Greg Saumenig chuckles at the irony of his position as a first-year coach at Hammond, the school where his former adversary, Devon Gillett, threatened his supremacy in the lower weight classes they competed in while he wore an Old Mill uniform.
The duo battled over the course of four years and three lower weight classes before their graduation in 2007.
As a 125-pound senior, Saumenig earned his third straight titles in the Anne Arundel County and 4A-3A East regional tournaments and reached the 4A-3A finals for the third straight time, winning his second consecutive state crown, 6-5 in overtime over Northwest of Montgomery County’s Sean McCarty.
Gillett won his third straight regional crown and his second consecutive 2A-1A state title by edging Glenelg junior Brian Marcoux on each occasion. The 119-pound senior finished the year with a 40-6 record and has a school-record 151 career victories.
“We both graduated in 2007, but during my freshman year, Devon actually beat me twice,” said Saumenig, 34. “After that, we wrestled in regional consolations and then I beat him four more times throughout my high school years. My senior year, I majored-decisioned him.”
But Saumenig has left that past behind him as he focuses on bringing success to the Bears, who crowned Will Terry (138) and Jayden Asaah-Timothy (165) among its six wrestlers who finished within the top four of their weight classes to win Friday’s Davison Classic tournament at Randallstown High.
Terry hammered Magruder’s Max Pasquier via 17-2 technical fall, and Asaah-Timothy pinned Dundalk’s Alexander Cabo in 4:20 as the Bears (142.5 points) outpaced runner-up Magruder (134.5) and the rest of the field.
The Bears also received third place finishes from Cody Johnson (120) and Mike Perez-Romero (132), and fourths from Ezra Lacron (106) and Zachary Terry (144).
Asaah-Timothy “is in his first season up from the junior varsity but he pinned his way through the tournament” to improve his record to 20-5,” Saumenig said. “He did so well that they named him the Outstanding Wrestler for the upper weights.”
Both Johnson, a returning county champion who was fifth at states, and Terry, a returning county champion who was fifth at regions, improved their records on the year to 27-3. Assisted by his father, Art, 53, Saumenig coaches a female wrestler, Clara Freeman (130), who placed fourth at last year’s all-girls state tournament.
“This is the first time that we’ve had our full lineup. We’ve been hit with injuries, people not being at the right weight class. So, this really feels good to be able to show what we can do,” Saumenig said.
“Walking around in this school feels good. Our first dual meet, I looked at my dad and we both agreed that the support that we had was as close as it was at Old Mill, and it makes me feel like home.”
The runner-up Colonels crowned three champions in Class 4A-3A state champion Neil Sharma (126), Jimmy Messer (132) and Shane Kelly (190), as did third-place Patapsco in Alex Hynes (144), Izaiah Wright (150) and Titobioluwa Omideyi (215).
Sharma scored an 18-3 technical fall over Duncan Stadler of Jackson Reed, Messer decisioned Dulaney’s Jason Cantemiry by the score of 9-4, and Kelly earned a 1-0 decision over Milford Mill’s Holland Moore.
For Patapsco, Omideyi finished Dulaney’s Roman Kaminski in 62 seconds, Wright decked Howard’s Grant Mizer in 1:48 and Hynes pinned Pikesville’s Hayden Hale in 5:53,
Other champions were Howard High’s Bennett Custodio (106), Georgetown Prep’s Freddy Brinkman (113), High Point’s Jonathan Robles (120), Walter Johnson’s Bahdan Kurepkin (157), St. Paul’s Hayden Myers (175) and Dundalk’s Andre Andrades (285).
Custodio won an overtime clash with Markwan Hawkins of St. Frances by 12-11 decision, Robles overcame Magruder’s Sava Makarov, 9-6, Kurepkin edged Alex Outzs of Jackson Reed by a score of 5-3, and Myers earned a 5-3 decision over Jesse Corn of Jackson Reed.
Brinkman (113) had an easier time winning his title bout, 12-2, over Guilford Park’s Leo Saravia, and Andrades pinned Howard’s Caleb Snype in 3:05.
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