There’s no substitute for experience.

And that’s exactly what the District Duals are providing for Tamaqua’s wrestling program.

On Thursday night at Northern Lehigh, the seventh-seeded Blue Raiders took down Schuylkill Haven 56-9 in the opening round to earn a quarterfinal matchup against perennial power and No. 2 seed Notre Dame in the quarterfinals.

And although Tamaqua was blanked by the Crusaders in the quarters, 76-0, the education gained by wrestling against one of District 11’s best teams was invaluable.

“They’re aggressive and they know how to wrestle,” said Raider head coach Jim McCabe about Notre Dame. “I told the kids that you have to go out there and fight for every inch, and I thought we fought as hard as we could.

“I wasn’t disappointed. I don’t feel like the kids quit. I felt like they went out and, especially when we were on our back, our kids were fighting their hearts out.”

Unfortunately for Tamaqua’s wrestlers, they found themselves on their back in every weight class.

And except for two of the 12 bouts, the end result was a pin in the first period.

Zaidyn Walker fought hard at 132 pounds to avoid a fall in the opening period before tasting defeat 15 seconds into the second. Gabe Erbe went the distance at 113, but a late takedown plus backpoints by his opponent Cooper Feltman resulted in a 13-5 major decision.

Despite the lopsided score, the lessons learned will no doubt help the Raiders down the road.

“By wrestling them, you know what you need to do to get better,” said McCabe. “They’re aggressive. They did their moves quick. They don’t second-guess themselves. They go in with the mindset of being the attacker, the hunter. You can’t be afraid against them. You have to be ready to rock and roll and fight hard against them.”

Tamaqua rocked and rolled its way to an easy victory in the opener, using five pins and three forfeits to dispose of the 11th-seeded Hurricanes.

John Buday (215), Chase Zeigenfuss (126) and Tim Edmonds (138) all posted falls in under a minute, while Aiden Schlier (106) also registered a first-period pin. Michael Steigerwalt built a 9-5 advantage at 145 before decking his opponent right before the second-period buzzer.

Erbe added a technical fall at 113, using three takedown plus backpoints to coast to a 16-0 win, while Jacob Hehn added a 6-3 decision at 160.

“(Haven) had some holes in their lineup,” said McCabe. “They had a nice, little team but they had a couple forfeits today. Go out and you approach your match like every other match. You focus on a takedown, you work toward your breakdown and then you look for your pinning combination. And that’s what we did. We worked toward that.”

The opening-round victory assured the Raiders of a trip to Freedom on Saturday. McCabe’s club will face sixth-seeded Lehighton in the consolation round.

“Saturday is a new day,” said McCabe. “The whole expectation right now is that we now have two extra matches under our belt. So now we have at least one more match on Saturday, but if we win one more, now we’ll get four extra bouts. The key is to win our last match, so that we can keep on getting more experience.

“And that’s key. Anybody that was on the team last year, they did not get the full experience of a season. For some, this is the first time they’re getting the full experience. Someone like Gabe Erbe, he was a freshman last year, but he only got 12-15 matches. Now he’s getting the full experience of what everybody looks like instead of just wrestling within the Schuylkill League. It’s unfortunate for him to get this experience in his sophomore year, where I really wanted him to experience it last year. It allows you to mature sooner than later.”

REMATCH ... Tamaqua has already defeated Lehighton once this season, gaining a 40-34 win against the Indians on Jan. 11.

START TIME ... Saturday’s consolation match starts at 9 a.m. The winner will return at 12:30 p.m. to face the loser of the semifinal matchup of Catasauqua and Saucon Valley.

First Round

Tamaqua 56, Schuylkill Haven 9

215 - John Buday (T) pinned Connor Weber in :38; 285 - Jason Walker (T) won by forfeit; 106 - Aiden Schlier (T) pinned Tevin Walsh in 1:25; 113 - Gabe Erbe (T) tech. fall over Daeson Hasenauer, 16-0 in 4:42; 120 - Gavin Wade (SH) dec. Brody Boyce, 6-2; 126 - Chase Zeigenfuss pinned Giovanni Fleming in :27; 132 - Andrew Zimmerman (SH) pinned Zaidyn Walker in 2:30; 138 - Tim Edmonds (T) pinned Dakota Blankenhorn in :52; 145 - Michael Steigerwalt (T) pinned Aden Celani in 4:00; 152 - Double forfeit; 160 - Jacob Hehn (T) dec. Nick Stoyer, 6-3; 172 - Michael Leary (T) won by forfeit; 189

- Cole Eberts (T) won by forfeit.

Quarterfinals

Notre Dame 76, Tamaqua 0

285 - Mason Ludlow (ND) pinned Anthony DeBellis in :39; 106 - Ayden Smith (ND) pinned Levi Kunkel in 1:20; 113 - Cooper Feltman (ND) major dec. Gabe Erbe, 13-5; 120 - Adam Schweitzer (ND) pinned Brody Boyce in :43; 126 - Jacob Wehr (ND) pinned Chase Zeigenfuss in :58; 132 - Brandan Chletsos (ND) pinned Zaidyn Walker in 2:15; 138 - Bryson Vaughn (ND) pinned Tim Edmonds in :32; 145 - Keegan Ramsay (ND) pinned Michael Steigerwalt in 1:32; 152 - Evan Maag (ND) won by forfeit; 160 - Holden Garcia (ND) pinned Nathan Milkovits in :23; 172 - Garrett Tettemer (ND) pinned Cole Eberts in 1:35; 189 - Joseph Lapenna (ND) pinned John Buday in 1:12; 215

- Jared Blobe (ND) pinned Jason Walker in 1:45.