Private Schools Upper Weight Wrestler of the Year... Congrats to Emmitt Sherlock!

The Gilman School’s No. 1 Emmitt Sherlock came into the 2024-2025 High School Wrestling Season needing to pull off some stunning feats if he were to exceed his junior year accomplishments. The senior did just that, though, improving if not equaling his prior performance in every major event, gaining a third state crown, becoming a five-time National Prep All-American, finishing the year ranked fourth in the country, and leading his team to MIAA Dual and MIS state championships to earn the nod as a Legacy Wrestling Upper Weight Wrestler of the Year.

“That’s pretty cool,” Sherlock said. “It’s obviously an honor being named the Upper Weight Wrestler of the Year. I put a lot of work in. I do a lot of the right things. I had a pretty good year. It’s an honor for sure.”

Emmitt and his brother Tyson were integral parts of the program as it shifted from sporadic competitiveness to state power. Tyson was able to enjoy the fruits of that last year. Emmitt got to soak it up twice. Gilman coach Bryn Holmes used them as examples of what can be accomplished at the school when recruiting, and Emmitt would do whatever it took to help that rise.

“Emmitt Sherlock’s intensity on the mat was only matched by his deep passion for the sport and for the Gilman wrestling program,” Holmes said. “He was the kind of teammate who gave everything. Whether it was helping coach the JV squad, designing singlets, or just showing up with relentless support, he was all in! Emmitt put the team first, always. His presence left a lasting mark on this program, and his legacy will continue to shape Gilman wrestling for years to come.”

Sherlock broke out on the national stage two years ago in the Fargo 16U Brackets. The Greyhound had his first taste of the Double All-American Lifestyle with a third-place finish in Freestyle and a silver medal showing in Greco Roman. Both losses came at the hands of Illinois’ Aaron Stewart who is ranked 13th in the country at 175-pounds by High School on SI.

Sherlock rode that momentum into a seventh-place finish at the Ironman his junior year and followed that by placing fourth at the Beast of the East and reaching the National Prep Finals. That set him up for a summer of sweet success as Sherlock outdid himself on the national level.

Sherlock reupped his membership in the Double All-American Club, this time of the U17 US Open variety, and instead of just a spot on the podium, Sherlock stood atop it as the champ in FS and GR. This handy trick also meant that Sherlock would be Team USA’s Representative in both styles at the U17 World Championships.

Before departing to face the world, the Greyhound won a FS gold in a battle of the Americas at the Pan Am Games. Sherlock also brought home a Greco bronze. At the World Championships, Sherlock placed fifth in FS and bailed out of GR before gaining a placement position.

“The opportunity to compete overseas was pretty cool,” remarked Sherlock. “It was cool to be able to share wrestling with people from different countries. From the wrestling side, learning the styles, the foreign guys wrestle a lot different. We’re very heavy hands, push the pace, we wrestle very hard. Overseas they wrestle more strategically, and they wrestle in spurts for sure. So, it was cool to learn the foreign styles and grow my knowledge of the sport. I’m very inspired and very motivated to try and get back on a world team. The experience was so great, I want to do it again. Hopefully the U20 team (coming up). World Team Trials are in May."

“I won a Pan Am Gold Medal and that was cool to be able to say, you’re the best in the Americas or whatever. I fell short of my goal at the World Championships. I got fifth. Losing the bronze match kinda sucked. Everything was going right for me in that match and then I got headlocked while up 4-0 and then ended up losing 8-6.”

There would be one final test before the season got underway. The Elite 8 Duals required Sherlock to snap back into Folkstyle mode after a summer spent swimming in the Olympic Styles. The talent collected at these duals is first rate. Sherlock went 4-2 versus some of the nation’s best, gaining victories over nationally ranked 175-pounders, No. 11 Dylan Pile (CA), No. 21 Brian Chamberlain (PA), No. 26 Bryce Burkett (MN), and Honorable Mention Chris Mance (GA, 190). The losses came to No. 4 Ryan Burton (NJ) and No. 5 Ty Eise, who is from Colorado but won a California State Title this year.

