Off the mat
Becahi refreshed, prepared for the stretch run
Bethlehem Catholic’s wrestling room was dark the day after it lost the District 11 Class 3A team title by 0.5 points to rival Nazareth.
Strange sight, right?
Golden Hawks coach Jeff Karam said he was steaming all last week about that shortcoming, but he felt a day away from practice was appropriate moving forward.
“I had to bite my tongue,” he said, “but I gave them off Monday. It was the right thing to do. We had a long weekend. It was the first time we wrestled that much [this season], so I told them to take off Monday, and they came in on Tuesday and responded.”
Karam talked of a 2021 season in which he has had to switch up the routine as senior Anthony DeRosa clutched the Northeast Regional team trophy that Bethlehem Catholic wrestled away from Nazareth last Saturday at Charles Chrin Community Center.
He has taken advantage of his program’s ability to practice leading up to the individual postseason more than almost every other District 11 squad. But he recognizes there is nothing to gain by pushing through the postseason grind like it is any other year.
That’s because the COVID19 pandemic and subsequent government and school district restrictions and limitations made it anything but normal.
District 11 wrestling programs did not compete this year in any regular-season tournaments. There was a dual meet or two in December before a state-mandated shutdown of all athletic competitions for three weeks.
School districts had shutdowns, which meant athletics were put on hold. Practices were missed. And only Bethlehem Catholic and Notre Dame-GP opted to participate in the team postseason.
It has been difficult for everyone involved in the sport.
“We were fortunate,” Karam said. “We practiced a lot. We only had one time when we had to shut down. Other than that, we’ve been in the room. I’m proud of our conditioning. I think it showed compared to other teams.
“I’m sure part of that is we had the benefit of practicing while other teams couldn’t. For me as a coach, this has been one of the most challenging years. You have to change things up. There’s only so many times you can go in the room and go over something, drill it and then wrestle live and run sprints.
“It’s probably a really good thing because wrestling is
such a physical sport where I can give strategic breaks.”
This Monday was another day off for Bethlehem Catholic, which has nine wrestlers alive at Saturday’s East Super Regional at Quakertown.
The Golden Hawks have a gauntlet of competitors that has them again among the state’s elite teams. Senior captain Evan Gleason is the leader, though you wouldn’t know it from his demeanor.
The District 11 and Northeast Regionalchampionat152pounds is all about doing things the right way and leading by example.
“[Last week] was rough for him because he lost his grandmother,” Karam said. “It was a hard week for him, but he said, ‘let’s do this for her.’ It says a lot about his character.
“To be a good leader, you’ve got to practice what you preach. He’s just a stand-up young man. You’ll never see him ask someone to do something that he didn’t do. He’s the hardest working kid in the room. There’s other kids chomping at his heels, no doubt about it. But that’s because of his leadership.
“Harvard is getting a special kid. Usually you say that the other way around.”
Karam’s gauntlet starts at 113 with Cael McIntyre, who is a penalty point and a takedown away from being a district and regional champion.
District and regional champions follow at 120 (Dante Frinzi), 126 (Tyler Kasak), 132 (Matt Mayer) and 138 (Andrew Harmon). Trey Miletics is a district and regional thirdplace finisher at 145. Gleason, a returning state fifth-place finisher, is at 152. Landon Muth is a district and regional runner-up at 160.
“You look at that whole row of guys,” Karam said, “they are in there together every day in the room. You can see the fruits of their labor.”
Harmon is one who has elevated his performance after being a state qualifier last season as an undersized 126-pounder.
This season, the sophomore is 10-0 with four pins, two technical falls and two major decisions.
“Last year showed me that I had the opportunity to take that next step,” Harmon said. “I started working on my technique, sharpening things up.
“Last year, I got handled on my feet and hand fighting. I really stressed that over the summer.”
Harmon also made the most of working in the room this season with Gleason and fellow senior leader Matt Mayer, and it has made a difference.
Good news for Bethlehem Catholic — bad news for everyone else — is that only Mayer and Gleason are seniors among this gauntlet.
The Golden Hawks are young, talented and experienced. They will need help at 215 and 285, and lose super regional qualifier DeRosa (189) and Justus Bozzi (172) to graduation. But they have two statelevel studs coming up next year in Kollin Rath and Nathan Desmond, plus Ashton Campbell who could not find a spot in this year’s postseason lineup but is a solid talent.
For now Karam is happy to continue its rivalry with Nazareth, though he is not always happy with the results in the team and individual seasons.
The Golden Hawks coach believes it brings out the best in both teams and the Lehigh Valley.
“I give a lot of credit to Nazareth,” he said. “I love wrestling Nazareth. I know my team does. They are a great program with unbelievable coaches and great kids. They don’t quit. They are so well-coached. That’s what you want to wrestle.”