4A/3A Coach of the Year ... Congrats to Randy Curtin!

Randy Curtin graduated from Hammond High in Howard County in 1998, when he became a 171-pound county champion and the Bears’ program swept titles in their county and Class 2A-1A South Region Tournaments as well as the Class 2A-1A state dual and state tournaments.

As a 10th-year coach of eighth-ranked Chesapeake-Anne Arundel this past season, Curtin guided the Cougars (38-0) to the Class 3A state dual meet crown after having clinched the county dual title with a record of 13-0.

Curtin also coached his 20th-ranked son, Matthew, to a 175-pound county championship during a season in which the Cougars were unofficially Class 4A-3A state tournament champions, edging Einstein of Montgomery County, 79-78.5 according to Legacy Wrestling’s Billy B since the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association ceased scoring the state tournament in 2018.

The Cougars won this year’s Class 3A dual crown, 31-30, dethroning 11th-ranked, two-time defending champion Linganore. Curtin’s Cougars regained the state dual crown for the first time since 2022, when they ran the table for the county dual meet and tournament titles along with the Class 3A state duals championship.

Armed with a career record of 256-82 and assisted by Tony Listorti, Dill Jimenez and Tony Lewis, Curtin has been named Legacy Wrestling’s Class 4A-3A Coach of The Year.

“It’s an absolute honor to be named Legacy Wrestling’s Coach of the Year,” said Curtin, 44, who placed third at regions before falling short at states to the eventual champion and third-place finishers. “I have a ton of respect for Lem Satterfield and Billy B. They are both well-respected in the Maryland wrestling community."

Matthew Curtin earned an overtime fall in 6:19 to defeat Annapolis’ 16th-ranked Davis Ruhf, a returning county runner-up whose record slipped to 36-2. An earlier 9-5 loser to Ruhf, Matthew trailed by as much as 6-1 before tying their match at 12 and sending it into the extra session.

“When Matthew won the county championship, it was a ‘proud Dad’ moment,” said Randy Curtin, whose Cougars won the county tournament with 257 points in 2022. “I was so happy for him, and it was a special moment for us to share.”

Matthew’s triumph helped the Cougars (259 points) to dethrone 19th-ranked South River (214.5 points) for their program’s fourth county tournament crown, including those in 1980, 2002 and 2022.

“The fact that Matthew picked up a pin in overtime was sweet icing on the cake,” said Randy Curtin, whose squad comprised three each in seniors, sophomores and freshmen and five juniors. “In fact, those two bonus points put our team score ahead of the 2022 team score [257 points] in the county tournament.”

Matthew Curtin was among five county champions among the Cougars’ 10 place winners within the top four of their weight classes, with other titlists being 23rd-ranked senior Xander Dodd (215), ninth-ranked freshman Quin Greenstreet (106) and 15th-ranked freshman Carson Roberts (120) and 19th-ranked sophomore Rex Graves (138).

Eighth-ranked freshman Bently Schmidt (113) was a county-runner-up as were 11th-ranked junior Brayden Roberts (126), junior Collin Richardson (165)

The Cougars had a third-place county finish from senior Dominic Ayers (132) and a fourth-place effort from junior Owen Collins (150).

Greenstreet was the Cougars’ lone champion among six Class 4A-3A East Region finalists and eight wrestlers who placed within the top four of their weight classes.

Regional runners-up were Brayden Roberts, Schmidt, Roberts, Curtin and Richardson, with fourth place finishes from Carson Roberts and Dodd.

At states, Greenstreet and Schmidt finished third, Brayden Roberts was fourth, and both Carson Roberts and Graves were sixth.

A two-time county and regional champion with a team-leading record of 38-2 with 17 pins, Dodd finished at 41-3 last season after losing his Class 4A-3A East Regional and Class 4A-3A state title bouts by scores of, 8-2, and 5-1, to Bowie’s top-ranked senior Jamil Morrow, who finished at 37-0.

Greenstreet finished at 37-2, 15 pins and four technical falls, Graves was 38-6 with 10 pins and nine technical falls, and Matthew Curtin, 38-12 with 10 pins and 13 technical falls. The Roberts siblings had identical records of 40-8 with 18 pins and three technical falls.

Brayden has previously placed second and third in counties and second and fourth in regions, and Matthew Curtin has placed third in counties and fourth in regions.

Graves is a transfer from Northeast where he placed third in counties and fourth in regions last season, and Collins was fourth in counties last year.

Randy Curtin has coached 20 county champions and a pair of individual Class 4A-3A state tournament title winners in 2022 with senior Listorti brothers Chase (145) and Victor (182).

The Listorti siblings’ father, Tony, is an assistant to Curtin and an alumnus of Chesapeake who placed fourth at states after winning county and regional titles as a senior in 1982.

In January 2022, Curtin also oversaw the Cougars’ wrestling room being renamed in honor of late alumnus Matthew Tobey Eveleth, a four-time Class 4A-3A state finalist and three-time champion.

The youngest of three siblings, all of whom were state title winners for the Cougars, Eveleth was 37 when he died of pancreatic cancer in July 2021 as the most accomplished wrestler in the history of Chesapeake High.

Older brother, Brian, 49, was a one-time champion in 1991, and Jeff, 40, a two-time title winner, the latter being a senior teammate with Matt on the Cougars’ 2000 championship squad. Matt earned three state titles in four championship berths, leading the Cougars to state tournament crowns as a sophomore and again as a senior in 2002.

The Dan Youngblood-Matthew Eveleth Charitable Foundation will hold its annual scholarship golf tournament on May 5 in honor of both wrestlers.

Founded in 2018 after the passing of Dan Youngblood, a former state champion at Old Mill in 1985, the scholarship Fund started with a golf tournament, offering a higher education scholarship to deserving wrestlers. In 2021, the event added the Eveleth name to honor Matt, Dan's friend and coaching partner.

In 2023, we merged the two names, creating the Youngblood Eveleth Charitable Foundation, solidifying the enduring bond between the two friends.

“As someone deeply tied to the history of the Chesapeake program, it’s been incredible to watch what has been accomplished by coach Randy Curtin. Watching him lead Chesapeake to another state championship and to the level where it has become a perennial powerhouse has been very impressive,” Brian Eveleth said.

“But what means just as much to me is the way that coach Curtin has embraced the history and the spirit of the program. Naming the wrestling room after my brother, Matt, who I had the honor of coaching at Chesapeake, was a gesture that has meant the world to me and my family. With so much talent returning next year, Chesapeake’s future is bright under his leadership.”

Chesapeake's state champions

Three-time champion

Matt Eveleth

Two-time champion

Jeff Eveleth

State champions

Brian Eveleth 1991

Jeff Eveleth 1999

Jeff Eveleth 2000

Matt Eveleth 2000

Melvin Guthrie 2000

Matt Eveleth 2001

Matt Eveleth 2002

Corey Bowers 2004

Alex Rice 2011

Alex Rice 2012

Chase Listorti 2022

Victor Listorti 2022