“I took two weeks off after Worlds,” Sherlock offered. “Then a few weeks after that, I had Elite 8. That was a good tournament. It was a fun experience because every single match was good. Everybody was at least a top 25 kid except for maybe one match I wrestled. I got to wrestle Ty Eise, Burton, and those were both close matches. It was hard because I was still in the Freestyle mindset, so top and bottom wasn’t where I wanted to be at that time. I beat Dylan Pile, so that was a good win, but just getting to wrestle there was cool, it was kinda like college is going to be, wrestling a good kid every single match, that’s what you want.

“It was a great opportunity to be able to make those teams and the have the opportunity to train at the Olympic Training Center. I went up there twice. I got to learn from a lot of high-level coaches and be around a lot of high-level guys, good partners and stuff. I was very proud of my training in the summer. I definitely learned a lot. I was very confident going into the season after all that training and competing. After doing all that this summer that led me to be very confident going into the season.”

Some years for Sherlock the season has begun at Ray Oliver and others at the Walsh Ironman. Sherlock’s final run would kick off at the nation’s most difficult high school tournament, the Ironman. Sherlock handled another slate of nationally ranked foes and navigated his way to a third-place finish at 175 pounds.

The bronze bout was won over No. 12 Maximus Norman (Baylor School, TN), 4-1. No. 15 Nick Singer (Faith Christian Academy, PA) was handled with a 10-3 outcome. No. 24 Tyrel Miller (St. Eward, OH), 8-5, and honorable mention Dominic Sumpolec (Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA), 10-2, were the other notable wins. The loss was to No. 3 William Henckel (Blair Academy, NJ), 4-1. Henckel also defeated Sherlock at the previous Ironman, 5-1.

“Ironman is always a tough one,” Sherlock added. “It’s always one of the first tournaments. Ironman is not an easy tournament to start your season off with. Last year I got seventh. The bracket I had last year is going to be one of the best brackets of all time. You had (AJ) Ferrari, one, (Joe) Sealey got second, Ladarion Lockett got third, fourth I think was Ethan Birden, Henckel got fifth, sixth was (Clay) Giddens, and I got seventh. So, that bracket was pretty dang good."

“This year, it was obviously good as well. It was good to get third. I came back after losing to Henckel in the semis. That bracket was stacked as well. You had me, Asher Cunningham (No. 6 at 175 by High School on SI), Henckel, Aaron Stewart, Tyrel Miller, and Nick Singer. I was happy with the way that I competed there. It was a good way to start my season off and saying you got third at Ironman is a pretty good thing to say.”

Back home and on more familiar territory at McDonogh’s Ray Oliver Tournament, Sherlock was in search of his second straight title. Last year’s came 1-0 over his rival from Virginia, Lane Foard (Benedictine Prep). This year’s title would be just as difficult to earn and come with the same 1-0 result as the Bullis School’s No. 1 at 165, Salah Tsarni, decided to bump up and challenge Sherlock. Tsarni went on to have a wonderful season that saw him earn a No. 10 ranking in the nation at 165 pounds.

“He (Tsarni) has improved dramatically,” Sherlock said. “A story about how much he’s improved. He went 1-2 at my World Team Trials Bracket and now the success he’s having, the growth he’s made is pretty crazy. His body is just maturing now, and you can see that with the success he’s having. It was a good match. It was a fun match. It was cool to be able to wrestle somebody that good. I want to wrestle good people. It was good that he went up to challenge himself at the beginning of the season.”

Before resting for Christmas and getting a needed recharge, one more big national opportunity presented itself at the Beast of the East, which is one of the nation’s most difficult gauntlets. Sherlock was pushed in the early rounds in 1-0 matches with No. 18 Elliott Humpries (Northfield Mount Hermon, MA) and Malvern Prep’s Duncan Christensen.

