Julian Chlebove had a choice.
Wrestle Liberty’s all-time leader in wrestling wins (131) Luke Werner, ranked No. 1 by lehighvalleylive at 120 pounds, or don’t, in the teams’ District 11 3A quarterfinal Thursday night.
“Coach (Seth Lisa) left it up to me if I wanted to go out and wrestle Luke in my first weigh-in at 120 (pounds),” said Northampton’s returning sophomore PIAA 3A champion.
Like there was ever much doubt about the answer.
“I was excited to wrestle a really tough kid, a two-time state place-winner,” Chlebove said. “I wasn’t nervous at all. I want to wrestle the best kids in the best environments.”
There was no question that the wrestler — Werner — or the environment fit the bill as one of then loudest and largest gatherings of Hurricane fans in recent history were rocking Liberty’s Memorial Gym. An equally fervent and raucous Konkrete Kid fan base set up on the other side and the two traded warm greetings and friendly fuzzes — or not — throughout.
So Chlebove went our and answered the challenge with a 13-5 major decision over Werner that silenced the home fans (temporarily) and improved his record to 26-1 on the season. His victory pretty much slammed the door on any hopes Liberty had of winning the match as Northampton went on to a 41-28 triumph.
The bout also served notice to PIAA 3A 120-pounders that Chlebove will be every bit a very, very hard out in the individual postseason as he was as a freshman at 113. At 120, he’s faster than he was at 126 with just as deep a gas tank with no obvious loss of strength. Werner is a powerful wrestler yet Chlebove was able to dominate the bout on his feet.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match and I just had to push hard,” Chlebove said. “I kind of thought he was tired. When he took bad shots and I was able to spin around and get behind, the same way I was able to take down (Hanover Park’s) Nick Raimo (in the Beast of the East final).”
Sounds like Chlebove made the right choice.
Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.
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