Liberty got their first real test of wrestling this season at the Penn Manor tournament over the weekend. The Hurricanes finished in seventh overall out of 32 teams and medaled four wrestlers.

Dante Morrison came away as the lone champion for Liberty, pinning Kojo Osafo-Mensah of Washington High School (WV) in 1:42 at heavyweight.

Jasiah Pagan was also a finalist at 114 pounds, but he lost to Penn Manor’s Caden Boland 4-3 to settle for silver.

After starting the season with wins over Dieruff and Pocono Mountain West, getting some tournament action was a good thing for Brandon Hall’s group.

“I felt that despite our lack of varsity experience, we showed a lot of grit and really competed in all aspects regardless of the opponent,” said Hall. “We look like a team that is hungry to learn and get better. I have no doubts that our inexperience will be severely tested throughout January with our EPC schedule, the VA duals and Quakertown duals, but that is what we want.”

Elijah Heimbach (107) finished in fourth at the tournament and Ben Miller (133) grabbed seventh to round out Liberty quartered of medalists.

Hall was happy to see Morrison come away with a championship after bowing out of the tourney early last year, as well as seeing Pagan reach the finals.

“Dante is adjusting to wrestling 285 and has done well adapting to scrapping with kids over 260 lbs.,” he said. “He was eliminated on the first day last year, going 1-2. This weekend was certainly a confidence boost for him at a new weight class. Jasiah wrestled well all weekend too. The coaching staff was pleased with his attacking style and constantly looking to score points in all positions. Ben Miller had a good weekend too. He continues to challenge himself and set a high standard for how to compete and practice.”

Liberty has one dual meet this week against Allen on Wednesday night before hosting their annual Bethlehem Holiday Classic on Dec. 28 and 29.

Freedom (6-0) continues their hot start to the year, as they whipped Pleasant Valley and Dieruff last week. The Pates have three matches this week against Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg South and Northwestern.