Those wins set Sherlock up for a rematch with No. 16 Jordan Chapman (Cranford, NJ), who beat him for third a year ago. Revenge was achieved on an overtime takedown, 3-0, to gain another crack at Henckel. The same fate, a 4-1 score, awaited him as did another win over Singer, 5-2, before a surprise loss to No. 8 Bode Marlow (Thomas Jefferson, PA), in the battle for third, 2-1.

“Beast was good,” Sherlock recalled. “It was almost a harder tournament. Obviously, I placed lower, getting fourth versus third, but it was hard on my body. My second match was Elliott Humphries, that was a Fargo Finalist. My third match was Duncan Christensen from Malvern, he’s pretty dang good, a Lehigh commit. I think I had five or six Division I wrestlers in that tournament, so that was very hard on my body. I was not happy with how I wrestled in my third-place match, but I think my body was just so beat up by the end of that tournament. I was so tired by the time I had to wrestle that third-place match. That’s a match I definitely wish I had back, losing to Bode Marlow. I think I should beat him most of the time."

“I lost to Will Henckel in the semis. I just have to figure out how to score on him. Losing to Henckel back-to-back in the semis is tough but I learned a lot from those matches, so hopefully next time I see him, the loss goes to a win. I always say the first part of the season is the best part of the season for us because Ray Oliver, Ironman, and Beast are all pretty tough. You always have good matches there. I lost to Chapman last year for third. I beat him in the quarters this year. Chapman’s good, he’s real athletic, he’s real strong, hard to score on with good hips. He’s a Rutgers commit. It was good to beat him after losing to him last year.”

During the Christmas Break, Gilman hosts the Adam Janet Memorial Tournament. Sherlock saw its inception during his sophomore year and has won the title every year with this year’s coming by fall, 1:01, of Annapolis’ Davis Ruhf (No. 16 in Maryland). The initial crown was the most difficult of the three to earn as it came against Centennial’s four-time state champ, Calvin Kraisser (No. 2 at 150 in MD), 6-4.

“I like hosting tournaments at our school,” Sherlock continued. “It’s fun to wrestle and it’s easy to wrestle at the school you go to. The first year I wrestled Calvin (Kraisser). It’s a good tournament for the Gilman team for sure. A lot of the less experienced varsity guys get a good tournament for them after they go to Beast of the East and get beat up. Their confidence might be down, and the Adam Janet tournament allows them to wrestle more Maryland kids and kids more on their level and they pick up some wins and get confidence from that. It’s always good to win a tournament your team is hosting.”

The Bissell Tournament at the Hill School in Pennsylvania in mid-January is a mini-National Prep Tournament preview with the field comprised mostly of those schools. Sherlock pinned Wyoming Seminary’s Brian Chamberlain in just over a minute, 1:01, for the crown to go along with the other two he’s won in his career.

“That tournament is pretty tough actually,” revealed Sherlock. “Last year I wrestled Chris Crawford. He was a backup for Sem, but he’s pretty dang good. I beat him 1-0. My sophomore year, I got to wrestle (Michael) Trujillo, the Sem starter that year and also Matt Dimen. And this year, I wrestled Chamberlain. I thought I was going to have to wrestle Humphries again, and I only beat him 1-0 at Beast. But he ended up getting beat by Brian there, so I ended up wrestling Brian in the finals and I beat up on Brian, I got three takedowns in like 45 seconds and then pinned him (with a hip toss). I beat him up pretty bad, took me like a minute.”

The MIAA Dual meet season saw the No. 1 Greyhounds survive a few scares, namely a 36-33 one with No. 2 Archbishop Spalding that was decided when Noah Lawrence secured the fall for them at heavyweight. Then there was a two-point win over No. 4 Mt. St. Joseph, 37-35, and a three-point advantage with No. 5 Loyola-Blakefield, 37-34. Despite the turbulence, Sherlock saw his squad secure their second MIAA “A” Conference Dual Title in a row.

