C. Milton Wright crowned seniors Mitchell Nguyen (132) and Devin Sweeney (165) along with junior Cameron Stepp (285) and freshman Rory Sweeney (106) among their seven finalists and nine wrestlers who placed within the top three of their weight classes to win last weekend’s Panther Invitational Tournament at Paint Branch High.
Finishing second were juniors Dylan Roche (144) and ninth-ranked Jaxon Simms (190) as well as seventh-ranked senior Kane Desch (126), with third-place finishes from Carson Windesheim (157) and with third-place efforts from junior Jacob Cox (120) as the 26th-ranked Mustangs (277 points) overcame 29th runner-up Liberty (171).
Ninth-ranked Devin Sweeney (17-4) emerged victorious from a weight class that included 13th-ranked Hayden Myers of St. Paul’s and 14th-ranked senior Linx Lawless of Broadneck.
Sweeney used a 17-2 technical fall and a 10-1 major decision to reach his title bout with Lawless, whom he pinned in 4:47. Sweeney has placed third and first in the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference, third and second at regions, and fifth at states twice.
“I had three takedowns and an escape against Myers, mostly my takedowns on him were the result of single-legs. The finals match with Lawless was definitely more exciting. He actually scored the initial takedown,” Devin Sweeney said. “But I escaped, got the takedown and was up 4-3 after the first period. I had my mind set to keep scoring points and just built on that lead. I was winning that match, 11-6 before I found the pin in the third period off a nearside cradle.”
Lawless is 18-1, being a defending Anne Arundel County and regional tournament champion who was fourth at states last year. Myers slips to 18-3, being a returning runner-up in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament who placed fourth at the Maryland Private Schools State Tournament.
“I had never wrestled either of them, but I was very calm going into both matches because I’ve been putting in a lot of work,” Devin Sweeney said. “I was even more hyped up for my brother’s finals match. For him to win it was really exciting because that’s his first championship of high school. I made sure I got to watch his match before I warmed up for mine.”
Rory Sweeney reached the finals after a pin in 3:36 and a 14-12 semifinal victory over Liberty freshman Connor Bryson. Sweeney registered a 32-second fall over Paint Branch sophomore Matthew Le in the title match.
“My semifinals match was a tough one. At first, in the second period, the kid got back points on me, and I had to come back. I came from behind and found some turns and got my back points,” said Rory Sweeney of his bout against Bryson, who finished fourth. “In the finals match, things went much better. I was able to pin him with an armbar. Every one of my teammates on the sidelines was cheering for me. It was great to know that they believed in me. It felt good to make everybody happy. It feels great to be a champion.”
The 10th-ranked Nguyen (17-3) spent a combined 88 seconds on the mat comprising falls in 51, 27 and 10 seconds, the latter in his title match Paint Branch junior Mason Grayer. Nguyen is a defending UCBACs champion who was third at regions and sixth at states
The ninth-ranked Stepp ran his record to 18-2 on a 28-second fall, a 6-1 decision and a championship bout 7-4 decision over Hamir Parker of A.I. Dupont.
Overall, each of the 14 wrestlers placed sixth or higher for the Mustangs of eighth-year coach John Thornton, a 1999 graduate of C. Milton Wright where the 6-foot-2 former state champion went 37-0 as a senior.
Thornton had a career record as a wrestler of 114-21 at C. Milton Wright, twice earning county and regional titles. Thornton’s Maryland crown was actually his second state title coupled with the one he earned as a freshman in Virginia. Under Thornton, the Mustangs were UCBAC and region champs in 2020, and regional finalists in four straight seasons in 2018, 19, 20 and 22.
“We still haven’t had our best team on the mat as of yet,” Thornton said. “We were still not at full strength this weekend. It’s been a crazy season.”
The runner-up Lions crowned sixth-ranked senior Dylan Ohler (157) and eighth-ranked junior Kevin Kerns (190), a pair of defending Carroll County Tournament champions who improved their records to 26-2, and 27-1.
Ohler ran his record to 26-2 following an 86-second fall, a 21-5 technical fall and a 62-second pin, the latter in his title match with Paint Branch senior Philip Mendez. Ohler was a runner-up at regions and the Class 2A-1A state tournament last year.
Kerns improved his record on the year to 27-1 on falls in 1:46 and 21 seconds before winning his title match, 9-4, over Simms. Kerns was a regional runner-up.
Broadneck also crowned a pair of champions in ninth-ranked senior Brandon Whyte-Taylor (120) and 24th-ranked senior Peyton Miller (150), each of whom improved their records to 16-3.
Whyte-Taylor used falls in 4:00 and 26 seconds to reach his title match, where he earned an 11-5 decision over 21st-ranked junior Brody Matson of Blake.
