Middletown’s Alex DeVriendt has approached the mountaintop on three occasions, but the senior has yet to reach its peak. Although DeVriendt has finished third once and second twice at the Class 2A-1A state tournament, the third-ranked, 150-pound Knight’s wrestler still has not been crowned champion.
For incentive DeVriendt needs only to look at head coach Chad Strube, a former two-time Class 2A-1A state champion for the eighth-ranked Knights in 2009 and 2010 after placing second as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore.
“My goal is to win states this year,” said DeVriendt, whose record at states is 10-3 with six pins, two technical falls and a major decision.
DeVriendt’s quest continued with last weekend’s Seahawks’ Duals Tournament at South River, where he and the Knights (22-0) went 9-0. Their victories included those by, 45-29, over seventh-ranked Huntingtown (11-2), and 40-25 over 12th-ranked South River (14-1).
DeVriendt was among three unbeaten Knights who were named Outstanding Wrestlers in their weight classes. DeVriendt went 9-0 with eight pins and one technical fall, improving his impressive record to 22-0 with 19 pins and three technical falls. DeVriendt’s victory against Einstein earned his 150th career win, improving his career mark to 152-11.
Joining DeVriendt were sophomore Cam Bowman (106) and junior Carter Canale (175), each of whom is unranked for a team which was last year’s Class 1A state dual meet runner-up to second-ranked South Carroll.
Canale went 9-0 to improve his record on the year to 20-2. Canale’s run included a major decision over fourth-ranked Tyler Hayden of Huntingtown, who was first in his Class 2A-1A South Region and third at Class 2A-1A states last year. Bowman went 9-0 with eight pins and a technical fall, raising his record on the year to 20-2.
SOUTH RIVER
Guided by 28th-year coach John Klessinger, runner-up South River defeated third-place Huntingtown, 37-34, and 15th-ranked Archbishop Curley, 39-28. South River was dethroned as two-time state dual meet champion by 30th-ranked Class 3A title-winner Linganore.
Sophomore Jackson Peeples (120) and senior Ben Ford (157) went 9-0, earning Outstanding Wrestler in their weight classes. Also wrestling well for the Seahawks were juniors Trent Shipley (126), Evan Paximadas (175/190) and Chris Millard (190/215), sophomores Shaams Gambhir (106) and Ethan Burger (144), and senior Sam Travis (165).
Ranked 10th by Legacy Wrestling, Peeples totaled six pins over the weekend, raising his record on the year to 15-0 with 13 pins and one technical fall. A returning Anne Arundel County, Class 4A-3A East Regional and Class 4A-3A state champion, Peeples has a career-record of 50-3 with 33 pins and three technical falls.
Second-ranked senior Busayo Balogun (285) went 4-0 on the first day of competition, but did not return due to a family trip. A returning third-place county finisher, Balogun was a runner-up at regions and states and has a record of 9-1 with two pins and one technical fall.
Ford used seven pins and a technical fall to improve his record on the year to 14-1 with 10 pins and two technical falls, earning his 100th career victory with a 78-second pin against Archbishop Curley. Ford began wrestling as a freshman, when he placed fourth in the regional tournament. Ford has also placed fourth at counties twice and been a regional runner-up twice.
“Coach Klessinger convincing me to wrestle during my freshman year with no experience has been the best decision of my life. I cannot thank my coaches enough,” said Ford, whose career record is 108-40. “I’m now a senior with 108 career wins who is a member of a program that has won two state dual meet state titles and has been a three-time state dual meet finalist. I’m also committed to York College to begin a college wrestling career.”
Ranked 16th by Legacy Wrestling, Shipley went 7-2 with four pins and a technical fall, improving his record on the year to 12-3 with nine pins and one technical fall. Shipley earned his 100th career victory by forfeit against Archbishop Curley, has 74 career falls and 17 career losses.
“I was a little disappointed to receive a forfeit for my 100th career victory,” said Shipley, a three-time county champion who has placed third and fifth at regions as well as fifth at states. “But, ultimately, a win is a win. As I look forward to this season, my primary goal and my focus at the moment is to contribute to our team’s journey toward winning another dual meet state championship.”
Paximadas and Travis went 7-2. Paximadas earned six pins and a technical fall, raising his record on the year to 11-3 with 10 pins and a technical fall, and Travis had four pins to improve his mark to 9-2 with six falls.
Burger, Gambhir and Millard all went 6-3, with Burger and Gambhir improving their records on the year to 12-3. Burger had four pins, bringing his total to seven for the season. Gambhir had two technical falls to go with two pins for the year. Millard totaled four pins and a technical fall, raising his record to 10-5 with seven pins and a technical fall.