“It was awesome (repeating as dual meet champions),” Sherlock said proudly. “We were dealing with sickness and injuries during the whole dual season. I think we wrestled more duals with a weird lineup, or a different lineup, than what we typically have because of injuries and stuff, So, we were always bumping people down and bumping people up. It paid off. Everything kinda went our way. A lot of the duals were close, and many times we thought we were going to lose or we were on the edge of our seat. Basically, everything went our way during the duals, and it was nice to repeat as champions, especially my last year, winning two years in a row.”

The opening of the postseason was not kind to the Greyhounds as they tumbled to a third-place finish behind St. Joe and the team champions, Spalding. On the individual front, things were stellar for the senior as he locked down his third MIAA Tournament Crown with a 1-0 win in the 190-pound final over Saint Frances Academy’s No. 3 Elijah Josey (No. 25 at 190 in the nation). Three pins in less than 30 seconds drove him into the finals (:15, :14, and :28 over No. 10, Luke Winkler of Spalding). Sherlock was third at MIAAs in his freshman year.

“It was good,” Sherlock added. “I had a closer match than I thought in the finals. Elijah is a good wrestler. Coach Holmes said it was best for the team to go 190 for MIAAs. I did not know if I was going 190 for states then. I went up to 190 for MIAAS because Gabe (Smith) was hurt. We had a pretty good JV Wrestler, Sawyer Peck, who ended up getting seventh at states. We put him in the lineup and bumped everyone up. I tech falled him (Josey) two weeks before and I only beat him 1-0. The first time I was able to get my offense going and I gassed him out. This time he defended pretty well. It was cool to make that happen (a third MIAA Title). It’s a good way to end out my last time competing in the Gilman Arena, so it was good to go out with a win.”

A third-place finish at states in his freshman year was followed with nothing but gold medal hauls as Sherlock put MIS Title number three in the book with an exclamation mark by sticking Bullis’ No. 2 Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (No. 24 nationally) in the middle frame, 3:33. Ahanj-Elias was also the victim of Sherlock’s junior year win, but went the distance in that one, 8-2. Like the MIAA Tournament, three pins came before his final’s appearance, including a semifinal flattening of No. 5 George Tate (Good Counsel), 2:43. Falls of 20 and 45 seconds comprised the others and contributed to him being named the Outstanding Wrestler.

“That was an awesome tournament,” said Sherlock. “It was all pins. I stayed up at 190. I weighed in at 178, 179. I was eating a lot before the state tournament. I wrestled Sepanta in the finals and he’s obviously pretty good. I got him in a Win-Dixie Variation in the second and I ended up coming on top and pinning him. That was a good way to end my last state tournament for sure.”

After a bleak period, and with most people thinking Spalding had the team race locked up, Gilman started to chip away, losses became rare, but points going on the board on their behalf were not. As the semifinal and consolation semi rounds drew to a close, the Greyhounds had somehow come back from a 60-point deficit to be within striking distance of the state crown. The favorable outcomes kept going their way and when the last ticks of the clock were gone, the MIS Tournament had the first ever team tie in its history with Gilman and Spalding deadlocked.

“In the middle of the tournament, we thought Spalding had it,” remembered Sherlock. “They were up by a lot. We had a good round and then a good medal round, (I) don’t think we lost a medal round match except for John Jurkovic, and then we also had bonus points in a lot of the matches. We all came together in that last round to tie it up. So, it was awesome to repeat as champs. When I started my high school career, no one thought that Gilman would be two-time champs by the time I graduated. Nobody thought that, so it was cool to see the rise that Gilman’s made during my time. It’s pretty cool.”

Legacy Wrestling decided to use the team race at the National Prep Tournament to break the tie since they both had recent victories versus the other. The Greyhounds outpaced the Cavaliers in large part due to Sherlock’s run to the finals that was powered by falls in his first three matches. After a 1-0 decision with No. 22 Reese Spiro (Northfield Mount Hermon) in the semis, a very familiar name was next.

