Jeff Karam admitted that he may have had a part in jinxing Nathan Desmond at the Ironman Tournament 10 days ago when he lost in the 106-pound finals.

Karam told Desmond Bethlehem Catholic’s wrestling program never had a freshman champion in that event and while Desmond took second, he did make history for the Hawks this past weekend by taking home the gold medal at the Beast of the East tournament in Delaware.

Desmond proved to everyone why he’s one of the best freshmen in the country, as he didn’t give up a point in the prestigious event en route to a 4-0 decision over Malvern Prep’s Anthony Mutarelli in the finals.

Karam made sure to not mention anything to Desmond about being the first Golden Hawk to win the Beast in the lead up to the tournament this week, but the feat of him actually doing it now shows how much potential he has.

“Nate is a phenomenal young man,” said Karam. “He came a little short last week at Ironman and then didn’t give up a point the entire tournament at the Beast. We expect some big things of him moving forward. I’ve coached a lot of great wrestlers over the years and the way he’s starting off, he’s up there with the best of them.”

The Hawks had four wrestlers place at the tournament and finished sixth as a team with 154 points, two spots behind fourth-place Nazareth (162 points).

Of those four wrestlers, junior Tyler Kasak (138) also came home with a gold medal after knocking off Hunter Mason of Greeneville (TN) 3-0 in the finals.

It’s the second straight tournament title for Kasak to start the year, who has only improved off his state championship campaign from last March.

“He’s actually gotten lot better from last year,” Karam said. “Tyler is so methodical and is such a complete wrestler. I’m happy for the guys that won it. Its such a tough tourney and we’ve only had a handful of guys win this. Two champs is definitely something special. I’m also proud of Dante [Frinzi] to come back and place. Cael [McIntyre] placing is also very big.”

Frinzi (126) came back from an early round loss to battle through the consolation rounds to take third place at the tournament. He knocked off Keyveon Roller of Lakeway Chirstian (TN) 3-0 in the medal round, while McIntyre (120) forfeited his fifth-place medal match due to injury precautions.

The Hawks wrestle at Pocono Mountain West on Wednesday in their only action this before the holiday break.