Although the wrestling team did not obtain the “4peat” they were hoping to at the WPIAL Sub-Sectional Tournament held at Freedom Area High School on Jan. 23, they are celebrating their fellow wrestlers, seniors Zack Ward and Bryson Miller, being back on the mats after being out due to injuries.

Ward’s late start, due to a knee injury, was not noticeable, for he pinned his first opponent, from Quaker Valley, in just six seconds. The crowd was filled with cheers as Ward brought his opponent’s shoulder blades to the mat. The cheers amplified when the referee slammed the mat to announce Ward’s victory. He carried the energy from his first match over to his second against an opponent from Laurel, where he earned yet another victory with a score of 10-4.

“To come out and pin my kid that quick definitely gave me a great confidence boost,” Ward said.

Another wrestler that definitely caught the crowd’s attention was sophomore Travis Kalamasz. Kalamasz has showed a tremendous amount of improvement throughout the season. He showed his strive towards greatness and dominance on the mat after pinning his opponents from both Quaker Valley and Laurel.

Kalamasz’s first match against Quaker Valley kept everyone on their feet, for him and his opponent were constantly going back and forth with points. When the time ran out during the second period, the score was 10-10, Kalamasz knew he could defeat his opponent with all the support and help he was getting from his team and the audience. In the middle of the third period, Kalamasz pinned his opponent. Kalamasz was greeted by his team with high fives, fistbumps and sayings like “that was clutch” from his teammate, senior Jacob Pail.

“It honestly felt great to win against my opponents and to come back to my team cheering me on after I won,” Kalamasz said.

On Feb. 5, the wrestlers faced Hopewell and Norwin High School. The team claimed their victory against Hopewell with a final team score of 34-30. Sadly, the wrestlers lost to Norwin with a final team score of 59-12. This was not the only loss the wrestling team faced that night, for this night was also the senior night for the team. The team celebrated their last regular season match with seniors Miller, Ward, Pail and Andrew Kalamasz by recognizing them before the match began. As the seniors walked down the mats that they’ve spent a majority of their time at Freedom wrestling on with their loved ones by their sides, they began to reminisce about their memorable times with their teammates. With the bleachers filled top to bottom, the seniors were recognized for all their accomplishments not only on the mat, but also their accomplishments in the classroom.

“The younger wrestlers should know to let the outside voices be outside voices and to not care what other people think or say,” Ward said. “In the end, others don’t understand how much of a learning experience this sport is.”

The team traveled to Canon McMillan High School on Feb. 15 and 16 to compete in the Section and WPIAL Championship tournaments, where they showed dominance in each of their weight classes. Within the first day, all together the team had seven pins, but all in all earned 14 individual victories. The wrestlers carried their motivation towards their common goal of success over to the second day with 10 pins earned by the whole team and 19 victories in all. Throughout all these victories, 19 of them were earned by the underclass of the team.

It is safe to say that the future of Freedom wrestling is bright and full of numerous amounts of victories and influential wrestlers, for they are already stepping up and meeting all their impeccably high goals.