Archbishop Spalding surprises many, but not itself in winning MIAA Wrestling Tournament
Cavaliers top MSJ for the crown; defending champion Gilman slips to third
by Billy Buckheit
In the MIAA Tournament preview, it was noted that No. 1 Gilman had claimed their second consecutive “A” Conference Dual Meet Crown. Unfortunately for the Greyhounds, they would not taste success for a second straight time at the MIAA Tournament as that honor went to No. 2 Archbishop Spalding, who came within one match of defeating them in a dual meet.
Not only did Gilman fail to claim the championship, it did not even finish in the number two position as that position was occupied by No. 4 Mount St. Joseph. In fact, the Greyhounds edged No. 5 Loyola-Blakefield by just one and a half points for a third-place finish.
The Cavaliers outpaced the Gaels, 239-207.5, to win their second MIAA Tournament title ever. The first came in 2011. The Greyhounds totaled 194.5 points, and the Dons put up 193. No. 8 McDonogh rounded out the top five with 154 points.
“We knew based on our recent tournaments (we had a good shot),” Spalding coach Mike Laidley said. “You know we won, War on the Shore and went down to Virginia Beach, beat all the good Virginia teams. We knew our guys wrestled well in tournaments. I know we felt like we were a better tournament team. So, we liked our chances.
“We just felt like our kids really typically have always gotten better throughout the season. Always progressed and we've done well. We take a lot of pride in our conditioning, and you know our kids can go three periods with anybody. But for the most part, we feel like, hey, our guys put in a lot of hard work. You get to this position. And we had thirteen of our kids seeded and every kid, we had 11 of the 13 wrestle to their seed or better. And we told them that, you know. Going into this thing, I counted up the seeds from Gilman and I calculated the advancement points, and I said look Gilman’s up on us by like nine points based on these seeds. We need to rely on bonus points.”
Spalding’s twelve placers led the way as they went two-for-five in the finals. Claiming gold for the Cavs were No. 2 Sean Garretson (132) and No. 1 Zane Leitzel.
Garretson, a four-time finalist, locked down his third MIAA Title with a second period decking of St. Joe’s No. 15 Ben Scheiner, 3:21.
“It felt great to win my senior year in dominant fashion,” Garretson continued. “Compared to my previous years I felt like I was in more control throughout my matches this tournament. That is a result of my training and coaches helping me improve year after year. It felt even better to experience our team’s first MIAA title since I’ve been here. Everyone did their job on Saturday, and it resulted in a championship we haven’t seen in a long time.”
Leitzel needed a late takedown to claim his first crown in three tries, 5-4, also over a St. Joe foe, No. 5 Tyler Stephens.
“I knew I had to keep my composure and continue wrestling and wear him down because I knew I had the gas tank to keep wrestling and get that final score,” said Leitzel. “It's a big accomplishment for the team and I feel we were an underdog coming in, but we were hungry and we knew what we had to do to make it happen and win as a team.”
Settling for silver for Spalding were No. 3 Eli Chesla (113), No. 7 Isaac Cicchetti (120), and No. 8 Henry Gessford (144). Three of their ranks secured bronze, No. 6 Charlie Mutschler (106), No. 23 Josh Taylor (165), and Luke Barulli (215).
Luke Winkler placed fourth at 190-pounds for Spalding. Landing in the fifth position of the podium were No. 4 Quentin Bailey (126), No. 13 Ryder Kolat (150), and Michael Byrne (285).
St. Joe performed the same as Spalding in the finals, claiming two golds in five attempts. The Gaels' gold medalists were No. 1 Corey Brown (106) and No. 2 Jake Tamai (126).
Brown, who is ranked 10th nationally by High School On SI, rang up a surprisingly easy 15-0 technical fall of No. 2 Tyler Verceles (Loyola-Blakefield). Verceles is ranked 30th in the country by HSOSI. The dominating performance led to Brown winning the Charles R. Gomper Outstanding Wrestler award.
“I think winning my first MIAA title as a freshman is great,” Brown said. “And I can't wait till the next three.”
Tamai used a methodical, 4-0, shutout of McDonogh’s freshman standout, No. 5 Wes Baumgartner, for his title. For both Gaels it was their first time atop the MIAA podium.
“It’s good to bounce back from previous years,” remarked Tamai. “I thought I underperformed last year and came into the tournament wanting to show everyone that I’m back. I thought I could’ve pushed the pace a little more and missed some opportunities. He’s a good kid and good wrestler, but I have my sights set on bigger competition next week.”
