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Broadneck High crowned senior champions Liam DeBaugh (160) and Dax Avila (195) along with sophomore Cam Williams (113) and had a runner-up in senior Jake Chambers (182) among the eight Bruins’ wrestlers who qualified for next weekend’s Class 4A-3A state tournament by placing within the top four of their weight classes at the East Region tourney at South River Saturday.
Senior Rylan Woodward (145) was third, with fourth place finishes from sophomores Branden Whyte-Taylor (120) and Peyton Miller (152). The effort came a week after the Anne Arundel County tournament, where the host and team champion Bruins had nine finalists and placed 10 wrestlers within the top four of their weight classes.
DeBaugh improved to 41-1 following a 7-5 championship triumph over Leonardtown sophomore Jacen McLeod, a Southern Maryland Athletic Conference (SMAC) champion. DeBaugh used technical fall victories of 17-1, and, 17-2 to reach the finals.
DeBaugh won the county title last weekend after having placed second in that event last season, and lost last year’s Class 4A-3A state title bout, 6-4, to Alex Bellarin of Laurel of Prince George’s County.
“I’ll celebrate tonight, but the job’s not finished,” said DeBaugh, a repeat regional champion who is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A-3A. “It’s my senior season, and after coming up two points short in the state finals last year, I’ve gotta finish on top.”
Williams (29-2) and Avila (39-3) improved on their county runner-up finishes of a week earlier, with the latter gaining revenge with a come-from-behind championship bout fall in 5:36 over South River junior Aiden Healey (46-4).
Avila led last week’s county title bout by two points before Healey reversed and nearly pinned him in the final moments of the second period to regain a permanent 8-5 lead.
That victory was Healey’s fourth over Avila, who trailed Saturday’s rematch by two points before taking Healey down and scoring the fall.
“It was kind of a blur, but I shot a high crotched, switched to a double and lifted him,” Avila said. “I was down, 4-2, when I shot, and I was getting back points when I pinned him, so this feels pretty good.”
Williams earned his crown with a 6-2 decision over sophomore SMAC tournament runner-up Nolan Wood (22-4) of Leonardtown, who was coming off an 18-second semifinal pin of South River senior Alex Szkotnicki (44-6).
Szkotnicki had made history last week with a 1-0 decision over Williams to become just the second female to win an Anne Arundel County title following Nicole Woody in 2007.
Williams had lost for the second time to Szkotnicki, who had vanquished him, 5-2, earlier this year. Szkotnicki pinned twice to finish third at regions and qualify for states.
“I was a little bit concerned that Alex lost, but I just made myself get locked in and I wasn’t too worried after that,” said Williams, a repeat regional champion who placed sixth at states last year. “I’ve been working on some stuff in the practice room and I really wanted to wrestle Alex again, but I’m still satisfied that I’m a regional champion again. Hopefully I can get to the state finals.”
Champions for Old Mill were seniors Bryan Arevalo (152), freshman Logan Johnson (106) and junior RJ Duncan (285), the latter of whom were Anne Arundel County runners-up last weekend.
A county champion last week after having placed fourth a year earlier, Arevalo improved to 42-3 with a 3-2 championship victory over senior Howard County champion Tyler Bury. Arevalo was sixth at states at 145 last year, and Bury, fifth at 152.
Johnson earned his crown with a 97-second pin over freshman Boden Pistorio of Marriotts Ridge, a third place finisher in Howard County. Johnson pinned South River’s Trent Shipley in 49 seconds, winning a semifinal rematch of the previous weekend’s county title match won by Shipley, 10-8.
Duncan (16-2) rolled through his first two opponents on a 20-second fall in the quarterfinals and a second-period fall in the semifinals before grinding out a 7-3 overtime championship win over senior Carroll County runner-up Randy Green (42-3) of Westminster.
Reservoir had champions in sophomores Andrew Dolezel (120) and Sam Vissers (126) after having placed first and second at the previous weekend’s Howard County tournament.
A third place finisher at states last year, Dolezel improved to 40-1 with an 18-2 technical fall over South River junior Jon Titow. Vissers (34-5) earned a 5-4 decision over Ben Ford of Annapolis.
Centennial’s sophomore Class 4A-3A state champion Calvin Kraisser (138), who won his second straight Howard County title last weekend, improved to 30-2 by pinning all three opponents en route to earning his second consecutive regional crown. Kraisser is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A-3A and No. 4 overall.
South River’s senior state runner-up Sam Ditmars (145) earned an overtime, 3-1, decision against Annapolis senior Nik Antonelli a week after losing their Anne Arundel County title bout, 1-0, and being dethroned as champion.
“I took a shot for a fireman’s dump, lost the arm, and then switched to a high crotch. From there, I sunk in the shot, turned the corner and finished,” said Ditmars of the bout-winning takedown. “Good things happen when I wrestle smart and for the points. This means I need to be the aggressor.”
A returning third-place finisher at Class 4A-3A states, Antonelli is 1-7 lifetime against Ditmars, and has lost to him three times this season. Antonelli chose to remain at 145 rather than rise into the 152 pound weight class, where he would likely be favored to win a state title.
“I’m extremely grateful for my team. I had all of the support I could have asked for in the stands,” Ditmars said. “I had it on the mat, from my family, my teammates, coaches and the South River alumni and family friends.”
