Andrew Gunning understands that he has an opportunity to achieve some special and historic feats for Liberty’s wrestling team this year and he showed to everyone last week that he’s right on schedule.

Gunning took home a convincing gold medal from the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic last week, slicing and dicing his way to a 19-6 victory over Central Dauphin’s Evan Childs in the heavyweight final.

It was the only gold medal of the tournament for the Hurricanes, as Luke Werner (113) fell in the finals to Nazareth’s Tyson Klump 5-2.

Liberty finished fifth in the team standings with 136.5 points and placed five wrestlers in the tourney, but none stole the show like Gunning did for the hosts.

“I’ve just improved a lot from last year and I’ve worked real hard over the summer to get where I am today,” said Gunning. “I’m not too surprised at these results and I’m just going to keep working harder to try and go undefeated. I want a state title this year pretty bad.”

Gunning has always been on the humble side of wrestling quotes, but even he can’t hold down the confidence he’s taking into January after his perfect start to the season and winning his second straight BHWC.

“My confidence grows every match,” he said. “On my feet I’m confident I can take anyone down. Nobody really touches my legs, so I feel like I’m only going to get better.”

Werner, on the other hand, was dealt with reality of falling to Klump in the finals.

“It’s not what I wanted but I guess I had a decent performance,” Werner said. “I’ve wrestled him a bunch of times and I feel like I’m getting closer every time. It’s just tough to score points on him and I need to do a better job of scoring. I just need to improve every week and get better.”

Other wrestlers to place for the Hurricanes included Matt Maloney (106, fourth place), KJ Fenstermacher (120, third place) and Damon Moyer (170, seventh place).