***Quick Note: Unfortunately, mentioning all of the club team names and names for most of the wrestlers would have made this article a long book so we tried to refer to records and pointing out notable encounters. Apologies if we missed something amazing - it was a long, amazing weekend of wrestling!***
A slew of Maryland teams (full and partial) made the trek to Virginia Beach over the Memorial Day Weekend for the NHSCA National Duals. It offered an island of Folkstyle in the current sea of Freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions.
Maryland took its lumps but had one squad (Sly Fox) that was mostly comprised of locals win their initial pool to advance to the Championship Pool, and another (Superior Elite), that featured two Marylanders on its roster (Michael Greenstreet and Landon Hamper), reach the final day of competition.
We’ll touch on Superior Elite first since there were just two from our ranks in that fold. That team had the most success of any with Maryland affiliations. After winning their opening pool, Superior Elite went 2-1 in their championship pool to reach the third days’ Championship Bracket. They lost in that bracket but won one final consolation match to end the affair with a 6-2 record.
Hamper (182) shined for Superior, winning all three of his matches on Saturday. 7-4 over Karlondo DuBoise, 3-2 over Trapp Price, and decking Carter Inman in 2:45. The Sunday slate was not as kind to Hamper as he went 1-2, beating John Wright 5-3, then falling to Coy Bender, 5-0, and National Prep placer Haden Bottiglieri, 18-1, who spent some time in the Scorebook Live National Rankings. Hamper did not compete in Monday’s action.
Greenstreet (126) was 1-7 with his lone win coming by fall over Ty Locke in 53 seconds.
Sly Fox, a team made up of Southern Maryland grapplers and one from Virginia (Class 3 state champ, Parker Withers (Skyline, 126), went 4-2 over two days, winning their first pool competition (3-0), then going 1-2 in the Championship Pools.
The majority of the Sly Fox roster comes from Huntingtown’s team with four others from squads down south. Leading the way and posting 5-1 records were two state champions. St. Mary’s Ryken’s Ethan Valdisera (113) and Northern Calvert’s Drew Montgomery (138).
Interestingly, they both fell to members of California’s Zinkin family, who were both CA state champions this year. Rocklin and his cousin, Nikade. Valdisera was pinned by Rocklin (No. 4 at 113 in the nation), 3:46, and Montgomery lost 10-3 to Nikade (No. 7 at 126). Valdisera and Montgomery were 3-0 in the first pool.
Withers went 4-2 as did Calvert’s Brian Davis (132), who is a multi-time state placer. Davis was 3-0 on Saturday then hit tough sledding on Sunday, going 1-2. One of Davis’ losses was to Louisiana’s Richie Clementi by fall, 1:51. Clementi is on the cusp of the national rankings. Davis’ teammate, Cornell Johnson, another multi-time state placer was 3-3 at 285. Johnson was 2-1, then 1-2, with a Sunday loss to Virginia’s Parker Ferrell, who was nationally ranked before an injury derailed his season.
Five Huntingtown wrestlers posted 4-2 records, Owen Hayden (106), Landen Vercoe (120), Tyler Hayden (152), Blake Ashley (160), and Ryan Smith (170). Two others were 2-4, Luke Johnson (145) and Chase Brooks (182).
State placer Owen Hayden was 2-1 both days with a notable loss to Pennsylvania’s Kole Davidheiser, 1:56. Tyler Hayden and Blake Ashley have collected state hardware, and both went unscathed on the first day of competition. On the second day, they both fell to nationally ranked wrestlers.
Tyler Hayden was pinned by Florida’s Honorable Mention, Anderson Heap, 2:32. Ashley lost to two national standouts, Honorable Mention Jay’den Williams (Michigan), 2:28, and Illinois’ Eddie Enright (No. 18 at 157), 43 second fall. Smith’s 4-2 record was powered by an opening day undefeated session before falling twice on day two, one of them being to HM Jed Wester (Minnesota), 44 seconds.
Three other outfits with Maryland Roots made it to day two’s championship rounds after going 2-1 in their Saturday pools, Mavericks, Warhawks, and Hillbilly Hammers. The Mavericks had the most success as they won a match in the big boy pools to finish 3-3, while the other two clubs were swept in their matches and ended with 2-4 tallies.
