It was the perfect time for Jeff Karam to walk away from wrestling and the perfect season helped nudge him to retirement.

Karam officially resigned as Bethlehem Catholic’s wrestling coach last week, opening the door for himself and his wife Debbie to knock off some bucket list items.

After taking a cross country road trip with his wife last year, it opened up Karam’s eyes to the possibilities of enjoying some of the finer things in life more often.

“We’ve had a lot of success over the years and this year everything aligned the right way,” said Karam. “This year made a big difference toward making this decision and I feel at peace that everything with the program is heading in the right direction.

“I’m getting a little tired and this sport is 365 days a year. It’s demanding and I want to enjoy some other things in life. If you aren’t giving everything that you expect from the kids, they see right through that.”

This season was the perfect swan song for Karam to walk away, as the Hawks went 18-0, winning the district and state team titles, as well as sweeping each individual postseason team title en route to crowning three state champions (Keanu Dillard, Nate Desmond and Kollin Rath) in Hershey last month.

Karam walks away with a 364-116 career record in 15 seasons coaching Bethlehem Catholic, Freedom and Delaware Valley (NJ).

However, his past 12 years saw the Hawks climb the mountain to one of the nation’s top programs, winning nine PIAA team titles (four in 2A and five in 3A).

He’s coached 22 state champions, making it the third most in state history behind Clearfield’s Art Weiss and Nazareth’s Dave Crowell.

“If you’re coaching for accolades or championships, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons,” Karam. “I wanted to help build the character of these young men and make them better people in life and I think we did it.”

Karam did everything alongside assistant coach Randy Cruz, who deserves as much credit for building Becahi’s program to the level it’s at today.

“I’ve been truly blessed to be around great people in this sport and Randy is one of the best,” said Karam. “He’s one of the best coaches out there and he’s done so much for this program. We’re best friends and he’s like a brother to me.”

Now, Karam can start to plan vacations instead of wrestling practices. He has a trip to Alaska on deck this summer and plans to spend weekends in Florida this fall to see his son Cole, who got a job with an architecture firm in Miami.

“I’m a huge Dolphins fan and I’m already planning on making some trips down there to see some games this season,” he said. “It’s just another thing on the bucket list.”

Whether coaching again is on that list is yet to be determined, but it’s also something Karam won’t close the door on. At 55-years-old, he’s still in great shape and is a competitor at heart. When you’ve won as many gold medals as Bethlehem Catholic has during his tenure, taking a break to enjoy life is never a bad thing.

That is until the break gets old and you miss the grind again.

“Whoever gets this Beca job, it’s theirs,” he said. “I’m never going to close the door on coaching again. I’m a competitor. I just have a hard time with the commitment aspect right now.”