NORTHAMPTON - Winning a championship as a freshman - at any tournament - is a daunting task.

Northwestern was able to crown one a year ago at the Colonial League tournament when Luke Fugazzotto powered his way to a first-place finish.

The Tigers made it back-to-back seasons with a ninth-grade league titlist Sunday night when Trent Croll won the 133-pound class with a wild 16-12 victory over Wilson’s David M’Balla.

Croll was one of three Times News area wrestlers to earn gold in the annual Colonial League meet, as teammate Fugazzotto rolled through the 172-pound field and Northern Lehigh’s Sam Frame bettered the competition at 285.

“It felt really good being a freshman and winning this tournament with older (kids),” said Croll, who reached the final round by defeating Pen Argyl’s Aiden Knorr 11-3 in the semis.

“I had confidence that I could beat the Pen Argyl kid. I lost to him before earlier in the season. The Wilson kid, I never wrestled him before, but I knew I had a chance ... and I made it happen.”

Croll got a takedown seconds into his finals match with M’Balla and built a 7-3 advantage after the first period. The margin remained four points after the second, but a couple of takedowns - between a Croll escape - by M’Balla made things interesting down the stretch.

The Tiger freshman managed his sixth, and final takedown, late in the match to help secure the win and the title.

“I was really good on my feet today,” said Croll, who was seeded third. “Early in the season I was pretty slow ... I got a lot of takedowns today. I was really confident. I was watching his (M’Balla’s) matches, and he’s really fast. So when I got that early takedown I was confident I could win the match.

“He took me down three times ... so I was pretty worried about that but once I got that last takedown, I just held him down and got the win.”

Croll’s three wins in the tournament boost his record to an impressive 15-4.

“He was a third seed, but I thought he could win the tournament,” said Northwestern head coach Joe Killar. “He lost to the one kid from Pen Argyl earlier in the year, but he wrestled well and got to the finals. He did give up some easy points (in the finals) and he was getting a little tired there, but he had a couple good goes in a row without much of a break.

“He was real good on his feet ... It was a good match for him. It’s probably a kid he’s going to have to beat to make it out of districts. He did it today, and hopefully he can do it when districts come.”

Fugazzotto not only made it out districts last year, but earned a D-11 title on his way to a berth at states.

With his performance on Sunday, it’s safe to say he’s on a similar path.

The Tiger sophomore and top seed earned first-period pins in all three of his matches to claim another gold medal. In the finals, he made quick work of Southern Lehigh’s Cody Wesner, decking him in 58 seconds. That came after a 1:17 fall in the quarterfinals and a 51-second mat slap in the semis.

“He didn’t have, for his abilities, the competition today,” said Killar about Fugazzotto’s matchups. “He did what he had to do. You just have to wrestle whoever they give you, no matter who it is.”

Fugazzotto is hopeful for another trip to states, and would like to medal this time around.

“I want to place at states, that’s my overall goal,” said Fugazzotto, who is now 21-1 this season. “I feel like I did pretty good today for the level of competition that was here. There wasn’t any pressure. It was just going out and wrestling.

“I feel like I’m starting to work on my strengths and build on my weaknesses. I’m just working on my individual stuff, the moves I do and work on those to get better at them ... When you come in here and you win dominantly, it says something to the other people about how serious you take it. And that you’re a force to be reckoned with.”

Frame (12-5) proved to be a force at the 285-pound class.

And the Northern Lehigh senior attributed some of his success to a former Bulldog heavyweight.

“I felt like I had a good shot at winning it,” said Frame, who was seeded fourth. “I listened to my coaches and we game planned, and that’s what made me victorious. I feel like my strength and my conditioning in the offseason, and my coaches helping me with that was key.

“And Josh Schaffer, who graduated back in 2021, has been coming in the room with me and working me with heavyweight stuff and that’s really helped me out.”

Frame gained a quick pin in the quarters before taking a hard-fought 5-2 decision against Salisbury’s top seed Sam Krauss in the semis. He finished off his championship in style with a 1:09 fall of Catasauqua’s Jacob Ramos in the title bout.

“I wrestled him a few weeks ago and pinned him in the first, but he’s a big strong physical kid,” said Frame of Ramos. “I really think this can be a big boost coming into districts this year. The last few years I fell short and that was going through my mindset, so this year I’m going for a top four (finish) and be able to go to regionals.”

“He wrestled well,” said Bulldog mentor Scott Snyder. “I think his most important match was in the semifinals with Krauss. That match could have gone either way. But he wrestled really smart. He capitalized defensively ... I was pleased with his patience. Often times, Sam will go out there and look for the big move, and he doesn’t always come out on top in those situations. So it was nice to see him sit back and just trust his training and patience and let things come to him rather than trying to force the offense.”