Half of the Mavericks’ roster was C. Milton Wright wrestlers. There were two each from Bel Air, Calvert Hall, and North Harford, with the final guy coming from Patterson Mill (Jonathan Fletcher, 3-3 at 182).
Mustangs with the best records were state placer Devin Sweeney (160) and Nathan Whetzel (220), who were 3-3. Three others went 2-4 over their six matches – Kane Desch (120), Mitchell Nguyen (132), and Dylan Roche (145). Rory Sweeney (106) was 1-5, while Sean Downey (113) was skunked in his matches. In all fairness though, Downey had three of the toughest matchups of all, facing nationally known wrestlers Kiyan Simon (AL), Caden Carroll (IL), and Oumar Tounkara (NJ).
Calvert Hall’s National Prep and state placer Griffin Stewart (138) put a 4-2 tally in the books, including winning all three on Saturday. One of his Sunday losses was to Ohio’s Jaiden Sarabia, who is on the periphery of the national rankings. His Cardinal teammate Isaac Robertucci was 1-5, with his lone win coming in the final match.
Bel Air’s heavyweight, Owen Reilly, went 3-3 with one of his losses to national honorable mention, national prep placer, James Bechter (OH), by fall 1:11. State runner-up Chris Nice was 2-4 at 152. North Harford’s Holden Young went 2-4 at 195 and his squadron mate, Tommy Blankenship was kept out of the win column at 126.
The Warhawks collective had six from Brunswick, two from Glenelg, and one each from Atholton (Omar Palmer, 195, 3-2), Century (Brayden Brassell, 120, 0-6) and Frederick (Ian Tumi, 182, 1-5), plus two from other states, Rhode Island’s Anthony DeMaio (152, 2-3) and Pennsylvania’s Charles Doran (220, 2-4).
The Brunswick grapplers struggled as well with two earning 2-4 records, the best any had, and those were clocked by Evan Mullen (113) and Set Crawford (126). Both were state placers. Heavyweight Lane Riggleman went 1-4. Wrestlers not tasting victory were Carter Mullen (106), Jake O’Conner (132), and Ayax Martinez-Ortiz (145).
Glenelg’s Gavin Harder was 3-2 at 170lbs and Johnathan Sexton was 2-4 at 138lbs. Sexton suffered defeats to former National Prep placer Andrew Pimental (MA) and Pennsylvania’s Tahir Parkins (No. 14 at 138 in the country).
The Hillbilly Hammers had more out of state wrestlers than in-state, so we will just focus on the Marylanders. Three hails from Northern Garrett, two from Williamsport, and one from James M Bennett.
The Huskies had two guys go 4-2, Nate Wilhelm (120) and Devon Opel (126), and one put up a 3-3 record, Matthew Beitzel (113). Beitzel fell by tech-fall, 16-0, to Pennsylvania’s Dominick Morrison (No. 8 at 106). Opel was tripped up by Virginia’s HM Colin Martin, 16-0, as well. Wilhelm’s two losses came to guys who were ranked in the country at some point recently, Will Detar (PA), 1-5, and Indiana’s Luke Rioux, 21-4.
Williamsport’s state champ and state runner-up, Aidan Hastings went 5-1 over the two days including joining Opel and Wilhelm as undefeated on Saturday. Hastings lone loss occurred in the first match of the Championship Pool when he dropped a 1-0 decision to Pennsylvania’s Dane Miller. Miller was third in his region but did not place in the AAA states. Camden Hull went 1-5 at 138.
Braxton McAvey (JMB, 145), a state placer, was 3-3 with one of his losses being to Virginia’s Tyler Traves, who is a honorable mention wrestler in SBLive’s 138lb national rankings.
Team Germantown was powered by three of Maryland’s best from Bullis, Noah Tucker (152), Salah Tsarni (160), and Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (170). They went a combined 16-2, with state runner-up Ahanj-Elias, posting a perfect 6-0 record. Germantown was third in their pool (1-2), which pushed them into the consolation pools where they won theirs with a 3-0 record.
Tucker, a state placer as a freshman, lost to Mt. St. Joseph’s Cameron Cannaday, 4-1, in the consolation pools, but won all three in the initial pool. Tsarni, a freshman state champ, fell to Florida’s Eric Hodge, 8-7, in the final match of the first pool round. Hodge was fifth in the 1A state tournament.
