Staff photo / Preston Byers. Liberty’s Shakir Thomas (left) sizes up Hubbard’s Logan Balla during their 113-pound match Wednesday at Liberty.
LIBERTY — After a 60-18 home dual defeat vs. Hubbard on Wednesday, first-year Liberty head wrestling coach Nick Kratsas offered a succinct summary of the evening.
“Hubbard came to wrestle,” Kratsas said. “And we didn’t.”
The Eagles controlled the mat in nearly every contest, winning all but one match in which they participated. Hubbard earned seven pinfall victories en route to the commanding team win.
“I think we looked really good,” Hubbard assistant coach Donald Lehman said. “We executed what we were trying to do in the beginning of the season. We still got work to do, but I’m proud of where our kids are today.”
The on-mat results, while impressive, did not catch Lehman’s eye as much as another aspect of the Eagles.
“My biggest takeaway from this, though, is we’re a team,” Lehman said. “We’re very unified this year, and that’s the key to our success.”
The energy and excitement around the team extended past the wrestlers surrounding the mat too.
“You see it in the stands,” Hubbard head coach Ralph Strep said. “We’re only right down the road, but it’s nice that we had more fans in the stands. I feel like we’re at a Steelers-Browns game and we’re in Cleveland and we got the Terrible Towels.”
The Hubbard supporters had plenty of reasons to be enthusiastic Wednesday.
After a 98-pound forfeit victory for Shayne Phillips, the Eagles scored their first pin of the night when 106-pounder Gage Hunt put away Mason Volk in the third period.
A close, tense matchup between Hubbard’s Logan Balla and Liberty’s Shakir Thomas followed. Despite being threatened with multiple takedown attempts, Balla stayed on his feet and shut out Thomas for the 4-0 win.
At 120 pounds, Markel Hackwelder earned another victory for Hubbard, this time in the form of a 17-0 technical fall against Evan White.
In the only non-forfeit Liberty win of the dual, Chase Burns, who Kratsas praised for his performance, scored the Leopards six points with a 126-pound pinfall victory against Zachary Adamson.
The Eagles got back to their winning ways at 132 pounds with a first-round Bradyn Balla pinfall win over Jared Merrick-Sierra. Jonathan Adamson then pinned Tyler Merrick-Sierra in the third period of their 138-pound clash.
Following Nolan Bentley’s 10-1 win against Luke Stevens in the 145-pound weight class, Liberty picked up back-to-back forfeit victories; Randall Robbins and Sean Thomas won the matches at 152 and 160 pounds, respectively.
To finish off the varsity matches, Hubbard earned three pinfalls and a forfeit; Alex Hackwelder and Joe Hamm pinned Christian Colburnn and Carter Harris, respectively, in the first period before Hubbard 215-pounder Logan Lehman rebounded from a 6-3 deficit at the end of the first period to pin Brady Morgan in the second.
Mitchell Fink, the Eagles’ heavyweight, won by forfeit in the final match of the dual.
Kratsas said his team, once they’re back in the practice room, needs to work from the bottom more. He also wanted his team to learn a lesson from the loss.
“Come to wrestle,” Kratsas said.
Liberty is set to visit Brookfield for a tri meet with the Warriors and Grand Valley next Wednesday.
Hubbard is scheduled to participate in the Kooper McCabe Memorial tournament at Galion on Saturday.