St. Joe’s seconds were Scheiner, Stephens, and No. 2 Cameron Cannaday (157). Placing third for the Gaels were No. 7 James Wright (113) and No. 8 CJ Votta (120). No. 25 Thomas Brandel was fourth at 285. Connor Allison took sixth at 150.
Gilman did come out ahead of all teams in the champion count with four making it through unscathed, No. 1 Liam McGettigan (113), No. 1 John Jurkovic (157), Arthur Konschak (175, No. 14 at 165), and No. 1 Emmitt Sherlock (190).
McGettigan blanked Chesla, 4-0. Jurkovic won a rubber match of sorts with Cannaday, 9-6, and now holds a 3-2 edge in their rivalry, winning the last three. Konschak took out No. 8 Riley Miller (Loyola), by fall, 3:11. Sherlock, who is ranked 8th in the nation by HSOSI at 175, posted a 1-0 decision of No. 3 Elijah Josey (Saint Frances Academy).
Sherlock, who is headed to the University of Virginia, is now a three-time champ. McGettigan, a sophomore, secured his second. Jurkovic and Konschak were first time champions.
The Greyhounds’ sole silver medal winner was No. 9 Isaiah Trusty (215). Three more reached the awards stand with No. 4 Zach Glory taking third at 132. Placing fourth were No. 4 Christian Wirts (106) and No. 6 JD Vassar (120).
Loyola crowned two champs. No. 2 Jayden Jackson is now three-for-three in winning MIAA Gold. The junior registered a 19-3 tech fall of Spalding’s Cicchetti.
Heavyweight Luke Randazzo gained his first crown in his last attempt after twice being a runner-up. The top-rated 285-pounder in Maryland stuck Archbishop Curley’s No. 23 Kahlil Regan 1:19 into the first period.
“This win is special because it was my last opportunity,” said Randazzo. “Finishing second twice and third once, this win tops off my MIAA tournament career. It means a lot and I want to thank Loyola, my teammates and my parents, for supporting me and having faith in me. Being injured in my junior year and only having one month to practice and compete was difficult and I was disappointed in myself. That just makes this win even sweeter.”
Saint Frances Academy’s three champs were the second most for a team after Gilman’s four. Two were unexpected, the third was a gained by a favorite after a few trials and tribulations at this tournament.
No. 15 Chase Carpintieri (165) has experienced bad luck at the MIAA affair even breaking his thumb last year. There would be no sadness for the senor this year as he worked to a 10-4 decision of No. 16 Haden Myers (St. Paul’s).
“I feel like I had to win MIAAs for my last year because every year something always happens to me,” Carpintieri reflected. “Like last year was my hand and the year before that I missed weight, but I feel good. I knew if I just keep working, I would win because his gas tank was running low so I knew that all I need was to push the pace.”
No. 11 Douglas Johnson suffered numerous losses during the dual meet season that led to him being given the sixth seed at 215. Two upsets later and Johnson was standing atop the podium after authoring an 8-3 win over Gilman’s Trusty.
“(I was) mainly taking it one match at a time. Having a short memory of what happened in the past. I can’t do anything about it today, all I can do is look forward and be in the moment. Also, not defining me by loses, and using the opportunities God gave me today being in this environment again as a senior. I’m very happy and appreciative for winning the title, it’s been a long time coming and seeking it. And I finally got it. And beating the people I lost to; it’s been a confidence boost because of the ups and downs this season.”
No. 5 Braxton McAvey’s title at 150 didn’t come from left field like Johnson’s. McAvey was facing a guy who sat just ahead of him in the state rankings in Calvert Hall’s No. 4 Griffin Stewart. What was a surprise was the 11-1 major decision McAvey used to do it. For all three Panthers it was their first golds at the MIAA Tournament.
“I wasn’t really thinking so much, as I know how to wrestle through every position that I get put into,” McAvey said. “It’s cool (the MIAA title) but I’m ready for something bigger and just showing people I can compete.”
The final champion comes from Severn, and its National Prep placer, No. 5 Nicky Melfi, who put a 17-1 tech of Gessford on the 144lb bracket to secure his first MIAA Crown.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel won the “B” Conference team race over Severn, 64-57.5. They also won the “B” Conference Dual Meet crown.
Four Mt. Carmel wrestlers found their way to the podium, No. 9 Christian Manley (4th at 132), Jeffrey Harris (5th at 144), and sixth place finishers Matai Hughes (157) and Jakayvean Burton (175).
“We thought across the board, everybody wrestled well, especially my upper weights 190, 215, and heavyweight,” offered Laidley. “Each one of them wrestled above their seed. Big Mike, my heavyweight, pinned the Gilman kid, the second seed, and he finished fifth. So, we are very excited, half our team are sophomore and younger. We're a strong team this year, but we feel like in the next two-to-three years, we're not going to skip a beat.”
“It has been a while, but if people do the research, we typically have at least three holes, if not four. You know, this is the first year that I can remember since probably 2012 or 2013 that we have a full lineup. You know, and that makes a big difference. When you have three weight classes, you're not scoring any points on. It just puts pressure on the other guys, and you can only get so many bonus points. So, we felt like, hey, we're finally on the even playing field with Loyola and Saint Joseph. You know, we've always been battling ten or eleven against fourteen. This year, it's 14 on 14.”
Team Scores:
1-Archbishop Spalding 239
2-Mt. St. Joseph 207.5
3-Gilman 194.5
4-Loyola-Blakefield 193
5-McDonogh 154
6-Saint Frances Academy 154
7-Archbishop Curley 126.5
8-Calvert Hall 111
9-Boys’ Latin 65.5
10-Our Lady of Mt. Carmel 64
11-Severn 57.5
12-St. Paul’s 43.5
13-Gerstell Academy 38
14-St. Mary’s of Annapolis 10
15-St. Vincent Pallotti 9
16-Friends School of Baltimore 7.5
17-John Carroll 0
106
1st Place Match
Corey Brown (Mount Saint Joseph) 34-1, Fr. over Tyler Verceles (Loyola-Blakefield) 37-3, Fr. (TF-1.5 3:58 (15-0))
3rd Place Match
Charlie Mutschler (Archbishop Spalding) 20-11, Fr. over Christian Wirts (Gilman School) 29-9, Fr. (Dec 4-0)
5th Place Match
Jacob Naylor (McDonogh School) 34-12, Fr. over Gavin Young (Calvert Hall College) 2-3, Fr. (For.)
113
1st Place Match
Liam McGettigan (Gilman School) 31-5, So. over Eli Chesla (Archbishop Spalding) 17-7, Jr. (Dec 4-0)
3rd Place Match
James Wright (Mount Saint Joseph) 16-7, Jr. over Evan Kaliakoudas (Archbishop Curley) 36-7, Fr. (MD 12-2)
5th Place Match
bradley Alexander (St. Frances Academy) 15-12, Fr. over Weylin Myers (Gerstell Academy) 17-8, So. (For.)
120
1st Place Match
Jayden Jackson (Loyola-Blakefield) 29-3, Jr. over Isaac Cicchetti (Archbishop Spalding) 14-4, Fr. (TF-1.5 2:49 (19-3))
3rd Place Match
CJ Votta (Mount Saint Joseph) 20-12, Fr. over JD Vassar (Gilman School) 20-8, So. (Fall 0:39)
5th Place Match
Cody Lehman (Calvert Hall College) 3-2, So. over Patrick Gross (The Saint Paul`s School for Boys) 2-3, Jr. (MD 15-1)
126
1st Place Match
Jake Tamai (Mount Saint Joseph) 35-3, Jr. over Wes Baumgartner (McDonogh School) 37-10, Fr. (Dec 4-0)
3rd Place Match
Cayden Farver (Loyola-Blakefield) 28-13, Sr. over EJ Hill (Boys` Latin School) 24-12, Sr. (TF-1.5 4:00 (19-3))
5th Place Match
Quentin Bailey (Archbishop Spalding) 21-10, So. over Kamren Griffin (St. Frances Academy) 14-10, Sr. (For.)