Quince Orchard equaled Bullis with three on the team, state placer Harrison Spadoni (120), Thomas Peluso (145), and Tristen Cabugwas (285). Poolesville’s Ethan Dimmerling received a forfeit at 120 in the opening match, but after that Spadoni took over the spot and went 2-3. Peluso was 3-3 and Cabugwas was 2-4.
Northwest’s Jason Beale JR (138) posted a 4-2 record. Two Montgomery County wrestlers with ties to the St. Frances Academy round out Germantown’s Marylanders on the roster, Joseph Womack (106) and AJ Lopez (182). Womack was 3-3. Lopez, who began the season with SFA but ended in West Virginia, is apparently back in Maryland and worked his way to a 5-1 record. Lopez’s loss came against Nebraska’s Tyler Boyles by fall, 3:46.
It was surprising the Panther Wrestling Club’s roster wasn’t filled with grapplers from the school. St. Frances did have four on the list, and a fifth if you count former St. Joe wrestler Bryce Phillips, who was at SFA but could not wrestle this year. Phillips got into one match and came away with a 4-3 win over Austin Taylor (VA).
The Panthers were 1-2 in the first pool, and then went 2-1 in the second for a 3-3 record overall. One of the teams they beat in the Sunday pool was Sly Fox Black, 38-27, which is comprised of South River wrestlers and more.
State placers for SFA in attendance saw Chase Carpintieri (152) shine the brightest for his team with a 5-1 record. Noah Shird lost his first match at 145 then competed at 138 in the other matches pulling off a 4-1 tally. Shird won all 3 of the final pool matches.
Maurice Womack was 4-2 at 132, also winning all three of the final competitions. Maurice’s brother, Isisah, only wrestled three times at 126 and notched two wins. Isisah’s loss was by pin to Albert Einstein’s state champion, Stone Yuen, 3:54.
Sparrows Point’s Christian Manley shared time with Isisah at 126, where he was 1-1. Manley lost to Arkansas state champ, Daxton Kline, 5-1, at 113lbs. North County’s Elijah Boston went 4-2, losing one match in each round of pools.
Northwest’s Ivan Carillo, who missed this season after winning a state title as a sophomore, was 3-2. Severna Park’s Nate Kohler, who was second in the state this year, pinned Carillo, 1:10, in the Sly Fox Black match. Zebulon Bolden, who is still a junior leaguer from Bowie, struggled against the high school competition at 106 and captured one victory in his six matches.
Unless we overlooked a team, it appears there was one team with Maryland girls at the duals, Buccaneers Wrestling Club. The Bucs went 2-1 in pool rounds and advanced to the Championship pools where they fell on hard times and went 0-3.
The team was highlighted by two state champions, Arundel’s Jada Chaves (100) and Stephen Decatur’s Azariyah Johnson (185). Chaves only wrestled in half of the matches and posted a 2-1 count. Chaves is ranked No. 16 in the nation at 105lbs by American Women’s Wrestling. In her final match, Chaves encountered Indiana’s Kendall Moe, who is ranked 10th at 100lbs, and was surprisingly pinned, 2:36.
Johnson went unscathed over the competition (6-0) registering four falls in times of, :21, :09, :33, and :15. Johnson’s fellow Seahawk, Chaniah Berner, a state silver medalist, also came out unblemished at 6-0 with a couple of quick pins of her own, :18 and :33, and another in 1:06.
Manchester Valley’s Faith Day (107) and Northeast’s Sophia Hodges (126) were both third in the state at their respective weights (100/120) and both posted 2-4 records here. The six Marylander on this squad was Arundel’s Erin Wright, who went 1-5 at 145.
Link to Box Scores:
From that link you can select different pools. Here are the pool assignments for the teams highlighted in this article.
Superior Elite:
HS Pool 34
Champ HS Boys Pool S
HS Championship Bracket
HS-Consi 10
Sly Fox:
HS Pool 51
Champ HS Boys Pool B
Mavericks:
HS Pool 37
Champ HS Boys Pool O
Warhawks:
HS Pool 13
Champ HS Boys Pool N
Hillbilly Hammers:
HS Pool 50
Champ HS Boys Pool D
Team Germantown:
HS Pool 31
Consi HS Boys Pool H
Panther Wrestling Club:
HS Pool 39
Consi HS Boys Pool J
Girls Pools (You need to select “Girls High School” in the drop-down menu on the left)
Buccaneers WC:
HS Girls Pool 6
Champ HS Girls Pool D
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