Elijah Simak wrestled among the heavier weights as a youth, but trimmed down as he got to high school.
Nazareth coach Dave Crowell asked the senior 172-pounder to make a return to those upper weights for Friday night’s dual meet against rival Northampton.
Simak gave up more than 40 pounds to Joell Small in the 215-pound match, but Simak used his athleticism and speed to turn the bout into a takedown-fest. His 22-6 technical fall gave Nazareth the lead and fellow senior Brayden Zuercher’s first-period fall at 285 sealed the 37-28 victory at Raymond J. Nunamaker Gymnasium.
“We had talked about it a few days ago,” Simak said about bumping up the last four Blue Eagles. “That was what was best for the team. I told Coach [Crowell] that I’d do whatever he needed.
“I knew I had the speed on him. I knew that I could get to my shots real quick, and he couldn’t keep up with me. He started getting tired. I started putting a beating to him. I was his weight when I was younger. I still have that in me. I can still wrestle at the big weights.”
Cade Campbell, Dominick Tunison, Simak and Zuercher combined for 19 points to allow Nazareth to recover from a 28-18 deficit to win its second consecutive EPC dual meet to start the season.
“That was one of the matches that we knew this was what we were going to do,” Crowell said of the bump-up. “This is our best chance at scoring points. You kind of feel bad because [Simak and Zuercher] are bumped up two weight classes.
“It wasn’t like they were wrestling small guys. Those guys said they’d do anything for the team. That gives you flexibility to bump up when you have to.”
The bumps-up plus Northampton forfeiting at 107 pounds because freshman Ben Schoeneberger missed weight and Nazareth returning state medalist Jack Campbell remaining out of the lineup for disciplinary reasons created a meet full of bonus-point wins.
The closest match was Cade Campbell securing a 10-2 major decision at 172 with a takedown with 1:05 left in the bout against Northampton’s Carter Chlebove.
Northampton led by 10 points with four bouts left after Gabe Ballard’s 50-second pin at 160, but the Konkrete Kids didn’t score an offensive point the rest of the way.
After Campbell’s win at 172, Tunison won 11-0 at 189, Simak got a technical fall at 215 and Zuercher’s 48-second pin completed the rally.
Northampton coach Joe Provini, a former Nazareth wrestler and assistant, said there are teaching moments to take from Konkrete Kids’ first loss of the season.
When asked how much the forfeit impacted the dual, he said, “A lot.”
When asked about the intensity and performance, Provini was succinct but clear.
“Our guys are going to have to ask themselves what kind of season we want to have going forward,” he added. “Teenagers make mistakes. We live through the consequences of the mistakes they we make. We hurt ourselves tonight.
“We did not match their intensity. We were backing up. We were kind of letting them dictate things on our feet. We were getting broken down to our belly. We just made way too many mistakes, and you have to be perfect against a program like Nazareth.”
Nazareth winning the coin flip also did not help Northampton’s cause.
“Once we lost the coin flip, we knew we pretty much had zero options,” Provini said, “so we just went straight up.”
Schoeneberger got a 45-second pin at 114 to get the Konkrete Kids even. After Derek Fulmer’s 16-4 major decision at 121 gave Nazareth the lead again, Northampton got a first-period pin from returning state medalist Brayden Wenrich at 127.
The Blue Eagles got consecutive majors from standout freshman Caleb Kosko and Cooper Wenrich to regain the lead at 18-12 before the Konkrete Kids consecutive technical falls from two-time state medalist Trey Wagner and fellow senior Chase Grabfelder and Ballard’s pin to take a 28-18 lead.
Nazareth then controlled the rest of the match. Simak’s pace was consistent with Provini’s assessment of the entire night.
“I’ve learned to wrestle right off the bat, don’t ease into it,” Simak said. “If I do, he can ease into it, too, and find your faults. I don’t want that. And, there’s no stopping because we are up. We want to finish on top.”
Nazareth 37, Northampton 28
107: Jack Dressler (Naz) by forfeit
114: Ben Schoeneberger (Nor) pinned Jonathan Aroche, 0:45
121: Derek Fulmer (Naz) maj. dec. Cade Strauss, 16-4
127: Brayden Wenrich (Nor) pinned Juan Diaz, 1:48
133: Caleb Kosko (Naz) maj. dec. Davi Glykas, 15-2
139: Cooper Wenrich (Naz) maj. dec. Matthew Sommer (Nor), 16-4
145: Trey Wagner (Nor) tech. fall Michael Good, 16-0, 5:34
152: Chase Grabfelder (Nor) tech. fall Chase Brown (Naz), 26-6, 5:01
160: Gabe Ballard (Nor) pinned Jayden Quach, 0:50
172: Cade Campbell (Naz) maj. dec. Carter Chlebove, 10-2
189: Dominic Tunison (Naz) maj. dec. Logan Rusnock, 11-0
215: Elijah Simak (Naz) tech. fall Joell Small, 22-6, 3:21
285: Brayden Zuercher (Naz) pinned Brandon McEntire, 0:48
Referee: Chris Grammes
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
https://www.mcall.com/2025/12/05/nazareth-wrestling-bumps-up-to-beat-northampton-again/