Whyte-Taylor has placed first and second in the Anne Arundel County Tournament, first and third at regions, and was second at states last year. Matson was a runner-up both in the Montgomery County and regional tournaments.
Miller used technical falls of 16-1 and 17-1 to reach his title match, where he earned a 7-6 victory over Blake junior Zahid Shujaee. Miller was second at counties and regions last year.
Seneca Valley had title-winners in seventh-ranked Isaiah Brewster (113) and Isac De Paz Cedillo (215), a senior duo whose records improved to 15-1 and 8-1.
Brewster earned a 17-0 technical fall and a 13-4 major decision before winning his title match over Liberty sophomore Joshua Moore by a 17-2 technical fall. Brewster was fifth in the Montgomery County Tournament, fourth at regions and fifth at Class 2A-1A states.
De Paz Cedillo scored pins in 21 and 20 seconds before winning his championship match, 9-3, over Paint Branch sophomore Julian Blanco. De Paz Cedillo’s 21-second pin was against 22nd-ranked senior Derek Owumi of St. James, who was seventh in last year’s private schools state tournament.
St. James crowned 12th-ranked junior Michael Holmes (126) and 20th-ranked junior Brodie Burdette (144), who improved their record to 18-2, and 20-3.
Holmes used a 19-4 technical fall and a 94-second pin to reach his title bout, where he earned a 4-1 decision over Desch. Burdette had an 18-3 technical fall, an 84-second pin and an eight-second fall in his championship bout with Roche.
Other champions were sophomore Cyrus Felton (138) of Potomac and junior Ziyaudy Khozhugov (175) of Watkins Mill.
Felton used a fall in 3:38, an 11-0 major decision and a 67-second pin to reach his title bout, where he earned an 18-5 decision over Wheaton’s Antoan Zaprianov. Felton’s record is 16-4.
Khozhugov had a fall in 4:29, a 12-6 decision and a pin in 3:38 of his championship match with
Seneca Valley senior Marston Johnson-Wour. Khozhugov is 9-1.
Tournament Results
1 C Milton Wright 277.0
2 Liberty 171.0
3 Broadneck 162.0
4 Paint Branch 146.5
5 James Hubert Blake 138.5
6 St. James School 125.0
7 Seneca Valley 122.5
8 Wheaton 80.5
9 Potomac 77.0
10 A. I. Dupont 72.5
11 The St. Paul's School for Boys 70.5
12 Guilford Park 63.5
13 Thomas Stone 55.0
14 Watkins Mill 26.0
15 Western School of Tech. 16.0
106
1st Place Match
Rory Sweeney (C Milton Wright) 10-7, Fr. over Matthew Le (Paint Branch) 18-5, So. (Fall 0:32)
3rd Place Match
Adriel Loh (Broadneck) 13-6, over Connor Bryson (Liberty) 19-9, Fr. (Fall 1:00)
5th Place Match
Nasir Taylor (A. I. Dupont) 13-9, over Luis Galo-Orellana (Guilford Park) 8-8, So. (Fall 3:01)
113
1st Place Match
Isaiah Brewster (Seneca Valley) 15-1, Sr. over Joshua Moore (Liberty) 19-10, So. (TF-1.5 2:06 (17-2))
3rd Place Match
Justin Buckner (Thomas Stone) 19-1, Fr. over Eli Moy (James Hubert Blake) 13-7, So. (SV-1 7-4)
5th Place Match
Sean Downey (C Milton Wright) 2-2, Jr. over Xavier Ramos (A. I. Dupont) 17-10, . (Fall 3:18)
120
1st Place Match
Branden Whyte-Taylor (Broadneck) 16-3, Sr. over Brody Matson (James Hubert Blake) 12-3, Jr. (Dec 11-5)
3rd Place Match
Jacob Cox (C Milton Wright) 11-10, Jr. over Patrick Gross (The St. Paul's School for Boys) 4-4, Jr. (Fall 1:17)
5th Place Match
Tyler Vu (Paint Branch) 16-8, So. over Artice Gonzales-High (Potomac) 3-4, So. (Fall 0:19)
126
1st Place Match
Michael Holmes (St. James School) 18-2, Jr. over Kane Desch (C Milton Wright) 7-1, Sr. (Dec 4-1)
3rd Place Match
Keelan Bailey (Liberty) 13-8, So. over Leandro Saravia (Guilford Park) 23-8, Jr. (Dec 8-5)
5th Place Match
