“Freedom Family” is more than a slogan to Coach Michele Laubach; it’s a way of life. Teaching health and physical education at Freedom HS as well as coaching the varsity softball and girls wrestling teams - including her own daughter, Aly - she mentors dozens of teen girls every year and is building a program that will challenge wrestling powerhouses like Parkland HS and Easton HS.

The nascent girls program had successes that anybody can read from a score card, like junior Anaya Velez’s 17–3 season, junior Aly Laubach’s 15–5 record, and freshman Alexis Horvath’s 12–6 season. For Coach Laubach, though, the highlights go beyond the places the girls took at the District XI championship (fourth for Velez, fourth for Horvath, and sixth for Laubach).

“On Jan. 11,” she shares, “we were broadcast by RCN - the first live girls duals that they had ever broadcast. I told the girls, ‘You go out there and do what you know, and wrestle with technique, and enjoy the moment, because you are part of history.’”

Laubach knew her team was up against a strong opponent in Parkland, with seniors who had been working out with the boys team for years. When Aly scored the sole Freedom victory, however, it was only part of the story.

“One of the toughest things for these girls to learn is the failure part,” Laubach says, noting that the “team” aspect of wrestling is different from softball, because bouts are won or lost by individuals. However, at Freedom, “We create the team culture,” Laubach says.

Part of that is doing the hard work to catch up to programs like Parkland’s. Another part is showing the girls that their worth is not dependent on their point contribution to the wrestling team.

Laubach is an ambassador for the national program Morgan’s Message, named after a Duke University lacrosse player who committed suicide after suffering a season-ending and career-threatening knee injury. The goal of Morgan’s Message is to place mental and physical health on the same level for athletes, so seeking help is not stigmatized, and athletes can empower each other and find appropriate care when anxiety and other issues threaten them. (More information is available at www.MorgansMessage.org.)

“I tell my team,” Laubach says, “that their identity is not just as a softball player or as a wrestler. Their identity is beyond that.” In addition to volunteer work with the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley, Laubach’s athletes raise money for Morgan’s Message, both supporting the organization and having the message of holistic self-worth and self-care reinforced.

The team’s hard work is paying off. Working with a supporting cast that includes assistant coaches Jake Retos and Brian Ellis, as well as strength and conditioning advice from St. Luke’s through a district contract, the girls are building the strength and stamina that will help them win matches and minimize injuries.

Great performances at the East Penn Conference championship were examples of tenacity in action. Anaya Velez (third place) and Alexis Horvath (fourth) won three matches to earn their medals, but Aly Laubach (third) and Scarlet Morey (fourth) found themselves in the losers’ bracket and had to face five opponents to earn their finishes.

“It’s not easy to wrestle back,” Coach Laubach says, “but we’re teaching the girls the grittiness of the sport.”