When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Memorial Gym, Liberty HS
Records: Freedom 0-2 overall and EPC Northampton, Liberty 0-2, 0-2
Last meeting: Liberty won 41-32 on February 1, 2020
Possible lineups (Freedom wrestler listed first; regional rankings by lehighvalleylive, HM-Honorable Mention)
106 pounds: No. 2 CJ Horvath (2-0) v. Sr. HM Connor Werner (0-2)
113: Fr. Ethan Christiansen (0-2) v. TBD
120: Fr. Alex Greenberg (0-1) or Fr. Joey Bodnar (0-1) v. Fr, Kamal Abboud (0-2)
126: Jr. Anthony Negrete (0-2) v. Jr. HM Javien DeLeon (0-2)
132: So., Cameron Wickemeyer (0-2) v. Jr. Eddie Force (0-2)
138: Jr. No. 5 Connor Bevan (1-1) v. Jr. Chandler Drew (0-2)
145: Fr. HM Jared Karabinus (1-1) v. So. Ryan Santiago (0-2)
152: Jr. HM Christopher Jurado (1-1) or Jr. Anthony Salim (0-1) v. Sr. Jackson Marcantonio (0-2)
160: Jurado or Sr. Thaddeus Howland (0-2) v. Jr. Xavien Ramos (0-2)
172: Howland or Jr. Justin Cortijo (0-1) v. Jr. Christian Reid (0-2)
189: Fr. Diego Marcano (0-2) v. Jr. Jo-Voni Grullon (0-2)
215: Sr. Matt Bogardo (0-2) v. Sr. Dustin Tocci (0-2)
285: Sr. Ryan Frantz (0-2) v. Fr. Levi Levy (1-0) or Fr. Seth Kolb (0-1)
Brad Wilson’s Analysis: On the face of it, there’s not much at stake here. We have two winless teams that have been outscored by a combined 232-24 in their four defeats. There are just two ranked wrestlers in the whole dual. So what’s the big deal? Well, it’s the Battle of Bethlehem, a battle between two fierce archrivals - any Freedom v. Liberty event is compelling. It’s the perfect example of what former Easton coach Steve Powell calls the heart of Lehigh Valley wrestling, The “town v. town” dual, except here it’s “crosstown v. crosstown’. Whatever you call, to this community and these athletes, this is their Super Bowl. The winner will be thrilled, and the loser will finish a winless season; even in an abbreviated year, winless is the pits.
On nights like this, stars can be born; a wrestler can reach inside and pull out a performance that puts him on the map, a bout that fans won’t forget: “Remember when X beat Liberty as a freshman” or “Wow, that night against Freedom in the pandemic year…” Freedom has the two ranked wrestlers, but Liberty has more varsity experience overall including two state qualifiers (Werner and DeLeon). The Hurricanes’ lineup looks like it might have more points in it, if it wrestles up to expectations, but that’s a big “if”. A major, major key will be who can best stay off their backs -- it will be the team whose toughness shows most in adverse situations that triumphs. It’s anybody’s match, as great rivalries should be. Worth noting that Liberty head coach Brandon Hall and some of his staff were let go by Freedom in 2018, which we know still rankles, and offers motivation. This could go in a dozen different directions, especially if momentum builds for one team with a run of falls. Almost no result would surprise us -- except that if it’s not a whole lot of fun.
Brad Wilson’s Prediction: Freedom, 36-33.
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Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com.
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