Class 4A-3A state runner-up Dylan McCullough (170) improved to 45-1 by pinning Anne Arundel County champion Logan Cookersly (39-3) with a minute left in their match.
A two-time Howard County and regional champion who went 34-1 last season, McCullough reached the title bout on falls in 61 and 54 seconds.
“I’m just looking to stay focused,” said McCullough, who is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A-3A. “I want to keep building off of the momentum going into the state tournament and to hopefully come out on top.”
Sixth-place state finisher Samuel Jordan (220) of Mount Hebron rose to 36-1 with his 13-6 decision over Howard’s Caleb Snype. Jordan, a senior, won the Howard County title last weekend to improve on the previous season’s third place finish at counties.
Marriotts Ridge senior Atley Turner (132) hammered sophomore David Ruhf of Annapolis, 11-3, for his second straight regional crown and hopes to improve on last year’s fourth place finish at the Class 4A-3A states.
Turner was a Howard County runner-up for the second straight season last weekend after losing, 8-7, to Mason Cowell of Oakland Mills.
Atholton junior Omar Palmer (182) shocked Broadneck’s senior county champion Jake Chambers by fall in 82 seconds of their title bout after having finished third at the Howard County tournament.
CLASS 4A-3A NORTH (at Aberdeen)
Bel Air crowned seniors Gavin McDowell (138) and Savion Ricketts (170) as well as junior Chris Nice (132).
Ricketts added the regional title to his Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference crown from a week earlier, and McDowell improved to 43-4 after falling, 1-0, to Rising Sun freshman Zach Garvin in last week’s UCBACs tournament final.
Nice improved to 44-1 a week after losing his first bout of the season, a come-from-behind, 5-4, loss to North Harford senior Cruz Cespedes (34-5) in the UCUBACs tournament final.
Nice is a returning sixth-place finisher at last year’s Class 4A-3A state tournament and a two-time champion in the UCBACs.
Perry Hall freshman Victor Marks-Jenkins (145) pinned all three opponents a week after winning the Baltimore County Tournament crown, and he improved to 46-0 with a fall in 4:39 of his title bout with Bel Air senior Manny Lucas.
Woodlawn senior Ky-El Ali (126), Dulaney junior Pedro Cruz (220) and Parkville junior Simeon Bryant (285) all won titles to improve on their placements at the previous weekend’s Baltimore County Tournament.
A county runner-up a week earlier, Bryant finished sixth-placed county finishing sophomore Andre Andrades in 41 seconds of their title bout to improve his record on the year to 36-3.
Ali won his regional title, 13-7, over Alex Osorio Mendez of James Hubert Blake of Montgomery County. A county runner-up last week, Ali improved to 30-2 and is ranked No. 5 overall and No. 2 in Class 4A-3A. Mendez slipped to 22-2.
A week after having placed third in the county, Cruz improved to 29-4 with a fall in 5:50 of his title match against senior Jack Hardwick of Montgomery Blair.
Hardwick pinned junior Baltimore County champion Braeden Poorbaugh in 3:02 of their semifinal bout on Saturday a week after Poorbaugh decked Cruz in 5:16 of their county semifinal match. Poorbaugh finished fourth in the region.
Baltimore County champion Justin Signor (160) of Franklin earned his 28th and 29th pins of the year to reach his 160-pound title bout, where he dropped a 4-1 decision to senior Nelson Manzoeto (37-2) of Montgomery Blair of Montgomery County.
Signor improved on last year’s third-place regional finish in falling to Manzoeto, a returning fifth-place state finisher and two-time county and regional champion who went 41-4 last year at 170 pounds.
CLASS 4A-3A SOUTH (at Arundel)
Chesapeake-Anne Arundel freshman Braydon Ambrose (106) and sophomore teammate Xander Dodd (195) won titles to improve on their placements in the previous weekend’s Anne Arundel County Tournament, as did Crofton junior Jacob Speed (160) and senior teammate Michael Gandy (285).
Ambrose improved his record to 36-5 with his 12-8 championship victory over Chopticon sophomore Aiden Arnold, who slipped to 39-4. Ambrose was third at counties.
Dodd rebounded from a sixth place finish at counties to pin Bowie’s Ariel Requeno in 29 seconds of their title bout, this after pinning his quarterfinal opponent in 60 seconds and his semifinal rival in 3:32.
A week after losing his county tournament bout, 6-3, to Class 4A-3A state runner-up Liam DeBaugh of Broadneck (41-7) pinned his quarterfinal opponent in 43 seconds, won his semifinal by 16-0 technical fall and blanked his championship rival, 10-0.
After placing third at counties, Gandy pinned his quarterfinal opponent in 60 seconds, his semifinal rival in 5:08, and took just 37 seconds to finish Laurel senior Kaden Boone, who dropped to 35-2.
The Cougars’ senior two-time county champion Dylan Ritter (126) lost his title bout, 6-0, to defending Class 4A-3A state champion Alex Ballarin of Laurel, who improved to 34-1 after finishing at 27-0 last year. A regional runner-up for the second straight year who placed fifth at states last season, Ritter slipped to 38-5.
Chesapeake’s county champion sophomore Delmar White (285), who is 37-0, suffered an elbow injury and couldn’t compete, according to Cougars’ coach Randy Curtin.
As a freshman, White placed third at counties, second at regions and sixth at states. White is ranked No. 3 in Class 4A-3A and No. 5 overall.
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