Freedom wrestling team fights off Emmaus to remain unbeaten

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Dec
19

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By Josh Folck | lehighvalleylive.com
on December 17, 2014 10:02 PM, updated December 19, 2014 12:27 AM

12/17 – 7:00 PM Wrestling Final Freedom 37 Emmaus 24

Emmaus was closing in and the Freedom wrestling team’s unbeaten season looked like it might be in danger on Wednesday night in Bethlehem Township.

The Patriots’ Thomas Bonilla was trailing Green Hornets’ Matt Hamati 2-1 very late in the second period during the 145-pound bout as Freedom led 31-24 with only more bout to follow.

The Freedom sophomore then put four points on the board in the matter of five seconds to take the lead in the bout and make sure the Patriots’ perfect record would stay intact.

Bonilla got a reversal and near fall in the closing seconds of the second period to take a 5-2 lead. He then fought off a late rally from Hamati to clinch a 7-4 decision.

Freedom would go up by 10 points with Bonilla’s victory and then wrap up a 37-24 win over Emmaus to move to 8-0 on the season.

“Obviously, it’s what you do in those closing seconds of each period that really matter and that’s something I preach to these kids about owning the final 30 seconds of every period because you don’t know what’s going to happen. And 145 was a great example of that. There was five seconds left in the period. He (Bonilla) gets a reversal and near-side cradle to his back to close out,” Freedom coach Brandon Hall said.

“I don’t feel I was aggressive enough off the whistle in the first period,” Bonilla said. “He was really dominating me on my feet. So I got on the ground in the second period.”
Thomas Bonilla (Bill Adams | lehighvalleylive.com )

In the third period, strategy changed for Bonilla as he remained scoreless in the period until a takedown in the closing seconds.

“I was just trying to stay away from his offense,” Bonilla said. “I knew he was going to come at me pretty aggressive. I knew he was going to go for something big so I didn’t want to bait myself into it. At the end when he went for something big, I just lowered my level and tried to stay on top.”

Emmaus jumped out to a 12-0 lead with a pin by Cole Franklin in 1:22 at 160 pounds and a forfeit victory by Michael Horn at 170 pounds.

Freedom cut the lead to three points with a 13-6 decision by Jake Young at 182 pounds and a pin from John Callahan in 2:26 at 195 pounds.

After a decision by Emmaus’ Thomas Alcaro at 220 pounds, Freedom senior Josh Newhart got a pin in 1:43 to tie the match at 15-15.

Freshman Andy Evans then put the Patriots on top 19-15 with a 17-6 major decision at 106 pounds.

At 126 pounds, Jonah Zych used a late third-period reversal to get a 3-1 win over Emmaus’ Justis Walton. That made the Freedom lead 31-15.

Emmaus cut the Patriots’ lead to 10 points with a fall by Lucas Schaf in 3:35 at 132 pounds. The Green Hornets then used a 3-0 decision by Jacob Alcaro over Freedom’s Willy Byrnes at 138 pounds to make it 31-24 Patriots.

But up next came Bonilla’s late-period magic to secure the win.

“Tommy having a win on Monday night over (Zachary) Rooks against Northampton obviously boosted his confidence, made him feel like he’s going in the right direction,” Hall said. “To come out here tonight against a kid, who I joked with (Emmaus coach) Jeff (Arbushites) that I feel has been in his lineup for five years, against Hamati, who’s been around and in and out of their lineup. So he’s a seasoned wrestler. So it was very nice win for Tommy to come out here and keep plugging away and looking to score points at every opportunity that you can.”

Ben Huber won by fall in 3:16 at 113 pounds, Dylan Brown had a 5-2 decision over Emmaus’ Tyler Corpora at 120 and Adam Evans closed out the Freedom win with an 8-2 decision over Green Hornets’ Jared Skibinski at 152.

It was another win for the surging Patriots, who got their first victory over Northampton in almost 40 years on Monday.

“It really speaks to the hard work we put in the room,” Bonilla said of Freedom’s unbeaten mark. “We put in a lot of hard work and it’s showing.”

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