It was a rude ending to John Callahan's wrestling career and one that still baffles the mind after witnessing his elimination during the second day of the PIAA wrestling tournament.

Callahan needed a victory in his third round consolation match against Eli Grape of Upper St. Clair to guarantee himself a medal and dripped every second he could in pursuit of leaving Hershey with hardware.

That never materialized during his 195-pound bout with Grape and unfortunately, you can question an official for the reason behind it.

Trailing 5-1 in the ultimate tie-breaker, Callahan threw Grape with a hip-toss to his back and certainly had the Upper St. Clair grappler scrambling to stave off back points. Unfortunately, the referee had other ideas, as he only gave Callahan a one count with Grape's shoulder blade clearly touching the canvas.

No back points were awarded and no medals would be given out for Freedom, as Callahan and fellow senior Adam Evans (145) came away from Hershey empty-handed.

"I've seen some tough losses over the years, but that was bad," said head coach Brandon Hall of Callahan's eventual 5-3 defeat. "I hate to throw an official under the bus, but when you have a kid on his back for five seconds and tell me you get a one count, that's horrendous.

"I feel bad for John. He put himself in position to win and that official clearly took it away from him."

It was a sour ending to a magnificent season for the Pates.

Evans saw his exit during the first day of tournament, as he lost to Chase Stephens of Coatesville by fall in 4:39 in his opening match. He then dropped a 1-0 decision to Bethlehem Catholic's Cole Karam in his consolation match to end his season at 33-7.

Callahan finishes his senior season at 23-6 and walks away with a district title and regional runner-up status to his resume.

It's the silver lining that Hall took away from the aftermath of such a difficult defeat.

"He never wrestled before I came to Freedom," said Hall of Callahan. "Some of these guys from the football team came out and he was one of them. I'm very proud of far he's come in his four years here at Freedom.

"For Adam, he never finished .500 in any of his seasons before this year. I think these kids should be very proud of what they've accomplished personally and for Freedom."

Hall hopes that continues in the future with qualifying wrestlers to states and having interest in the program continually grow.

"I think we've gained respect as a program in the Lehigh Valley," he said. "As far as the people that support our program, I think we all feel proud of what we were able to do this season. It energizes the youth program and evidence would say we're going in the right direction."