There was plenty of Patriot pride on hand during their student-athlete signing this month, as athletic director Diane Jordan highlighted 12 Patriots that will further their athletic and academic careers on the collegiate level.

Freedom's class featured plenty of scholarly material, with schools like MIT, Cornell, Columbia, Amherst and Virginia represented, but Jake Young also showcased the top-notch athleticism that this year's group of seniors encompasses, as the three-sport athlete will attend Columbia to extend his wrestling career.

For Young, being a standout football player in the fall, as well as one of the Pates top wrestlers this winter, choosing wrestling was a difficult decision for him entering college.

"I was a little distraught about which sport I should pick," said Young, "but I may actually end up playing football at Colombia too. Colombia is really the best school I could get an education at and that's what really drove me there. "If I end up playing both sports or just wrestling, that's fine. I just know I'll have the best education I can get."

Pates lineman John Deely is also proving that this year's football team had some serious students in the program, as he's heading to MIT to study chemical engineering.

"The academics there are unbeatable and the opportunities they provide you after college are extraordinary," Deely said. "At a lot of these top-tier schools, you tend to get a feeling of arrogance from the people, but at MIT, everyone just felt really genuine and friendly and that won me over. Plus, they have a really good football team too."

Sam Magnan also made a great choice with his college destination, as the Freedom swimmer, pretty much could have went anywhere in the country, but chose the University of Virginia to continue his swimming career.

"I couldn't be more excited," Magnan said. "Since I was little, I've always looked up to UVA. I narrowed my choices down to Michigan, Virginia and NC State and after my recruiting trips, I always knew that UVA was where I wanted to go."

The rest of the Patriots that signed include John Callahan (Amherst, football); Ryan Mullen (Delaware Valley, football); Kylon Pretty (Franklin & Marshall, football); Marquis Stewart (Albright, football); Helen Hsu (Cornell, swimming); Shannon Howell (UNC-Wilmington, swimming); Andrew Sinaii (Drexel, tennis); Josh Newhart (Wilkes, wrestling) and Shaina Palmer (John Hopkins. cross country/track).