At the last two National Prep Tournaments Sherlock beat Foard, as well as beating Foard at the previous two Ray Oliver affairs (sophomore and junior years). So, it was logical to move up in weight to face Foard rather than stay at 175 and see Henckel again. The difference this time was Foard being a true 190-pound wrestler while Sherlock was stuck in the 70s, weighing 179. Foard expertly used his 2025 size advantage and kept Sherlock from escaping in the second and third on the way to a 6-0 win (the brackets incorrectly say 8-0).

The two-time National Prep runner-up is now just the ninth wrestler ever to gain five-time All-American status as Sherlock placed third as an eighth grader during the COVID year then fifth as a freshman and sixth as a junior.

“It’s pretty cool to say you did it five times,” proclaimed Sherlock. “I love that National Prep Tournament. You get to wrestle guys from Blair and Sem, Lake Highland Prep, and Greens Farms. Pretty good teams there. It’s a hard tournament for sure. I made the finals twice there. Obviously, the goal was to get one (title), but I’m not going to hang my head too low. I’m still proud of being able to say I was the ninth ever five-time All-American. The guys I lost to in the finals were pretty good guys."

“It sucked losing to Lane. I’m nowhere near a true 190-pounder, so it was hard to score on him. I didn’t get out of bottom the second or third period. It was a hard match for sure. I wish I could have ended my career with a National Prep win but I’m still very proud of my career and how those five tournaments went.”

In the fall, Sherlock is heading a little south of Maryland to attend the University of Virginia, where he will wrestle and pursue a master’s degree in business.

“I’m really excited,” Sherlock continued. “It’s obviously a really good school, a top 25 school in the country. That’s a big reason why I chose to go there in the first place. Hopefully I finish up with a Master’s degree in Business after my five years there. I’ll probably redshirt eventually, whether that’s my first year or whenever. I was training there a lot last summer. I’m actually going down tomorrow. I haven’t been back since the summer, so I’m going down to get some training in there. I already feel like I’m part of the family there."

“I’m excited to pick the brains of Coach (Steve) Garland and the Paulson Twins (Travis and Trent), and (Ian) Parker. If you look up their accolades, they’ve done it. I’m ready to train with high-level athletes from UVA and hopefully elevate my wrestling to the next level and hopefully be on the NCAA podium, and hopefully the top of the podium by the time I’m done. (A) national title is the goal. I’m ready to do the things to make that happen. I’m ready to train. I’m ready to do the right things to elevate my wrestling so I can accomplish the goals I want.”

Since Sherlock won the National Titles in both styles a year ago, he is able to sit out the US Open and fast forward to May’s World Team Trials where he will move up to the U20 Class for the first time.

Sherlock’s father, Patrick is a Navy man that has been stationed in various locales as his sons grew. Their wrestling journey started in Nebraska where Emmitt won one state title then onto Georgia for grades three through six, where three state crowns were claimed. Emmitt was also a five-time Tulsa Nationals placer.

Ahead of Emmitt’s seventh grade year, Patrick was transferred to Fort Meade and enrolled his sons at Gilman. While at the lower school, Sherlock worked with Kramer Whitelaw during those seventh and eighth grade years, forgoing most competition in lieu of training.

That method of preparation worked perfectly for Sherlock as he will go down as one of the greatest wrestlers to come through the Gilman Program, finishing with all the accolades previously mentioned and a 160-23 career tally.

“I’m definitely going to miss Gilman,” reflected Sherlock. “I teared up a little bit, you know, at the end of the year. It was hard knowing that was the last time wrestling for Gilman. Bryn Holmes has meant a lot to me. He’s taught me so many things as a wrestler and helping me as a person as well. The guys on the team have meant a lot to me throughout my years. I learned a lot coming from a 120-pounder my freshman year all the way up to now and 190 and finishing my career there. It’s going to be different when I walk into the UVA room. I’m definitely always going to miss the (Gilman) room and I’ll be in next year during winter break or whenever I can come back to try and help the guys that are on the team now. I’m always going to remember the lessons I learned in that room. I definitely enjoyed my time at Gilman.”