Peeples won a 106-pound clash of freshmen for last year’s state title with a 10-8 victory over previously unbeaten Austin Hayes of Eleanor Roosevelt, who entered with a record of 40-0. Peeples finished last season with an overall record of 35-3 with 20 pins and two technical falls, becoming the first ninth grader in Seahawks' history to win a state title, their program’s seventh individual state champion, and the sixth under Klessinger.
Peeples can join the Seahawks’ only repeat champion Karon Lewis, who won consecutive state titles in 2018 and 2019. He can also become the program’s first three- or four-time champion. The Seahawks' other title-winners are Gene Reid (1996), Andrew Mulry (2005), Brendan Woody (2017) and Sam Ditmars (2023), with all but Reid having been coached by Klessinger.
Peeples persevered throughout last year while wrestling with a previously undisclosed injury to his right arm, having competed at 113 pounds for the first part of year where he suffered two of his losses against freshman Quentin Bailey of Archbishop Spalding and junior Kane Desch of C. Milton Wright.
Bailey placed third in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament. Desch was a runner-up in the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference Tournament and a Class 2A-1A North Region champion who placed fourth in the Class 2A-1A state tournament.
At 113 pounds, Peeples owned a pair of victories over Marriotts Ridge senior Rocky Alabaddi, a Howard County and Class 4A-3A South Region champion. Alabaddi had entered the state tournament with a record of 38-2, having lost to Peeples by scores of 8-1, and 4-3. Alabbadi’s year-ending record was 41-4 after finishing fourth in the Class 4A-3A states.
After dropping to 106 pounds, Peeples went 17-0 with 13 falls, two technical falls, a major decision and a decision. But over the course of the county, regional and state tournaments, Peeples’ had a mark of 10-0 with eight pins, a technical fall and a decision.
HUNTINGTOWN
Huntintgown was a Class 2A state dual meet semifinal loser to 14th-ranked eventual champion Stephen Decatur, which already has lost this season to South River.
Fifth-ranked senior Blake Ashley (165), third-ranked sophomore Landen Vercoe (132), fifth-ranked sophomore Owen Hayden (113) and freshman Kyler Kiessling (126) all went 9-0 to be named Outstanding Wrestlers in their weight classes for the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes also received a top performance from unranked junior Will Stewart (138), who went 8-1, while fourth-ranked senior Tyler Hayden (174) and unranked freshman Logan Jones (106) each finished at 7-2.
Ashley, Vercoe and Owen Hayden are 13-0, Kiessling is 11-0, Stewart is 12-1, Tyler Hayden and Jones are 11-2, and senior Chase Brooks (190) is 6-3. Third-ranked senior Will Buckler (157) has a record of 3-0 but is out with an injury.
Ashley earned his 100th career victory against Middletown, as did Tyler Hayden against Sparrows Point.
Vercoe and Tyler Hayden were first in the Class 2A-1A South Region and third at Class 2A-1A states last year. Ashley was first and fourth, and Owen Hayden was first and fifth.
The Hurricanes are defending champions of the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference, where the Hayden siblings, Vercoe and Brooks earned individual titles, and Ashley was a runner-up.
BLAIR
The Blazers (17-4) went 7-2, losing to the Seahawks (51-19) and Hurricanes (51-28) but defeating 15th-ranked Archbishop Curley (40-33) and 27th-ranked Arundel (39-32).
The Knights already owned a 56-15 victory over the Blazers, who received 8-1 marks from 14th-ranked senior Jaden Cheung (138/144) and 15th-ranked senior Daniel Wu (144/150).
Named Outstanding Wrestler at 138, Cheung totaled four pins and one technical fall to improve his record on the year to 18-1 with nine pins and four technical falls. Cheung rose into the 144-pound class to score a fall against Mount Hebron, a major decision against Patuxent, and a decision against the Seahawks’ Burger.
Cheung placed third at last year’s Class 4A-3A states after becoming a Montgomery County and Class 4A-3A South Regional champion, the latter, with an 8-4 decision over senior Prince George’s County champion Jonathan Robles. Robles slipped to 21-2 against Cheung, who placed third and fourth at regions as a freshman and sophomore.
With a career record of 108-38, Cheung is within striking distance of the Blazers’ all-time career victories mark of 114 held by Brian McCaw.
Wu earned five pins and one technical fall at South River, including an overtime loss to 16th-ranked Arundel sophomore Matteo Brown up at 150 pounds. Wu is 16-3 on the year with a career mark of 95-42, having placed third at counties and regions and fifth at states last season.
