Bethlehem Press

Brandon Hall isn't ready to pronounce that this wrestling season will be one of Freedom's best campaigns in a long time. He'd rather have you check back in the middle of March to make that distinction.

The Patriots enter this winter with hype and momentum, but as Hall enters his third year as head coach of the program, he also approaches the heightened expectations with tempered optimism.

Mike Frew would prefer to have his Bethlehem Catholic basketball team fly under the radar.

After a 5-17 season a year ago, coupled with being lumped in the Lehigh Valley Conference's East division alongside Liberty, Freedom and Easton, flying under the radar is right where the Golden Hawks find themselves in the midst of the 2012 season.

But as Frew enters his second season at Becahi, a cautious optimism is noticeable from a program that has enjoyed many good years, only to fall on hard times most recently.

Freedom's basketball team will have similar staples from last year's team, but if there's one thing that the program doesn't want to have from a year agoit's an empty trophy case.

After a 21-5 season a year ago that ended in a gut wrenching 47-45 loss to Parkland in the District 11 4A quarterfinals, the Patriots were left without an LVC title or a district title in one of their best seasons ever.

Now the Patriots hope to be back in contention on both ends with a team that returns starting senior big men Derike Chiclana (C-6'4) and Nyreef Jackson (F-6'3).

Last year, Liberty's wrestling team went the entire season without taking a second of injury time.

It's a statistic that doesn't show up often, but one that got the attention of Penn State head coach and arguably the greatest collegiate wrestler of all-time, Cael Sanderson.

Sanderson retweeted the National Wrestling Coaches Association's original message last March on also posted it on his Facebook site. From an outsider's perspective, gaining recognition from one of the most respected wrestling idols is, well, pretty cool.

Chad Landis has been the boss of Liberty's boys' basketball program for five years and as he described last year's 14-9 season record, the word "dismal" was accompanied.

Competing for the Lehigh Valley Conference and District 11 4A championships is in the DNA of Liberty's program and those chromosomes were absent last season, as the Hurricanes didn't qualify for the LVC tournament and lost in the first round of districts to Allen.

It was the most disappointing season of Landis' tenure and he doesn't want to replicate those results anytime soon.

Bethlehem Catholic's wrestling program has accomplished a lot over the past two years, but that doesn't mean they're satisfied.

With back-to-back District 11 2A and PIAA 2A titles in hand, along with their first Lehigh Valley Conference championship last season, the Hawks return looking to do it all over again.

Head coach Jeff Karam begins his fifth year (18th overall) at the helm of the program with the expectations unchanged.

It hasn't happened during Andy Pitsilos's 11-year tenure as baseball coach at Liberty, but there's always a first time for everything.

Senior shortstop Pat Donnelly became the first Liberty player under Pitsilos to commit to a college early, when he announced this month that he would attend Lehigh University to play baseball.

Donnelly, who was a first-team all state selection last year, took advantage of making the decision now.

It hasn't happened during Andy Pitsilos's 11-year tenure as baseball coach at Liberty, but there's always a first time for everything.

Senior shortstop Pat Donnelly became the first Liberty player under Pitsilos to commit to a college early, when he announced this month that he would attend Lehigh University to play baseball.

Donnelly, who was a first-team all state selection last year, took advantage of making the decision now.

If there's one thing synonomous with Thanksgiving, it's also the start of the winter sports season. The winter schedule officially picked up Friday afternoon for schools across the state as coaches and players prepare for another season of winter action.

In Bethlehem Catholic's wrestling room, those dreams of glory have become a mainstay for the Golden Hawks as they return as two-time defending PIAA 2A dual meet champs, but head coach Jeff Karam knows that road will be even tougher this year as his squad deals with graduation.

All good things must come to an end, but for Bethlehem Catholic's volleyball team, it was just a bit too early.

The Golden Hawks lost in their PIAA 2A opener last Thursday to Pope John Paul II in four games at William Tennent High School.

The Panthers (19-0) won 27-25, 25-22, 11-25 and 25-16 and kept their undefeated season going by winning their quarterfinal over the weekend against Berks Catholic to advance to yesterday's semifinals.