Northwestern wrestling team picked up some key wins on Thursday night to clinch a 37-33 victory over Notre Dame in a District 11 Class 2A quarterfinal at Northern Lehigh High School.
The Tigers are now back in a familiar spot, facing mighty Saucon Valley in the semifinals on Saturday.
The Panthers rolled to a 67-6 victory over Northwestern on Monday night in the Colonial League semifinals at Catasauqua.
Despite the lopsided score, Tigers coach Jim Moll saw some positives in the match against Saucon Valley.
“It’s a matter of just going out and competing. We did that at leagues. The score might not indicate it, but Harrison Bernhard wrestled (Nick) Rosengrant really tough, Colin Rex wrestled Justin Kyra very tough, Baily (Wehr) wrestled (Josh) Jones pretty tough. That’s all we’re looking for, go out and compete and do what we can with those guys,” Moll said.
And even if Northwestern can’t pull off the big upset, the Tigers can still attempt to do what they did last year, wrestle back and earn a spot in the state tournament.
“Sure, we went through it last year. It was the same thing as last year. Lost to Saucon in the semis, wrestled back for true second,” Moll said. “I’m not sure what that path looks like. We’ll try to take it one match at a time. If we wrestle like we did tonight and we just come out to compete, I think we have a good shot.”
After Nicholas Vonelli got a pin at 126 pounds to put Notre Dame ahead 9-3 on Thursday night, the Tigers took three of the next four bouts to take a 19-15 lead.
Junior Colin Rex had a pin for Northwestern in 3:49 at 132. Two bouts later, junior Jackson Bernhard of Northwestern tied the match 15-15 with a fall in 53 seconds at 145. Junior Caleb Clymer then posted a 9-1 major decision for the Tigers at 152 to make it 19-15.
“Huge, huge,” Moll said of Rex’s pin. “Blake Daniel is good, state qualifier. We were hoping to just keep that close, maybe pull out a win. Pick his spots to try to score. He’s been sick the last two days. Shivering, fever. He went to school today pretty much so he could wrestle. For him not only to get a win and wrestle tough but to pin, it was huge.”
Even in one bout where the Tigers couldn’t earn a win on Thursday night, they were able to get a strong performance from a freshman.
Harrison Bernhard dropped a hard-fought 5-3 overtime decision to Notre Dame’s Richie Markulics at 113 pounds to open the match.
“Markulics is one of the top kids in the state and Harrison wrestled him great,” Moll said. “Stuck to the game plan, picked his spots, got a big takedown in the third, was hoping to get back off of that, but Markulics bellied out pretty good. Then Markulics got a takedown late in the match, but Harrison wrestled him great, super tough.”
“I saw him wrestle this weekend. We were actually at the same tournament (Coal Cracker tournament),” Harrison Bernhard said. “He ended up winning and I ended up in fourth. So I kind of watched him then. And I saw his technique and his strategy. I tried to think of ways to counter them and practice them at practice.”
Harrison joins brothers Quentin and Jackson as the newest Bernhard to wrestle for the Tigers.
“I have two older brothers. One’s on the team and one just graduated last year,” Harrison said. “It’s a lot to live up to. My oldest brother was a two-time state qualifier. There’s always that wanting to do one better than the one above you. Just living up to that name.”
The Tigers hope to make another trip to the state tournament and maybe even pack their bags for Hershey, a place they were denied after falling in the opening round of the PIAA tourney last year.
“You want to experience the atmosphere. You don’t want your first time at Hershey to be when you qualify as an individual. It’s nice to get the whole team there. Some kids don’t get the chance. So it’s nice to wrestle at that arena,” Moll said.
Josh Folck may be reached at jfolck@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshFolck. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.
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