2A/1A Upper Weight Wrestler of the Year... Congrats to Calvin Kraisser!

Centennial’s second-ranked senior Calvin Kraisser became the third of five siblings to win four consecutive state titles, raising to what is believed to be a state record of 16 the number of individual state championships earned by the six wrestlers in a family legacy of brotherhood and fatherhood that has spanned more than four decades at Centennial.

Named Legacy Wrestling’s Class 2A-1A Upper Weight Wrestler Of The Year, Kraisser ran his winning streak to 25 consecutive matches, his record on the season to 43-1 with 37 pins, a major decision and five forfeits, and his career mark to 140-4 with 114 pins, four technical falls and five major decisions.

Kraisser’s four state crowns comprised two each at the Class 4A-3A and 2A-1A levels to go with his fourth championships in the Howard County and regional tournaments.

“I am honored to be selected for wrestler of the year by Legacy Wrestling,” said Calvin Kraisser, an A student who will wrestle at Frostburg State University. “I believe being selected wrestler of the year shows the hard work and effort I have put in.”

Kraisser’s coach and father, Cliff, was a state title winner for the Eagles in 1983, and Calvin’s elder brother, Nathan, earned four each in county, regional and state crowns before graduating in 2012.

Austin Kraisser won four each in county and regional crowns as well as three state titles in four championship berths through 2016, and Jason graduated in 2019 with four each in county, region and state titles.

The eldest Kraisser sibling, Brian, graduated in 2010 with two county titles and fifth and sixth place finishes at states. Brian was also second and third at counties and twice a runner-up at regions, where he also placed third and fourth.

"Faith is an important aspect of our lives, and you are what God made you," Cliff Kraisser said. "Wrestling is one of those sports where you don't have to be the most athletic, or the strongest or the best technician, but it's all of those things together."

Kraisser’s only loss of the season was by a 1-0 overtime decision to top-ranked Evan Boblits of St. Mary’s Ryken, his weekend training partner at HeadHunters in Columbia, Maryland, who is coached by Austin Kraisser.

“Evan escaped at the beginning of the third period against Calvin. It was a good match where both guys battled hard the whole time,” said Austin Kraisser, who lost his 138-pound Class 4A-3A state final bout, 7-5, to senior Charlie Banaszak of Bethesda-Chevy Chase in 2012. “Calvin is a great wrestler who has a mindset that he will win every match when he steps foot onto the mat. Calvin constantly looks for new ways to improve and is dangerous from every position.”

Committed to the Naval Academy, Boblits is a senior four-time Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title-winner who has earned two private schools state titles in three championship bout appearances, placed fourth, fifth and third in the National Preps Tournament.

Ranked 29th nationally at 150 pounds, Boblits was a runner-up at this year’s National High School Coaches Association tournament, losing an overtime bout, 2-1, on a technical violation against a wrestler he had beaten, 4-2, earlier this season, Ohio’s Holden Huhn.

Kraisser has not been beaten by a public-school wrestler, having lost once each by narrow decisions to Gilman’s top-ranked Emmitt Sherlock, Sherlock’s graduated older brother, Tyson, and Loyola’s graduated Judah Aybar, all of whom were Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and/or private schools state champions.

“I believe when I wrestled [the Sherlocks and Aybar,] I poured my everything into those matches. From time to time, I think of those losses,” said Kraisser, who went 11-0, with 10 pins and a forfeit over the course of this year’s county, regional and state tournaments. “Of course, I was upset and mad at myself, but I couldn’t let those losses hang over me forever. I still believe that getting to wrestle good guys like them is what it takes to make me a better wrestler.”

Kraisser decked all four opponents to win his fourth straight county title, doing so on falls in 89 and 95 seconds as well as another in 2:38 to reach the finals, where he finished 19th-ranked Glenelg junior Josh Choi in 2:32. Choi finished third at regions and fifth at states.

At Class 2A-1A West Regions, Kraisser earned falls in 54 and 86 seconds followed by a forfeit in his championship bout with 20th-ranked Brunswick sophomore C.J. Watts.

At states, Kraisser flattened all four opponents comprising pins in 2:53, 1:43, 93 seconds and 2:46. Kraisser’s fourth fall was against 15th-ranked senior Mason Boyd of North East of Cecil County, a regional champion and Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference runner-up.

Kraisser’s falls in 1:43 and 93 seconds were against 17th-ranked junior Scottie Ford of Kent County and 16th-ranked sophomore Lucas Wolf of Northern-Garrett.

A two-time Bi-County champion who placed fourth-place regionals, Wolf won his third-place bout at states in overtime, 3-0, against Ford, a Bayside champion and regional runner-up.

“I am very happy with my accomplishments this year, and the others in my high school career,” Kraisser said. “I never thought I would be as good as I got to be, and I just want to thank God for the opportunity that he has given me to be able to achieve everything I have.”

Over the course of his previous three seasons, Kraisser’s record as a freshman was 27-0 with 17 pins, as a sophomore was 34-2 with 27 pins and two technical falls, and as a junior was 36-1 with 33 pins and two technical falls.

“I believe [his record] shows that hard work goes a long way, no matter where someone goes to train,” Kraisser said. “It’s all about the amount of effort you put in and how much you care about the sport.”

Kraisser came from behind to win each of his first two state titles, the first, as a 132-pound freshman in 2022, and the second, as a 138-pound sophomore in 2023.

In 2022, Kraisser overcame a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 victory over previously unbeaten senior Elijah Mills of Old Mill High, who entered with a record of 41-0. Kraisser secured the go-ahead reversal late in the second period against Mills to secure his first state championship.

In 2023, Kraisser planted Clarksville of Montgomery County junior Jonathan Chang with 21 seconds left, using a bar-arm pinning maneuver to turn and deck Chang.

Kraisser trailed, 2-0, entering the second period after Chang’s takedown 30 seconds into the match, but he reversed Chang in the second period to tie the bout at 2-2 entering the third.

A third-place state finisher as a sophomore, Chang won last year’s Class 4A-3A state title at 144 pounds, finishing with a record of 46-1.

Winning last year’s 144-pound state title was easier for Kraisser, who reached the finals following pins in 85 seconds and 3:57 along with a 15-0 technical fall before winning his championship match by fall in 3:13 over Liberty junior Dylan Ohler, who was fourth at states as a freshman.

Also among Kraisser's victories last season was a 3-2 decision over Northeast junior Beau Schmidt, a two-time Anne Arundel County champion who has been runner-up in the Class 1A-2A and Class 4A-3A state tournaments in 2023 and 2024.

Others who have lost to Kraisser include North Point graduate Conner Huff, Chesapeake-Anne Arundel graduate Dawson Hoover and Clarksburg senior Owen Pelaez.

Huff, who won a state title as a senior, finished third at states after losing his semifinal bout, 10-5, to Kraisser, then a freshman. Hoover finished fourth in the states after being pinned by then-sophomore Kraisser in 1:52 of their semifinal bout.

Pelaez was a quarterfinal, 5-4, loser to Kraisser during the latter’s freshman year, but has since placed fifth, fourth and first at Class 4A-3A states, the latter with a record of 45-0 to finish ranked third at 150 pounds this season.

“Next year I will be going to Frostburg to wrestle, and I am very excited,” Kraisser said. “I love the coaches and the team, and the campus is great. Overall, just a great place to be and I can't wait for my time there as a Bobcat.”