Hurricanes finish strong to top Patriots
Liberty opens up big lead, gets key wins late
Liberty wrestling coach Brandon Hall has spent a lot of nights and won a lot of matches in the Joseph J. McIntyre Gymnasium at Freedom High School throughout his coaching career.
Very few of the matches and none of the wins came with the view he had Wednesday night from the visitor’s bench.
Let’s just say there wasn’t a whole lot of love lost following Liberty’s 39-20 victory on Wednesday night.
“I coached here at one point, and they wanted to go in another direction and that’s fine,” Hall said sarcastically following the emotional win. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to coach again here in Bethlehem. To get to coach and teach in the town I live in is a beautiful thing.”
Special wrestlers and special stories like Dante Morrison, Kam Abboud and Jack Evans make it even sweeter for the coach now in his fifth year with the Hurricanes.
Morrison, who is wrestling only for the second time in his life this season, was the one who came through with the decisive blow to Freedom’s comeback attempt in a matchup of phenoms at 215 pounds.
Freedom’s Jared Karabinus had his work cut out for him to begin with, wrestling up a weight class and needing to secure at least one bonus point to keep the match alive. Morrison, a junior, showed intelligence and used what experience he had to use those factors to his advantage.
“There was a distinct height and weight advantage for me, so when he tried to go to his lat drops, I just dropped my hips and put all my weight down on the ground and laid on top of him,” he said.
To know what to do on the mat is one thing. To execute is a completely different animal. But as Morrison did exactly what was going through his mind, he sealed the dual for the Hurricanes and sent the visiting crowd, and his entire bench, into a frenzy.
The fact that the bench was so crowded is just another testament to the culture Hall is building in Bethlehem. The Hurricanes have bought in.
“We started the year with 37 kids and we’ve got 35 still on the roster. They want to be here and I’m ecstatic for them,” Hall said.
Not only are the wrestlers still showing up and investing in their teammates, but they’re also selfless and willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win.
Even if it’s at their own expense.
Two seniors, Sergio Laracuente and Wesley Koch, who have combined for 41 appearances this season and are regulars in the lineup, both talked to their coach before the match and wanted whatever he deemed was best for the team.
That meant watching the final match of their careers from the sideline.
“Wesley said ‘Whatever it takes to get a win tonight, that’s what I want.’ Sergio was the same way and said, ‘I love you and I trust you,’” Hall said. “That’s just as big as the guys that got in and won.”
Those decisions helped allow Evans to end up at 127 and Abboud to bump up to 145, where they both grinded out tight victories that proved pivotal at the end of the night.
At 127, Evans entered the final period with Nicholas Lyden tied up at four and with only 15 seconds remaining, rolled away for a reversal that sealed a 6-4 decision and put the Hurricanes ahead 20-0.
“It was similar to last year where every match counts and all of us knew that we had to fight for what was on our singlet and who was on our bench,” Evans said. “I knew regardless of how tired I was and in pain, I had to fight for my team and get out and get that reversal.”
Abboud displayed similar resolve after getting caught in a shot and falling behind 4-0 with just seconds remaining in the first period. All it took was a deep breath and a reminder from one of his coaches to just score the next point and go from there.
The senior kept his composure, battled back to tie the match and then had the confidence to cut his opponent loose and go for the win in regulation.
“When I saw that there was 48 seconds left, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to cut him,” Abboud said. “I knew if I just kept pressing him, there was no way I wasn’t going to win that match. I knew what I wanted to do.”
Even after Adriaan DeLeon stretched the team lead to 30-5 after Abboud’s win, Freedom just would not go away. Back-to-back pins by Ivan Bonilla and Noah MacIlroy and a hardfought 1-0 decision for Elliot Black at 189 cut the deficit to 30-20 ahead of the titanic clash between Morrison and Karabinus.
While Morrison finished the job himself, Seth Kolb had it covered anyway with an impressive 5-1 decision over Daniel Schiffert to put the icing on the cake of a win that meant everything to Liberty.
“It was just as exhilarating as last year but I think it means a little more to me this year as a senior,” Evans said. “I was in the back sick to my stomach because that’s what this means to me and all of us, especially the seniors.”
“It’s better than gold and sweeter than chocolate,” Abboud said. “You can’t ask for anything else.”