Quy Vu (Paint Branch) 18-8, Sr. over Miguel Caban (Broadneck) 15-7, Jr. (Dec 4-0)
132
1st Place Match
Mitchell Nguyen (C Milton Wright) 17-3, Sr. over Mason Grayer (Paint Branch) 14-9, Jr. (Fall 0:10)
3rd Place Match
Chase Pugh (St. James School) 14-7, Jr. over Jack Joseph (Broadneck) 14-6, . (Dec 6-5)
5th Place Match
Paul Tomayko (The St. Paul's School for Boys) 4-2, So. over Camden Aisquith (Guilford Park) 9-7, Jr. (Dec 12-8)
138
1st Place Match
Cyrus Felton (Potomac) 16-4, So. over Antoan Zaprianov (Wheaton) 16-8, . (MD 18-5)
3rd Place Match
Seth Perks (The St. Paul's School for Boys) 11-5, So. over Dominic Lopez (Paint Branch) 12-11, Jr. (Fall 5:23)
5th Place Match
Logan Layne (C Milton Wright) 6-6, So. over Joseph (Magnus) Cecil (Seneca Valley) 10-7, Jr. (Fall 4:26)
144
1st Place Match
Brodie Burdette (St. James School) 20-3, Jr. over Dylan Roche (C Milton Wright) 10-8, Jr. (Fall 0:08)
3rd Place Match
Kolawole Marville II (Wheaton) 14-10, So. over Jared Piek (Liberty) 18-12, Sr. (Fall 1:46)
5th Place Match
Long Bui (Broadneck) 14-7, over Andrew Goglia (James Hubert Blake) 8-7, So. (TF-1.5 3:05 (15-0))
150
1st Place Match
Peyton Miller (Broadneck) 16-3, Sr. over Zahid Shujaee (James Hubert Blake) 16-2, Jr. (Dec 7-6)
3rd Place Match
Parker Reynolds (Liberty) 21-6, So. over Daylen Drummond (Thomas Stone) 8-13, . (Fall 0:56)
5th Place Match
Joza Peters (C Milton Wright) 7-11, Sr. over Zeno Ban (Guilford Park) 9-15, Jr. (M. For.)
157
1st Place Match
Dylan Ohler (Liberty) 26-2, Sr. over Phillip Mendez (Paint Branch) 15-6, Sr. (Fall 1:02)
3rd Place Match
Carson Windesheim (C Milton Wright) 11-5, Jr. over Arshad Shujaee (James Hubert Blake) 13-6, So. (Fall 3:15)
5th Place Match
Anthony Pierce (St. James School) 12-9, Jr. over Stephon Garcia (Potomac) 9-11, Jr. (Dec 10-6)
165
1st Place Match
Devin Sweeney (C Milton Wright) 17-4, Sr. over Linx Lawless (Broadneck) 18-1, Sr. (Fall 4:47)
3rd Place Match
Hayden Myers (The St. Paul's School for Boys) 18-3, Jr. over Jaedin Seck (Seneca Valley) 14-6, Sr. (TF-1.5 4:38 (15-0))
5th Place Match
Joshua Saintilma (Wheaton) 22-7, Sr. over Rafael Williams (Thomas Stone) 15-2, Sr. (M. For.)
175
1st Place Match
Ziyaudy Khozhugov (Watkins Mill) 9-1, Jr. over Marston Johnson-Wour (Seneca Valley) 11-7, Sr. (Fall 3:38)
3rd Place Match
Cameron Zachari (Broadneck) 13-3, over Josh Davies (St. James School) 13-8, So. (Fall 2:25)
5th Place Match
Nobeal Mekonnen (Paint Branch) 17-6, Sr. over Asa Colamonaco (C Milton Wright) 3-3, Jr. (Fall 2:25)
190
1st Place Match
Kevin Kern (Liberty) 27-1, Jr. over Jaxon Simms (C Milton Wright) 17-4, Jr. (Dec 9-4)
3rd Place Match
James Zimmerman (James Hubert Blake) 17-3, Sr. over Grayson Stewart (Broadneck) 10-5, . (Fall 2:21)
5th Place Match
Komivi Amouzou (Seneca Valley) 13-6, Sr. over Julian Reyes (Potomac) 12-7, Jr. (Dec 9-4)
215
1st Place Match
Isac De Paz Cedillo (Seneca Valley) 8-1, Sr. over Julian Blanco (Paint Branch) 15-5, So. (Dec 9-3)
3rd Place Match
Derek Owumi (St. James School) 18-6, Sr. over Matt Bishop (A. I. Dupont) 7-2, . (Fall 4:26)
5th Place Match
Nathan Whetzel (C Milton Wright) 10-8, Sr. over Max Groslinger (Liberty) 12-9, Jr. (M. For.)
285
1st Place Match
Cameron Stepp (C Milton Wright) 18-2, Jr. over Hamir Parker (A. I. Dupont) 18-7, . (Dec 7-4)
3rd Place Match
Elijah Fields (Guilford Park) 18-11, Jr. over Alejandro Marquez Garcia (James Hubert Blake) 9-10, So. (Fall 4:47)
5th Place Match
Taizay Mathews (Potomac) 6-3, Jr. over Jack O`Neal (St. James School) 2-3, Fr. (Dec 4-2)
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