It felt like an eternity for John Callahan as his 195-pound District 11 3A championship bout was waiting to be decided Saturday afternoon at Liberty's Memorial Gymnasium.

Callahan found himself in a scramble against Thomas Alcaro of Emmaus near the edge of the mat, as time expired in the third period and Alcaro clinging to a 1-0 lead.

That lead stayed up in the air after the final whistle, as Callahan appeared to have garnered control in a last gasp attempt that forced the two referees to confer before making a final call.

That call came as two points for the Freedom senior, who came away with the most dramatic win of the finals, taking home a 2-1 victory and his first district title to cap off an extraordinary weekend for the Patriots.

Callahan's victory helped Freedom edge Parkland 133-to-132.5 for second place in the team standings, as the Pates pushed seven wrestlers to this weekend's Northeast Regional 3A tournament.

Head coach Brandon Hall, fresh off the program sharing the East Penn Conference championship with Bethlehem Catholic, also won District 11 3A Coach of the Year honors to cap off a snowy evening in Bethlehem.

But it was Callahan's moment and night that sparkled for the Pates.

"When I saw they didn't give me two [points] right away, I was kind of upset," said Callahan, "Then when I saw them [referees] talking about it, it was probably the longest five seconds of my life for them to decide if they were going to give me two."

Alcaro's escape in the third period were the only points scored in the match up until Callahan's spirited finish, as Alcaro rode the Freedom senior out in the second period to put himself in position for the 1-0 lead. Dealing with a strong, stocky and methodical opponent like Alcaro was frustrating for Callahan, but his perseverance, along with a little luck, paid off at the end.

"I was in on a leg and kind of funked me and I came through on his legs," said Callahan of the winning takedown. "It really was a desperate move on my part at the end when I rolled to his top and kind of had him in a headlock position. It was hard to set up shots on him, so I knew I had to do something desperate at the end."

For his head coach, it was nothing but a great moment in Freedom wrestling history.

"It came in epic fashion and I was really proud of how all of our guys wrestled," said Hall. "I'm just really happy for John to win it, especially doing it his senior year. It's a moment he'll never forget."

Three Pates finished third, as Jonah Zych (126), Jake Young (170) and Cordell Cotto (HWT) all took home bronze medals.

Young made the most of a disappointing quarterfinal defeat to Blue Mountain's Devon Krammes, where he was pinned in 3:16 to drop him to the consolation bracket.

From there he battled back and eventually knocked off Krammes 4-2 in the third-place final to exact some revenge.

Freedom had six wrestlers in the third-place consolation finals, but Dylan Brown (113), Adam Evans (145) and Josh Newhart (220) all fell victim to defeat and took fourth.

But for Callahan, the night was golden.

"I wasn't even sure if I was going to wrestle this season," Callahan said. "I'm really glad I did because this is the perfect way to go out at districts."