EINSTEIN
Going 9-0 for the Titans were second- and fourth-ranked seniors Isaac Ogunlade (215) and Stone Yuen (132), each of whom is a defending Class 4A-3A state champion.
Also going 9-0 was 12th-ranked senior Josh Ogunlade (190), Isaac’s younger sibling by nine months. The Ogunlade siblings were named Outstanding Wrestlers for his weights, although Josh shared honors with 19th-ranked junior Bailen Boutz, whom he did not meet.
Titans’ junior Omid Shirzoi (175) posted an 8-1 mark that included six technical falls and a pin against fourth-ranked senior Tyler Hayden of Huntingtown, who was third at last year’s Class 2A-1A state tournament. Shirzoi has a record of 13-2 with five pins and seven technical falls on the year
Isaac totaled five pins and a technical fall, improving his record on the season to 15-0 with six pins and five technical falls. Isaac has placed first and fifth in the Montgomery County Tournament, first and second at regions, and first and sixth at states.
Yuen went 8-0 with seven technical falls and one pin, improving his record on the season to 14-0 with 13 technical falls and one pin. Yuen is after his third straight titles in the county and regional tournaments, as well as his second state title after being a runner-up as a sophomore.
Josh Ogunade totaled six pins and one technical fall, improving his mark on the season to 14-2 with nine pins. Josh has placed second and fourth at counties, and fourth and sixth at regions.
ARUNDEL
The injury-depleted Wildcats received solid efforts from 12th-ranked senior Luca Brown (144) and unranked, 205-pound junior Monassah Ojaomo (285), each of whom was named Outstanding Wrestler for their weight divisions. The Wildcats also handled Archbishop Curley, 53-22.
An Anne Arundel County tournament runner-up who placed third and fourth at regions and Class 4A-3A states, Brown went 9-0 with four pins and two technical falls to improve his record on the year to 16-1 with 10 pins and three technical falls. Among Brown’s triumphs was a 10-second pin as well as a 16-0 technical fall over Cheung, who rose in weight to face him.
A member of the Wildcats’ once-beaten Class 3A state championship football team, Ojaomo had been with the Wildcats for approximately one week. Yet Ojaomo’s 8-1 mark with six pins included a fall against fifth-ranked senior Khalil Regan, who was fourth at last year’s Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and Maryland Independent Schools tournaments. Ojaomo’s overall record is 9-1 with seven pins.
Brown’s sophomore sibling, Matteo (150), went 8-1 with six pins, including the overtime victory over Wu. Matteo is 15-2 with nine pins on the year, having placed fourth at counties and third at regions.
ARCHBISHOP CURLEY
Despite going 4-5 and being without six starters due to injury in the tournament, the Friars had 19th-ranked junior Bailen Boutz (190) going 9-0, 13th-ranked senior Dylan Fish (165) finishing at 8-1, and fifth-ranked senior Khalil Regan (285), 16th-ranked sophomore Oscar Davis (144) and unranked junior Adeoluwa Adewuyi (175) all posting records of 7-2.
Boutz and Fish were third at last year's MIAA tournament, and Davis was fifth at MIAAs. Regan was fourth at MIAAs and private schools’ states.
Boutz totaled seven pins to improve his record on the year to 18-2 with 14 pins, and his career mark to 90-21 with 70 pins. Fish is 15-5 with eight pins, and 78-33 (25 pins) for his career.
“Bailen completely dominated everyone that stepped on the mat with him. He broke the school pins record last year with 33 in a single season, and he is well on pace to have over 100 by the time he graduates. He’ll probably hit 100 wins by mid-January,” Coach Paul Boettcher said. “Dylan started wrestling as a freshman at Northeast High School in Pasadena and transferred after his sophomore year. Dylan’s also the starting running back for the B-Conference champion Friars.”
Regan is 18-2 with four pins, 82-29 (26 pins) for his career, and “should be in the MIAA finals and possibly state finals,” Boettcher said. “At this point, I expect that Kahlil can roll with and has a chance to beat anyone.”
Adewuyi earned six pins, improving his record to 17-5 with 14 pins on the year, 51-38 (38 pins) for his career, and is “a newly minted team captain,” Boettcher said. Davis lost to Wu and Luca Brown, rising to 16-6 with nine pins on the season, and 50-31 (30 pins) for his career.
The Friars’ 18th- and 20th-ranked freshmen Liam Rose (106) and Evan Kaliakoudas (113) went 7-2 and 4-1. Kaliakoudas suffered an injury and competed in only five matches, rising to 13-2 on the year with 10 pins. Rose is 15-3 with eight pins, with one of his two losses being a 5-4 loss to Arundel’s Tyler Tablata, whom he defeated, 7-5, earlier this year.
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