Chocolate is not the only thing that Hershey, Pennsylvania is known for. Every year, Hershey becomes a place of champions. The state wrestling championships are held here, and the Bulldogs competed to have a chance to hoist the trophy that has been in their sights since the very beginning.

After winning the section, the team had home-field advantage for the WPIAL semifinals. On Feb. 1, the Freedom Bulldogs hosted Elizabeth-Forward, Valley and Bentworth. The way the semifinal functioned was that each team had at least one match. The winners of the first match then moved on to the last round, and the winner of that round moved on to WPIAL finals.

Freedom’s first opponent was Elizabeth-Forward. The Bulldogs put up large points that led them to win 57-21. During that same round, it was Valley versus Bentworth. Valley also had a large win that advanced them into the final round to take on the Bulldogs.

The final round of the semifinals brought Freedom a challenge. They were taking on Valley. Freedom had come to fight, which propelled them to a 44-30 victory. Freedom was headed to Chartiers-Houston to compete for the WPIAL title.

On Feb. 4, the Dawgs were ready for battle as they arrived at Chartiers-Houston High School for the WPIAL championship. The championship was formatted with 16 teams competing to be champions. Freedom’s first match was against the South Fayette Lions.

“Last season was similar to this season. We lost to [South Fayette] last year at South Side duals than later beat them in the postseason for the section title. Then this year we lost to [South Fayette] again at the South Side duals then beat them the second time once again in the postseason in the WPIAL semifinals,” junior Jake Pail said when asked about the team’s history with South Fayette.

Freedom prevailed and found themselves moving onto the next round, the exact same way that they had beaten the lions this past season.

“We knew we could beat [South Fayette] and we knew we were going to [win] if everyone wrestled good. So it was like a good momentum swing moving forward for the team,” Pail said.

Freedom’s next match was against Burrell. Burrell’s wrestling team is known for their past success and were known to be a tough competitor. Through the match, both teams had their wins and losses. The team put up a vigorous fight but were ultimately beaten with the final score of 27-44.

On a positive note, the team qualified to compete at the state tournament in Hershey and were given a warm sendoff by their fellow classmates.

The Bulldogs were matched up against their first opponent, Chestnut Ridge. The tough competition and fight that both put up showed determination, but the Dawgs were beaten and started off 0-1 in the tournament.

The tournament was structured so each team would have to lose twice to be eliminated, so the team had to win this next match. Saegertown was next on the list. The Bulldogs had the mindset to win. The team pushed to the very finish but were beaten with the score of 36-33. They were 4 points from victory but they held their heads high and reflected on this season’s success.