Liberty Men’s Wrestling Dominate At The Duals: Secure Fourth Straight Title At Home, Sixth in History

The Liberty men’s wrestling team secured its fourth straight title and dominated the mats in the National Duals championship Jan. 21-22.

The No. 1 Flames decisively won each of their duals throughout the tournament. They clinched the title with a 39-7 victory over the No. 2 Apprentice School.

For the fourth time in the past six years, the National Duals was held at the LaHaye Ice Center on Liberty’s campus. Wrestlers competed for their teams on mats laid out on a covering over the ice.

Entering the event, the Liberty men’s team was fresh off a third-place finish in the American College division of the Virginia Duals. Head Coach Jesse Castro was decommissioned due to COVID-19 throughout the tournament.

After receiving COVID-19 tests for the National Duals tournament, the team practiced together Jan. 20 to prepare for the competition on the weekend.

The final dual of the tournament reflected the projections with Liberty and the Apprentice School entering the weekend in a two-team race for the title.

The Flames decisively started their pool play by handing University of Central Florida (UCF) a tough 47-3 loss. 149-pounder Brandon Athlemann (11-5) set the precedent for the dual by pinning his opponent in the first period of his match. The team followed suit with four more matches won by a pin each.

Due to COVID-19 guidelines, several teams had to withdraw from the tournament, which gave Liberty a bye during  the second round of pool play.

Liberty’s top-ranked 125-pounder Dante Minnino skillfully grappled against Donnie Krissak in the opening match of the third round against No. 4 Grays Harbor. Minnino eluded Krissak’s quick attacks until the third period of the match as he finished Krissak with an expertly executed pin.

Propelled by Minnino’s success, the Flames tallied three more pins while losing a couple to Grays Harbor to go up 30-12 six matches into the final round. 

Through the continued dominance of their top-ranked wrestlers, Liberty clinched the top seed heading into bracket play with a 50-12 win over Grays Harbor.

Leveraging their success in pool play, the Flames came into the bracket with confidence. They started strong in the semifinal dual against No. 3 Grand Valley University with two pins and a 5-2 decision. The teams traded off points, and Grand Valley looked to upset the Flames. 197-pounder Josiah Murphy, who had annihilated his opponents in pool play, sparked the Flames with a 5-4 decision. 285-pounder Rick Weaver clinched the spot in the finals with a pin in the first minute of his match.

The anticipated finals matchup between Liberty and the Apprentice School was a lopsided near sweep by the Flames as they cruised to a 39-7 victory.

After a surprising loss in the semifinals, 184-pounder Blake Barrick came back firing with a 15-0 victory in his match of the finals. Murphy continued to dominate with an early pin and Weaver secured his fourth pin of the tournament to close out the dual. 235-pounder Jeffrey Allen was also unbeaten during the tournament, spearheading the Flames into their fourth straight National Duels title.

The men’s wrestling team will continue its season when it travels to Messiah University Feb. 5 to compete in the Messiah Open.

SHEALY is a sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter