by Lem Satterfield
Brunswick’s 130-pound Mike Minch was
in search of answers entering Thursday’s Jeff Yingling Memorial
tournament at Francis Scott Key.
The senior wondered if he could
win his first title in the event following three straight runner-up
finishes — including last year’s to eventual state titlist Alex Grassi
of Century.
And having nailed down pins in all of his previous
11 wins without a loss entering Thursday night’s title bout against the
host school’s unbeaten Nolan Rinker, Minch, internally, questioned
whether “I had the gas to go three full periods” against a quality
opponent.
And perhaps most importantly, Minch sought proof that
he and the Railroaders of Frederick County were as good as their
unbeaten, 9-0 record.
And within a nine-team field that
featured defending Baltimore County champion, Hereford, a team ranked
No. 9 in the DigitalSports-Maryland State Wrestling Association, the
tournament offered the Railroaders a chance to prove themselves ready
to compete with Maryland’s elite.
Minch hit the trifecta —
emphatically — as the Railroaders turned in a solid effort in a
come-from-behind, 159.5-to-144, victory over the Bulls for the overall
team title.
While failing to nail down another fall, Minch, was
dominant, nevertheless, as he scored five nearfall points during an
11-0 major decision over Rinker, who slipped to 12-1.
“I’ve
probably got 15 losses against my 107 career wins, and probably 10 of
those were to Grassi, who I got beat by it seemed like every time,”
said Minch, a defending county champion who was a regional runner-up to
Grassi.
“This felt really good to finally get the win, and, to
prove to myself that I could go hard all three periods,” said Minch, a
fifth-place finisher who was joined on the victory podium by Zach
Morris (125) and Luke Dearing (140). “I wanted the pin, but I couldn’t
turn him. Instead, I found out that I was in pretty good shape.”
Morris
(12-0) scored five takedowns and 11 nearfall points before nailing his
eighth pin of the year against Century’s Kurt Buckingham with 20
seconds left. Dearing rose to 11-1 with a 4-2 decision over North
Hagerstown’s Joe Breehl.
Trailing Hereford by three points with
the consolation and title rounds left to be wrestled, the Railroaders,
led, 144.5-to-136 after third place finishes from David Leveille (152),
Jarrod Droneburg (160) and Joey Fisher (171). Droneburg came up with a
pin in 1:32.
“We definitely wrestled well as a team — probably
better than a lot of people realized that we could,” said Minch, who
was fifth at Class 2A-1A states last season. “I think we we definitely
surprised a lot of people, and we wanted some respect. This is a huge
win, and I think that after this tournament, other teams will start
noticing us.”
Hereford’s three-time state champion Josh Asper
(171), who is headed for the University of Maryland, rose to 7-0 on the
year with his 57th consecutive victory, 17-5, over North Hagerstown’s
previously unbeaten Dan Mazzei (12-1).
Asper, who is
attempting to become only the state’s third three-time public school
titlist, earned his 121st career victory against only seven losses —
with his last defeat having comduring his junior year, 8-7, against
Hammond’s three-time state champion Vince Taweel at 140 pounds.
“This
is a little bit of a different situation for us as a team. Last year,
and the year before, we were always the team trying to prove ourselves,
but now, everyone kind of looks at us as the team they want to use to
try and show everyone what their made of,” said Asper, who pinned his
previous opponent in 38 seconds and was named the tournament’s
Outstanding Wrestler.
“I think we did okay, but a lot of our
guys have only had like four or five matches coming into this
tournament,” said Asper, who was the No. 1 tackler on the Bulls’ Class
3A state runner-up football team this past fall.
“A lot of our
competition has close to 14, 15 matches in already,” Asper said.
“Hopefully, we’ll get some more matches in, and then, we’ll be ready to
peak at the right time near the end of the season.”
Also winning
for Hereford was Matt Swiger (103), who overcame an early 4-0
first-period deficit for a 9-8 victory over Steve Smith (9-2) of
Francis Scott Key.
Winning for the host Eagles was Shawn Eyler (112), who rose to 11-2 with his 12-4 victory over Hereford’s Max Rosen.
St.
Mary’s Green brothers, freshman Kenneth (119) and senior Fred (145),
improved to 15-2, and, 17-0, respectively with their title-winning
efforts.
Kenneth scored a 12-2 major decision over Brunswick’s
previously unbeaten Tyler Bartholomew (11-1), having pinned his
previous two opponents. Fred, a returning private schools state
titlist, also majored his previously unbeaten Brunswick opponent, Brian
Orye (11-1), winning his match, 13-5.
Kennth Green avenged one
of his two losses with a 45-second pin over Calvert Hall senior Nick
Gialamas in the title bout of the Ed Peery Invitational earlier this
month.
But in a subsequent bout, Kenneth was beaten, 6-4, by
longtime junior league rival Graceson Pastirik of Mount St. Joseph, to
whom he had never lost previously.
“It’s nice that Graceson got
that chance to win and have that glory for that one night. He wrestled
a good match, but that just drove me to win more,” said Kenneth Green.
“I came back with a pin against Mike Zito of Loyola, and that felt
really good.”
When Kenneth wins, said Fred Green, “I feel like I have to do the same thing.”
“There’s
sort of a sibling rivalry,” said Fred Green, who was named Outstanding
Wrestler at last year’s private schools state tournament. “There’s some
pressure, I guess, for sure. And hopefully, [Kenneth] sort of looks up
to me. So it’s sort of like, I don’t want to let him see me lose.”
Oakland
Mills’ crowned Thomas Consiglio (135) and county and region champion
Mike Santiago (285), with the latter rising to 14-0 with 13 pins.
Consigilo
improved to 13-1 with a 12-11 victory over North Hagerstown’s
previously unbeaten Del’on Agee (11-1), after which the 232-pound
Santiago simply took his time, patiently edging his much larger rival,
Greencastle’s Anthony Derigo, 6-3.
“Most of the heavyweights
outweigh me by a lot, but I’m a lot quicker. I feel like my advantage
is on my feet with those guys, so I try to stick and move up top as
much as I can,” said Santiago, who won 33 bouts last season.
“In
that instance, I had been watching him a little bit during the
tournament, and I knew that he had a fat-boy roll when you’re on top,”
Santiago said of Derigo, who had pinned his two previous opponents in
the first period, and whose coaches complained about his being poked in
the eyes whenever Santiago tapped his head to set up takedowns.
“I’m
a physical wrestler, and I don’t think you can come into a match hoping
that the referee is going to win the match for you. I wasn’t trying to
force anything, I just let it come to me,” Santiago said.
“I
know that I’m putting forth the effort in the room, and that I could go
the full six minutes if I had to,” Santiago said. “I felt like I could
let him up and take him down. If I got the pin, then I got the pin. But
I’m just taking it one match at a time.”
North Hagerstown crowned Jimmy Eichelberger (152) and Demetrius Myers (215).
Eichelberger
rose to 13-0 with his 7-3 victory over Oakland Mills’ Jovan Saunders
(12-2), and Century’s Alan Kratz (160) ground out a 4-2 victory over
Tod Dewalt (11-3) of Greencastle of Pennsylvania. Myers edged
Hereford’s Taylor Gload (5-2) by 13-8 for his crown.
Jeff Yingling Memorial Christmas Tournament at Francis Scott Key.
Team scores:
1. Brunswick 159.5; 2. Hereford 144; 3. Oakland Mills 137; 4. North
Hagerstown 119; 5. Century 107; 6. Francis Scott Key 106; 7.
Greencastle 91.5; 8. St. Mary’s 86; 9. Boonsboro 20.
Championship finals
103- Matt Swiger (H) d. Steve Smith (F), 9-8
112- Shawn Eyler (F) mj. Max Rosen (H), 12-4
119- Kenneth Green (STM) mj. Tyler Batholomew (BR), 12-2
125- Zach Morris (BR) p. Kurt Buckingham (C), 5:40
130- Mike Minch (BR) mj. Nolan Rinker (F), 11-0
135- Thomas Consiglio (O) d. Del’on Agee (NH), 12-11
140- Luke Dearing (BR) d. Joe Breehl (NH), 4-2
145- Fred Green (STM) mj. Brian Orye (BR), 13-5
152- Jim Eichelberger (NH) d. Jovan Saunders (O), 7-3
160- Alan Kratz (C) d. Todd Dewalt (G), 4-2
171- Josh Asper (H) mj. Dan Mazzei (NH), 17-5
189- Matt Copenhaver (G) tf. Ben Henry (STM0, 16-1
215- Demetrius Myers (NH) d. Taylor Gload (H), 13-8
285- Mike Santiago (O) d. Anthony Derigo (G), 6-3
Consolation finals
103- Allen Wilson (C) p. Nathaniel Proce (BO), 0:57
112- Sam Vaughters (STM) p. Ivan Gutierrez (O), 4:44
119- Chris Antrobus (C) d. Sean Gunn (HR), 5-2
125- Will Linscomb (F) d. Jon Volz (H), 11-9
130-Kahlil Norris (O) by forfeit
135- Justin Parks (H) d. Tyler Brey (F), 6-4
140-Pat Morris (C) p. Peter Petties (O), 2:27
145-Jake Turner (N) d. Jeremy Keil (H), 10-6
152-David Leveille (BR) d. Seth Shindle (G), 7-2
160-Jarrod Droneburg (BR) p. Chris Ealey (O), 1:32
171-Joey Fisher (BR) d. Caleb Andrew (C), 12-8
189- Matt Widstrom (O) d. Chris Aghazarian (H), 8-7
215-Michael Daniels (O) d. Kyle Hansen (G), 8-1
285- Andy Eyler (F) d. Andrew Tilles (BR), 3-1
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