JEFFERSON TWP — Senior Night turned into a senior moment — quite literally.

Knoch wrestling seniors Eli Reese, Ty Misitis, Sam Freyermuth and Kyle Lauster were honored prior to the Knights' dual match against Valley Wednesday night in the Knoch gym.

None of the four took to the mat for competition — each winning by forfeit — as Valley brought only three healthy wrestlers. The Knights forfeited to two of them.

The night's actual competition lasted less than two minutes as the Vikings' Dion Lyons scored a first-period pin at 138 pounds. That was the lone bout of the night as Knoch came away with a bizarre 54-18 victory in its rather brief season opener.

“This was awkward,” first-year Knoch coach Bob Waldron admitted. “But this was our first home match and with the uncertainty of the times, the school wanted to honor the seniors before the first match.

“I thought there would be a couple of more matches. Eli would have had a match at heavyweight, but their kid is out on quarantine. They placed two of their other wrestlers at weight divisions we have holes in right now.

“Still, we got done what we wanted to get done. We honored those seniors. They are the heart of this team,” Waldron added.

Reese, Misitis, Freyermuth and Lauster have combined for 41 years of wrestling and 12 varsity letters. They've accumulated approximately 160 varsity wins in their careers, Reese leading the way with a 50-19 record.

“This was a little bit strange,” Reese said of Senior Night. “We knew it would be a short night, but nothing like this.

“It's OK ... we're just starting out.”

Reese and Lauster qualified for the WPIAL Tournament last year. Both have goals of reaching the state tourney this time around.

“I want to get on that podium,” Reese said of Hershey.

All are excited about wrestling for Waldron.

“The guy knows what he's doing,” Freyermuth said.

“He's an awesome guy,” Lauster chimed in. “He's making us better.”

During Gov. Tom Wolf's temporary shutdown of high school winter sports, Waldron sent his wrestlers instructions for workouts and proper diet.

Waldron owns and runs a mixed martial arts gym in the Pittsburgh area.

“I know a lot about the human body and how to peak performance,” he said.

The Knight seniors have stayed with wrestling for a variety of reasons.

“I love the one-on-one aspect of it,” Reese said. “Besides, who wants to walk away from a sport where you can beat somebody up?”

“I like how it combines mental and physical skills,” Lauster said.

Misitis added that “it's fun competing against guys with the same type of mind-set that you have.”

Waldron emphasized that his team will have plenty of opportunities to “show their skills” as the season wears on.

Knoch travels to Burrell next Wednesday for a quadrangular that includes Riverview and South Allegheny. Valley will be competing as well.

“We could have just wrestled Valley there, but we wanted to honor these seniors at home,” Waldron said. “As different as this was, we have no regrets.”

In fact, the Knights anticipate future success on the mat.

“This is the deepest and best team we've had,” Freyermuth said. “We can't wait to get things going.”

Knoch 54, Valley 18(Match started at 106 pounds)106-Double Forfeit; 113-Matt Frank (K) by forfeit; 120-Nicholas Golab (K) by forfeit; 126-Chuck Perkins (V) by forfeit 132-Ryan Long (V) by forfeit; 138-Dion Lyons (V) pinned Christopher Michaux, 1:35; 145-Gavin McGowan (K) by forfeit; 152-Ty Misitis (K) by forfeit; 160-Aaron Butler (K) by forfeit; 172-Kyle Lauster (K) by forfeit; 189-Sam Freyermuth (K) by forfeit; 215-Nathaniel Becker (K) by forfeit; Hwt.-Eli Reese (K) by forfeit