Palmerton actually moved the most area kids into the final round, as three Blue Bombers - Derek King, Thomas Pasqueriello and Dillon Lombardi - all wrestled for titles.

Unfortunately for Coach Justin Petersen and his kids, a championship wasn’t meant to be.

King fell 9-2 to Southern Lehigh’s Brock Frable at 145, while Pasqueriello suffered a 14-0 major defeat at 107. Lombardi battled back from an early deficit but was eventually pinned in his 152-pound matchup with Solehi’s Sean Steckert.

“We started out pretty well, but it was rough how we finished there,” said Petersen. “But overall, I thought we did well.

“Three in the finals, but we went 0-3, and had three seconds. Getting three in the finals is good. We just want to take that next step and get on top of the podium ... We battled, even the ones we lost. We battled and competed, and that’s all you can ask for. We still have a lot of things to work on, but luckily it’s only Jan. 14. All we can do now is reflect and get better.”

THIRD-PLACE FINISHERS ... The TN area had four wrestlers capture third-place honors, including two from Northern Lehigh - Grady Newhard at 189 and Jack Tosh at 215. Both Bulldogs gained one-point decisions in their third-place matches. Northwestern’s Braydon Uricchio (114) and Palmerton’s Dillon Anthony (160) each posted pins to take third in their respective weight classes.

TEAM SCORES ... Southern Lehigh, with three champions, earned the team title with 123.5 points. Wilson was second, five points back of the Spartans. Northwestern ended fifth, Palmerton finished sixth, and Northern Lehigh placed eighth among the 12 schools.

Championship Round

107 - Western Slingland (Wilson) major dec. Thomas Pasquariello (Palmerton), 14-0; 114 - Keith Barker (Southern Lehigh) major dec. Brock Schnelderwind (Palisades), 12-3; 121 - Giovanni Dibiagio (Wilson) dec. Griffin King (Southern Lehigh), 6-4; 127 - Carter Smith (Bangor) dec. Santino Micci (Wilson), 1-0; 133 - Trent Croll (Northwestern) dec. David M’Balla (Wilson), 16-12; 139 - Collin Ramsay (Pen Argyl) major dec. Stephen Bialek (Notre Dame), 13-0; 145 - Brock Frable (Southern Lehigh) dec. Derek King (Palmerton), 9-2; 152 - Sean Steckert (Southern Lehigh) pinned Dillon Lombardi (Palmerton) in 5:03; 160 - Danny Haubert (Palisades) pinned Jackson Millen (Wilson) in 1:42; 172 - Luke Fugazzotto (Northwestern) pinned Cody Wesner (Southern Lehigh) in :58; 189 - Nuallan King (Pen Argyl) dec. Riley Stapp (Bangor), 3-2; 215 - Jakub Gloc (Salisbury) pinned Chad Beller (Catasauqua) in 3:10; 285

- Sam Frame (Northern Lehigh) pinned Jacob Ramos (Catasauqua) in 1:09.

Third-Place Matches

107 - Isaiah Adams (Pen Argyl) pinned Paul Laubner (Notre Dame) in 4:12; 114 - Braydon Uricchio (Northwestern) pinned Gavin Hacker (Catasauqua) in 2:13; 121 - Mikhail Hartranft (Catasauqua) dec. Cody Mazzocca (Northern Lehigh), 6-2; 127 - Evan Reed (Catasauqua) dec. Josh Merkel (Palmerton), 8-4; 133 - Angelo Ziccardi (Palisades) dec. Aiden Knorr (Pen Argyl), 3-1; 139 - Aidan McNulty (Bangor) dec. Jonathan Cordon-Pinto (Catasauqua), 6-4; 145 - David Sipley (Bangor) dec. Luca Albanese (Pen Argyl), 8-7 SV; 152 - Josh Ludlow (Notre Dame) dec. Alex Moser (Pen Argyl), 9-3; 160 - Dillon Anthony (Palmerton) pinned Landen Smith (Bangor) in 4:09; 172 - Kody Ward (Bangor) pinned Shane Moser (Pen Argyl) in 4:37; 189 - Grady Newhard (Northern Lehigh) dec. Ian Feckete (Wilson), 3-2; 215 - Jack Tosh (Northern Lehigh) dec. Noah Schlofer (Northwestern), 2-1; 285

- Sam Krauss (Salisbury) pinned Jackson Huber (Northwestern) in :27.