Freedom’s wrestling team has taken care of business throughout this season, but the Pates have a chance to prove to everyone that they belong in the conversation as one of the upper tier programs in the East Penn Conference this week.

Coming off an undefeated (5-0) trip to the Berwick Duals over the weekend, Freedom enters this week at 12-2 with a looming match against Parkland (10-0) Thursday on the road.

The opportunity to take on the Trojans under the circumstances is one that head coach Dante Terenzio relishes for his group, as they hope to fare better in this key EPC meet, than their last one, a 38-18 defeat to Easton last Wednesday.

“I think we are getting to where we want to be,” said Terenzio. “The Easton loss was a tough one to swallow because I think, in many ways, we beat ourselves in that match. I think if we continue to travel the road we’re on, we can be just as good as any team in the EPC aside from Bethlehem Catholic and Nazareth.

“The Parkland match is no doubt a big one for us. Like the Easton match, it’s supposed to be a close one on paper. We have to show up and be ready to wrestle in another tough environment. Our guys need to embrace these moments and have fun with them. These opportunities don’t present themselves often so we have to make the most of them.”

After missing out on the Central Dauphin Duals earlier this month because of COVID, being a late addition to the Berwick Duals gave the Pates an opportunity to get more meets under their belts.

They knocked off Conestoga, Wyoming Valley West, Berwick, Crestwood and Lake Lehman in convincing fashion, as the closest bout over the weekend was their 53-23 win over Wyoming Valley West.

“As far as performance goes, yes we are happy with how we performed,” said Terenzio. “The goal was to clean up on the things we’ve been doing in practice and to score as many points as possible this weekend. I think we accomplished both of those goals and can look ahead to bigger days.”

Liberty (3-5) faced a pair of rugged opponents last week and dropped both of them.

The Hurricanes were shut out by Bethlehem Catholic last week 69-0 and then dropped a 53-12 meet to Parkland.

They look to get back on track this week with matches against Central Catholic and Pocono Mountain West, followed by a trip to the Quakertown Duals on Saturday.