmer said. “I’ve gotten way more aggressive, especially on my feet. Also, from bottom learning new moves from coach Crowell. I was a little more scared on top, but tonight I really felt it, got the bar tilt.
“The attitude is just way more different, especially in the room with the guys pushing me.”
Simak took a big step forward at the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic by winning six consolation matches in a row to take third at 160. He continued his momentum Wednesday with a 5-2 win over Devlin Chevere.
“I feel a whole lot better,” the sophomore said. “I feel I’ve grown. I’m practicing harder, practicing with higher-level people. The tournament was a big boost. It’s a different mindset. Whenever I’m on the mat, I give it all I can. That works most of the time.”
Colin Marano’s persistence in the final bout at 127 paid off for Northampton. His offensive pressure led to four takedowns in a 9-3 decision over Dominic Rizzotto, who beat Marano 7-4 at last week’s Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic.
Unfortunately, that grit was few and far between for the Konkrete Kids.
“I have to remind myself that a lot of these guys don’t have a lot of career matches,” Provini said. “But it’s still no excuse. We’re preaching it at practice every day. All we want them to do is go out there and wrestle as hard as they can.
“Some of them are really struggling to do that.”
Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com