It’s fair to say that wrestling fans are watching greatness unfold in front of their eyes.

For Northampton’s Julian Chlebove, his first two years on the wrestling mat have been everything he’s hoped for and maybe more.

His second state championship this past March cemented his status as back-to-back Male Athlete of the Year for the Northampton Press.

After coming into the program with a torrent of fanfare, Chlebove has certainly lived up to the hype, posting a 82-3 record and sweeping each District 11, Northeast Regional and PIAA 3A tournament in his first two seasons, winning this year’s 120-pound state championship easily by a 13-3 major decision over Liberty’s Luke Werner.

He’s made winning look effortless, but has made scoring on him an arduous task.

Northampton head coach Seth Lisa isn’t surprised by what Chlebove has been able to achieve through his first two seasons, but enjoys overseeing the evolution of Northampton’s talented grappler.

“The biggest thing coming into his sophomore season was his confidence going out there on the mat,” he said. “After winning states again this season, I’m really excited to see what he can do his junior year.”

Lisa feels Chlebove’s greatest attribute has been his feel for the sport, which makes him incredibly dangerous on the attack and completely frustrating from a defensive position.

“He’s just very comfortable on a wrestling mat,” Lisa said. “That’s a testament to his work ethic in the offseason and all the work he puts in with his father [Whitey]. I think if Julian keeps putting the work in, he can go down as one of the best wrestlers to ever come out of District 11.”

That increasingly looks apparent for the Arizona State commit, whose goal is to become a four-time state champ. That would make him only the second wrestler ever from District 11 to achieve that feat, as Catasauqua’s Matt Gerhard (1984) is currently stands alone in that category.

“There’s only one other wrestler from District 11 to ever accomplish that, so it would be amazing to do that,” said Chlebove of matching Gerhard’s record. “That’s just my goal to become a four-time state champion.”

With success comes responsibility and Chlebove is fully aware of how he’s perceived on and off the mat and the pressure and exposure that comes with his rise to stardom.

Preparing for his junior season appears to be no different than what’s he’s done in the past, which has included a trip to Arizona this summer and some time off from the sport as well.

Recharging the batteries is crucial for any athlete and when the expectations are as high as Chlebove has set for himself, time off is always a good thing.

But as he gears up for next season, it’ll be interesting to see how Chlebove responds from his 38-1 campaign last season.

He torched through the postseason tournaments, giving up points to only Liberty’s Luke Werner in each of the district, regional and state finals.

It was fair to say that Chlebove was literally unstoppable and he still has two more years in a Northampton singlet.

“I pretty much just want to go out and dominate everyone,” he said. “Obviously, there’s good competition everywhere and I have three losses in the past two years, so I still have room to get better, but my goal every time I’m on the mat is to win by as many points as I can.”

Chlebove has certainly done that often so far and the scary thing is that he still has a long way to go.