NORTHAMPTON — Unseeded wrestlers rarely reach the finals, let alone win once they’re there.

But Northern Lehigh’s Cody Mazzocca defied those odds Saturday night at the Colonial League championships at Catasauqua High School.

The senior ripped through the competition despite not being one of the four ranked wrestlers in his class, claiming the 121-pound crown with a dominating 15-2 major decision over Chris Jacobacci of Jim Thorpe in the title match.

Mazzocca was one of four Times News area grapplers to claim top honors, joining Northwestern’s Colby Townley (145) and Luke Fugazzotto (189), along with Thorpe’s Aiden Sterling (215).

“I came in here unseeded, and that kind of pushed me to fight harder in my matches,” said Mazzocca, who improved his season record to 20-7. “I was disappointed and a little mad I didn’t get seeded, but I’m glad where I ended up.”

The Bulldog grappler opened the tournament, which originally was scheduled for Sunday but moved because of the impending snowstorm, with a 50-second pin of Palmerton’s Jaxs Miller. He followed that with another quick fall in the quarterfinals, disposing of third-seeded Connor Wayock of Southern Lehigh in 39 seconds.

Mazzocca continued to eliminate seeded wrestlers in his class, rolling to a 15-3 major over the No. 2 seed Jace LaBar of Bangor in the semifinals. That set up a championship matchup between him and fourth-seeded Jacobacci, who reached the finals by edging No. 1-ranked Gabriel Baer of Saucon Valley by a 5-3 score.

“I never wrestled him before, but I met him a couple times during the summertime at practice and everything, and it paid off a little bit,” said Mazzocca of Jacobacci.

“I was motivated coming into the tournament, mainly because it’s my senior season and I wanted to end on a good note. It’s not the end overall, but it’s my last Colonial League (championship) and I wanted to prove a point.”

Nolehi’s champion jumped out to an early start against his Olympian counterpart, getting a quick takedown and near fall points to gain a 5-0 first-period lead. Two more takedowns in the second stanza, along with more back points, upped the margin to 13-1 heading into the final two minutes.

“Cody had a great performance tonight,” said Bulldog head coach Scott Snyder. “It’s been a long time coming for him. I’m really happy to see all the hard work pay off. He’s been wrestling year round now for the past two, three years, and he’s always coming up short in these big matches, close matches. I feel like today he finally came out of his shell a little bit and stopped worrying about the score or who his opponent was.

“He stopped worrying about what place he was going to finish, and just kind of wrestled for one situation at a time. And I think he’s starting to realize that it’s not all about where you place or who you’re wrestling. It’s just about wrestling for every situation and scoring one point at a time, and it worked out really well for him. He wrestled a great tournament, and I’m glad to see all his hard work pay off.”

Tigers take care

of business

Northwestern entered the tournament with two No. 1 seeds, and both legitimized their rankings by coming away with titles — in convincing fashion.

Townley, at 145, received an opening-round bye before registering a 31-second pin of Saucon’s Gavin Murphy in the quarters. A 15-0 tech fall over Nathaniel Tone of Salisbury followed in the semis before posting a 2:25 fall of Bangor’s Aidan McNulty in the finals.

“I feel pretty good about it,” said Townley, who is now 17-2, about his performance. “My opponent was really tough, so we knew it was going to be a tough match going into it, but I just wrestled the way I knew I could wrestle and got the job done.”

The junior admitted the change in dates did pose a bit of a nuisance.

“A little bit,” he said of the tourney being a day earlier. “It was a little tough making weight again, just because of how much I had to lose. I was not expecting it to be today. But, honestly, I got the weight off and wrestled tough, and I’m happy with my performance overall.

“It gives me some added confidence. I’m hoping to continue the success and win a district title. Also, to do well at regionals ... but the main goal there is just to place near the top to go to states and hopefully make that podium.”

Someone who has stood on that podium at Hershey repeated again as a Colonial League champion.

Fugazzotto, despite not feeling well recently, breezed through the competition at 189.

The junior turned in first-period pins of Saucon’s Brit Ash in the quarters, and Deven Armbruster of Lehighton in the semis before battling through multiple issues of a bloody nose in the finals to eventually gain a 17-1 tech fall of Bangor’s Kody Ward.

