When it comes to sports, the Young family is synonymous with competition.

With three brothers parading their way through Freedom's doors over the years, Josh, Jake and Joe Young have cemented a legacy in the black and gold that will certainly leave a lasting legacy amongst the Patriot faithful.

But for Jake Young, his senior season was a great exit to a school that has been engrained with himself and his brothers.

As the middle brother sandwiched between older sibling Josh, who is a junior in college and upcoming Freedom junior Joe, Jake Young helped bring the Freedom family back together with a memorable football season, followed by a historic campaign by the wrestling team and capped off with a playoff appearance in the spring for the baseball team.

Along with the success, came the accolades of being nominated as a first-team East Penn Conference defensive back, a first-team EPC wrestler at 170 pounds and lastly, Freedom's top athlete in 2014-15.

That's why it was an easy decision for Jake Young to be this year's Freedom Male Athlete of the Year for the Bethlehem Press.

The three-sport star, who will spend his next four-years at Colombia University playing football and wrestling, is a Patriot that all of Freedom will miss.

"I've always been someone that loves to compete and that probably comes with the territory when you grow up with two other brothers," Young said. "My younger brother [Joe] and I would always compete against each other and our older brother Josh was always the one that would kind of settle things. He was like the voice of reason and someone that we've always looked up to. He really became the example that Joe and I have strived to become. It was really fun growing up with my brothers."

And as time flies by, these three brothers have grown up quickly into a trio of excellent athletes. Josh is a junior at Franklin & Marshall and is a member of the football team, and is likely to give wrestling a shot this season as well.

Joe is the quarterback of the football team and will be one of the best signal-callers in the area next season, while Jake will test out of his abilities in the classroom and on the field at Colombia.

While playing three sports in high school is nothing out of the ordinary, playing two sports in college will be challenging.

"I know it's going to be tough to play two sports," Jake said, "but I only have four more years to be able to compete in a team environment like this. I love both sports too much."

Young's love for sports may have been apart of him since he started playing, but it also grew after suffering a torn labrum in his right shoulder in high school that prevented him from playing baseball his sophomore and junior years, as well as forced him to sit out wrestling his junior year.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about what the future was going to hold for me after my surgery," he said, "but I just tried to stay positive. I still can't really throw with my right arm anymore. God has a plan for me and that's how I look at it."

With faith being a major part of the Young family, maybe some extra prayers were used during his senior year to help him enjoy a ceremonious farewell party.

After the football team went 2-8 his junior year, they responded mightily with a 9-3 campaign that united their whole community.

Young was the star of the Patriots defense last fall, racking up 58 tackles, and two interceptions for touchdowns as a defensive back. He also caught 44 balls for 585 yards and five touchdowns as a wide receiver, catching all those balls from his little brother.

Wrestling season came next and the Patriots made history, finishing the year 24-0, becoming the first team in school history to finish the regular season undefeated, while getting a piece of the East Penn Conference championship alongside Bethlehem Catholic.

Young finished his career with 108 career victories, posting a 34-5 mark last season, en route to a third-place finish at districts, but ultimately falling a match short of qualifying for the PIAA tournament.

Then came spring and Young's first season of varsity baseball, where he capped it off with .315 batting average, .493 OBP, 18 runs, 10 RBI and seven stolen bases.

"It really was as good of a senior year that anyone can ask for," Young said. "We turned it around in football, went undefeated in wrestling and then I got to play my first season of varsity baseball. I couldn't have asked for a better ending."

That's probably the same thing most Freedom fans would say too.