132
1st Place Match
Sean Garretson (Archbishop Spalding) 24-3, Sr. over Ben Scheiner (Mount Saint Joseph) 28-13, So. (Fall 3:21)
3rd Place Match
Zach Glory (Gilman School) 29-13, Sr. over Christian Manley (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) 3-2, Sr. (Dec 8-2)
5th Place Match
Mason Comegys (McDonogh School) 36-12, Fr. over Dom Montgomery (Severn School) 25-6, So. (Fall 4:38)
138
1st Place Match
Zane Leitzel (Archbishop Spalding) 27-4, Jr. over Tyler Stephens (Mount Saint Joseph) 37-6, So. (Dec 5-4)
3rd Place Match
Joshua Hale (Loyola-Blakefield) 32-10, Jr. over Oscar Davis (Archbishop Curley) 38-13, So. (Fall 0:52)
5th Place Match
Cole Genua (McDonogh School) 24-12, So. over Joshua Jackson (Calvert Hall College) 3-3, Jr. (Fall 2:35)
144
1st Place Match
Nicky Melfi (Severn School) 26-3, Sr. over Henry Gessford (Archbishop Spalding) 17-6, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:28 (17-1))
3rd Place Match
Seve Lombardo (Boys` Latin School) 24-9, Sr. over Lincoln Weeks (Loyola-Blakefield) 13-6, So. (Dec 4-2)
5th Place Match
Jeffery Harris (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) 3-2, So. over Tyler Crimmins (McDonogh School) 14-22, Sr. (Dec 8-7)
150
1st Place Match
Braxton McAvey (St. Frances Academy) 27-5, Sr. over Griffin Stewart (Calvert Hall College) 2-1, Sr. (MD 11-1)
3rd Place Match
Nevan McKneely (Loyola-Blakefield) 21-6, Jr. over Dominic Manna (McDonogh School) 32-13, So. (Dec 7-6)
5th Place Match
Ryder Kolat (Archbishop Spalding) 13-7, Jr. over Connor Allison (Mount Saint Joseph) 32-11, So. (Dec 1-0)
157
1st Place Match
John Jurkovic (Gilman School) 33-7, Sr. over Cameron Cannaday (Mount Saint Joseph) 26-9, Sr. (Dec 9-6)
3rd Place Match
Aidan Kammar (Calvert Hall College) 5-1, Sr. over Derrick Grant (St. Frances Academy) 15-13, Sr. (Dec 13-6)
5th Place Match
Caden Gardner (McDonogh School) 25-15, Jr. over Matai Hughes (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) 2-3, So. (Fall 1:41)
165
1st Place Match
Chase Carpinteri (St. Frances Academy) 22-5, Sr. over Hayden Myers (The Saint Paul`s School for Boys) 2-1, Jr. (Dec 10-4)
3rd Place Match
Josh Taylor (Archbishop Spalding) 17-11, Jr. over Dylan Fish (Archbishop Curley) 37-11, Sr. (Dec 4-1)
5th Place Match
Jack Bruffey (Gerstell Academy) 25-3, Sr. over Alex Stowbunenko-Saitschenko (Calvert Hall College) 3-3, Jr. (Dec 8-5)
175
1st Place Match
Arthur Konshak (Gilman School) 34-7, So. over Riley Miller (Loyola-Blakefield) 15-9, So. (Fall 3:11)
3rd Place Match
Izaac Robertucci (Calvert Hall College) 4-1, So. over Leo Marks (McDonogh School) 25-13, Sr. (TF-1.5 5:00 (15-0))
5th Place Match
Adeoluwa Adewuyi (Archbishop Curley) 34-15, Jr. over Jakayveon Burton (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) 1-3, So. (Dec 13-10)
190
1st Place Match
Emmitt Sherlock (Gilman School) 42-3, Sr. over Elijah Josey (St. Frances Academy) 28-6, Sr. (Dec 1-0)
3rd Place Match
Bailen Boutz (Archbishop Curley) 40-7, Jr. over Luke Winkler (Archbishop Spalding) 16-5, Fr. (Fall 2:21)
5th Place Match
Talin Krashoc (Severn School) 20-10, Jr. over Ryan Ellis (Gerstell Academy) 19-6, Jr. (Fall 3:34)
215
1st Place Match
Douglas Johnson (St. Frances Academy) 25-13, Sr. over Isaiah Trusty (Gilman School) 21-3, Jr. (Dec 8-3)
3rd Place Match
Luke Barulli (Archbishop Spalding) 15-7, So. over Max Stanziale (McDonogh School) 19-9, Sr. (SV-1 10-7)
5th Place Match
Khalee White (Archbishop Curley) 36-13, Sr. over Anderson Foster III (St. Vincent Pallotti) 2-3, Jr. (Dec 1-0)
285
1st Place Match
Luke Randazzo (Loyola-Blakefield) 34-3, Sr. over Kahlil Regan (Archbishop Curley) 39-6, Sr. (Fall 1:19)
3rd Place Match
Logan Brown (McDonogh School) 16-10, Fr. over Thomas Brandel (Mount Saint Joseph) 9-10, Sr. (Dec 4-0)
5th Place Match
Michael Byrne (Archbishop Spalding) 15-7, So. over Carter Beck (Boys` Latin School) 18-6, Jr. (M. For.)