Published January 19. 2023 03:09PM
by Peter Car pcar@tnonline.com
It could be a season of growing pains for Liberty’s wrestling team this winter. The Hurricanes are coming off an 11-10 season from a year ago, but graduated a large senior class, leaving them with a lack of experience heading into the year.
Head coach Brandon Hall is entering his fourth season at the helm of the Hurricanes and is hoping his group can learn quickly in the unforgivable EPC.
“We have quite the dichotomy when it comes to experience in our room this season,” said Hall. “With 12 seniors graduating and less than 10 kids in junior high last season, we clearly have a lot of inexperienced wrestlers in our room. The challenge will be shortening their learning curve while also moving at a higher pace for our more seasoned wrestlers. We have some holes to fill but look to improve on last year’s EPC and district standings.”
Returning for Liberty this season Jasiah Pagan (So., 107), Jack Evans (Jr., 127), Kam Abboud (Jr., 139), Ryan Santiago (Sr., 152), Levi Levy (Jr., 285) and Seth Kolb (Jr., 285).
Freshman Adriaan Deleon (145) is one of the few newcomers for Hall’s roster. Santiago and Abboud are two wrestlers that Hall expects to lead this year on the mat, as Santiago placed fourth at districts and fifth at regionals last season.
Liberty opens the season this Wednesday against Allen and then hits the road this weekend for the Penn Manor tournament.