Wrestling for wins: Flames team looks to defend national title

Entering this season with the title “defending national champions” Liberty Flames wrestling Head Coach Jesse Castro is leading his team to yet another successful and dominating season.

The Flames were ranked No. 1 in preseason by the National Collegiate Wrestling Association. Two of their wrestlers, Samuel Karel and Jeffrey Allen, were ranked No. 1 in their respective weight divisions, 184 pounds for Karel and 235 pounds for Allen.

With the Flames entering the season as one of the country’s wrestling powerhouses this season, Castro believes their rising stock comes from the culture built in the program for many years.

“The culture of our team is community – it’s (the) brotherhood that our guys have established in the past four years that has been unbreakable,” Castro said. “It has translated to their success on the mat individually and corporately.”

Coming off a first-place finish at the Ship Builder Invitational in Virginia Beach, the Flames have already started accomplishing goals they set before the season started. Sophomore Allen accomplished some goals he did not reach his freshman year on the mats. 

“We go to some tough tournaments throughout the year, and I think we always do pretty good,” said Allen. “Personally, I won two tournaments that I didn’t win last year, so that is an improvement for myself.”

However, the main goal for the Flames this season is to win another national title this March at the NCWA National tournament. Even though the Flames dominated the tournament last year, the team wants to approach the tournament as if they have never won the title.

Junior Karel refuses to rest on his successes last year, viewing this upcoming season as a clean slate.

“As a team last year, we won the national title, and I won an individual national title, so my one goal is to try not to (just) defend anything we accomplished,” Karel said. “(I hope we) try to build, expand, and attack our goals and to keep doing what got us there the first time.”

As the season progresses, wrestlers struggle to keep their bodies healthy and in peak performance so that they can excel in the postseason. Karel keeps a simple routine to make sure his body is in great shape.

“There is no substitution for diet, nutrition and sleep,” said Karel. “There is no real magic trick to just eat right and make sure to get plenty of rest.”

The Flames hosted their first tournament of the year, the NCWA National Duals, Jan. 24-25 in the LaHaye Ice Center. The Flames dominated the Apprentice School 43-13, and won their fifth National Duals championship. 

The next Flames home match will be Feb. 21 against Coker College in
Lynchburg at 7 p.m.

Adamson-Olaotan is a sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter.