Fierro: Pinned against the mat
by giant revolving door
Even Jody Karam has succumbed to the sleeper hold. That’s how far free agency has gone in the Lehigh Valley.
“The gates are open, “the Liberty wrestling coach matter-of-factly announced this week. Since this was Karam talking, the follow-up question naturally had to be about whether his tongue was planted firmly in cheek when he said it.
“No, I’m totally serious, “he shot back. “I decided to join the crowd and stop fighting the good fight. I’m sick and tired of watching everybody else win with outsiders. So now, when people inquire about moving into Bethlehem, I just tell them it can’t be for athletic reasons.”
As recently as two years ago, Karam would tell people who knocked on his door that there was no room at his inn. Transfers were not welcome. Just because wrestlers were flowing regularly from one school to another throughout District 11, Liberty was not in play.
“I had my finger in the dyke for so many years, “said Karam, who for years was the most outspoken opponent of the system. “There was so much water running over it and around it that I felt I was going to drown.”
Spladled by the gush, Karam adjusted by sprouting gills.
“We’re not going out recruiting kids, “Karam countered. “I mean, we’ve taken a very passive approach to it. But if people ask me about coming in now, I’m like, ‘Fine, you’ve just got to live in Bethlehem.’ If kids show up in my room, I coach them.”
Eric Velazquez was one of them. Came in from Catasauqua and wrestled heavyweight for the Hurricanes all season. Without him, they come in second in their tier at the Virginia Duals instead of first and probably don’t beat Parkland or Boyertown. He finished 26-8 after bowing out of districts with an injury.
During the days when Karam would stop to challenge every windmill along his journey, he could only watch helplessly as Lehigh Valley rivals Easton, Northampton and Parkland would flourish with one or two imports, often turning good lineups into great ones and making the difference between silver and gold at the district and state duals.
Now Karam is a player, too. And, really, who can blame the guy?
Wrestlers and coaches can talk all they want about the motives behind transfers in District 11 and how academics are involved and all this other mumbo jumbo. But that’s all it is — talk.
The fact is that, nine times out of 10, wrestlers move around in the Valley for one reason and one reason only — wrestling.
It has reached the point of no return because of too many Sergeant Schultzes and not enough Colonel Hogans. Rules are in place to stop it, just like the laws against jaywalking.
To be fair, even if the coaches wanted to stop all this, they couldn’t. So they accept it. They open their gills and just go with the flow.
“It just sort of kills the essence of what the sport is all about, “Stroudsburg coach Ron Spinner said. “Before all this happened, you would grow up in the community and compete for your school and do the best you could. Now, it’s all about jumping to all-star teams and being nationally ranked. I think this all started when the state rankings and national rankings and the big dual-meet tournaments all came about, and it’s just natural to want to be in the limelight.
“I don’t know what the answer is, to be honest with you.”
Not helping matters is the deafening silence coming from most of this season’s prime beneficiaries.
Pius X coach Deno Palmisano and Bethlehem Catholic coach Brian Nesfeder both refused to allow their transfers to be interviewed by The Express-Times about the issue. Their programs account for seven of the 14 new transfers in the Valley this season. Five of those seven will be competing today in the PIAA state tournament.
“You hear stories about this and that, “Nesfeder said. “You don’t really know.”
Exactly.
“Everyone wonders what motivates kids, but it’s inevitable every year that you’re going to have them, “Nesfeder said. “Are people jumping to conclusions most of the time? No. It’s the truth. Sometimes it’s helpful and sometimes it’s not. There’s too many variables.
“I don’t think that recruiting is the issue. I think it’s the parents, the kids, even the community.”
Exactly.
If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes even more to develop a wrestler — at least in District 11, where it’s impossible to tell the athletes apart anymore without a scorecard.
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