“Yeah, that was frustrating,” said Fugazzotto (30-0) of the timeouts for blood time. “Tried to wrestle my best. I was sick the past week, but that’s not an excuse. I had the sickness that was going around. There wasn’t as much competition here (as what there will be later on), but I was just a little off my game because of not practicing because I was sick.”

The two champions, along with runner-up finishes by Weston Killar (114) and Vinnie Fugazzotto (172), helped Northwestern end second in the team standings — although its head coach wasn’t too concerned about where his wrestlers placed.

“I was just more worried about if the guys were trying hard and battling,” said Tiger mentor Joe Killar. “That’s all I really worry about or care about. Not really worried about the place because you can have a really good guy or not as good guy. I was pretty happy with their effort today.”

Sterling better than silver

Sterling, Jim Thorpe’s 215-pounder, plowed through his weight class with ease, improving his season record to 27-1.

The senior, seeded second, earned pins in the quarterfinals and semifinals. First, he decked Isaac Jackovits of Northern Lehigh in 40 seconds. A 3:17 fall of Northwestern’s Jackson Huber followed.

The Olympian then cruised to a 15-3 major in the finals, using five takedowns to dispatch of Bangor’s T.J. McLain.

“I was very confident (on my feet),” said Sterling of his finals matchup. “Yeah, that was the game-plan. I beat him when we wrestled them a couple weeks ago. I kind of knew (what he had). It kind of gives me some confidence going forward, but not really because there wasn’t much competition here. I have to wait until I wrestle the big kids.

“The change (in days) didn’t really affect me ... there’s a little bit better competition in the new league, so that’s a little bit better. I’m hoping to make it to states this year.”

His head coach was pleased with his showing, as well as the rest of his team.

“I was very happy with our tournament,” said JT head coach Dan Heaney. “It’s our first year in the Colonial League and truly didn’t know what to expect, but it went well.

“Aiden is having a great year, winning a league title now and having won at the Christmas tournament. He wrestled the kid before and pinned him, but it was good to see him go the distance and come up with the major decision.”

SETTLING FOR SECOND ... Besides Vinnie Fugazzotto and Killar, who both fell to top-seeded Saucon wrestlers in the finals, and Jacobacci, who lost to Mazzocca, Thorpe’s Blake Carroll also ended in second place at 285. The Olympian had a 1-0 lead in the second period against Catty’s Jacob Ramos, before the Roughie gained a big takedown before gaining a pin in the closing seconds.

TEAM SCORES ... Saucon Valley took the team title, crowning eight champs and totaling 232 points. Northwestern was a distant second with 149.5, while Bangor ended third with 120. Powerful Notre Dame was competing at the Escape the Rock tournament.

INDIANS AND BOMBERS ... Lehighton and Palmerton failed to advance any of its wrestlers to the finals, although both had a pair of third-place finishers. The Indians’ Brok Solt (160) and Armbruster (189) ended in third, as did the Bombers’ Connor Messinger (114) and Dillon Lombardi (189).

COLONIAL LEAGUE FINALS

at Catasauqua High School

107 - Gavin Chunko (Saucon Valley) dec. Western Slingland (Wilson), 8-6; 114 - Carter Chunko (Saucon Valley) tech fall Weston Killar (Northwestern), 19-1; 121 - Cody Mazzocca (Northern Lehigh) major dec. Chris Jacobacci (Jim Thorpe), 15-2; 127 - Griffin King (Southern Lehigh) dec. Mack Santoro (Saucon Valley), 5-4; 133 - Aiden Grogg (Saucon Valley) dec. Carter Smith (Bangor), 7-0; 139 - Hector Mateo (Saucon Valley) pinned Keith Barker (Southern Lehigh) in 1:41; 145 - Colby Townley (Northwestern) pinned Aidan McNulty (Bangor) in 2:25; 152 - Jackson Albert (Saucon Valley) tech fall Brock Frable (Southern Lehigh), 16-0 (5:13); 160 - Cole Hubert (Saucon Valley) major dec. Sean Steckert (Southern Lehigh), 13-3; 172 - Jared Rohn (Saucon Valley) major dec. Vinnie Fugazzotto (Northwestern), 12-3; 189 - Luke Fugazzotto (Northwestern) tech fall Kody Ward (Bangor), 17-1 (6:00); 215 - Aiden Sterling (Jim Thorpe) major dec. T.J. McLain, 15-3; 285 - Jacob Ramos (Catasauqua) pinned Blake Carroll (Jim Thorpe) in 5:52.