Mount St. Joseph seniors Carter Nogle (138) and Austin Lewis (190) had heard the whispers. So had junior Nicolas Barnabae (165).
Word on the street was that, despite being six-time champions of the Maryland Independent Schools State Tournament, the top-ranked Gaels of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association may be vulnerable to being upset.
The most recent evidence was a come-from-behind, 32-30 MIAA A conference victory over fifth-ranked Archbishop Spalding, which pulled off two upsets en route to winning five of the first seven matches and taking an 18-10 lead.
The Gaels entered last weekend's War On The Shore Tournament seemingly ripe for the pickings for the second-ranked St. Mary's Ryken Knights, who were coming off last month's strong sixth-place finish behind champion Bald Eagle Area High School of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, at the 51-team Trojan Wars Tournament at Chambersburg Area High in Chambersburg, Pa.
MSJ Continues to Takedown MD Teams!
That changed when the top-ranked Lewis stepped onto the mat for his championship bout with Rising Sun's third-ranked Mason Testerman, a returning Class 2A-1A state runner-up who was unbeaten at 22-0.
With his Gaels in third place at the time, trailing the Knights and eventual champion, Xavier of Connecticut, Lewis won a 6-0 decision over Testerman, clinching a 193-190.5 lead and a runner-up finish behind the Falcons (223.5).
Lewis reached the finals on three first-period pins and a 16-0 technical fall, improving his record on the year to 23-4 with 15 falls.
Lewis was joined on the victory podium by fellow MIAA and state champion Nogle and state champion Barnabae as the Gaels placed six wrestlers third or higher.
"It came down to the last match with Austin Lewis winning at 190," said Nogle, a two-time MIAA and private schools state champion. "Just like Spalding, we had another razer-thin, sharp win over St. Mary's Ryken."
Nogle used pins in the first and second period to reach his semifinal, which he won, 9-2, before defeating Xavier senior Anthony Basile, 9-3, for his title.
Nicolas Barnabae used falls in 22 and 47 seconds to reach his semifinal, which he won, 9-4, before taking 88 seconds to finish off junior championship bout rival, Keon Bowling, of St. Mary's Ryken.
Nogle improved to 25-5 with 17 pins, and Barnabe, to 8-0 with seven falls since returning from injury earlier this month, said his father and Gaels' coach, Harry Barnabae.
"Nick is just returning to competition on January 3 of this year," Harry Barnabae said. "He's shaking off the rust and getting back to his championship form. I felt he wrestled well, especially in the finals match, winning by fall."
The Gaels had a runner-up finish from junior Cameron Cannaday (150), third place finishes from state champion sophomore Jake Tamai (120) and freshman Tyler Stephens (132), and a fifth place finish from sophomore Joseph Cooper (113).
"If just one of our guys doesn't get a pin in the first round, we would have lost to St. Mary's Ryken. So, every single guy on the team mattered." Nogle said. "So even though we didn't win the whole tournament as a team, I was glad we were able to beat St. Mary's Ryken and stay on top in Maryland."
The Knights crowned second-ranked junior Evan Boblits (144), a two-time Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title winner who has placed second at states and fourth at the National Preps.
"The war on the shore tournament was just another step towards the state title. Everything we are doing at this point in the season is training for states and preps," Boblits said. "It gave us a look at our matchups against MSJ and gives up time to get better and find our mistakes. Since some of our kids are hurt right now, i think we have a good chance at beating MSJ for states when they are healed."
Boblits dominated and improved his record to 28-3 comprising a 32-second pin, a 16-0 technical fall in his semifinal, and a 7-0 championship bout victory over Xavier senior Kyle Levesque.
The Knights placed six wrestlers in the top four and nine within the top eight, with runner-up finishes from Bowling and senior Tyler Wood (126), third-place finishes from junior Will Buckler (157) and freshman Eli Gabrielson (106), and a fourth-place finish from freshman Ethan Valdisera (113).
Bullis crowned two champions in fifth-ranked freshman Salah Tsarni (157) and third-ranked junior Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (175).
Also winning titles were Rising Sun's top-ranked two-time Class 2A-1A state champion senior Tyler Garvin (120) and Loyola's top-ranked MIAA champ and third-place state finishing senior Judah Aybar (150).
"The WAR On The Shore tournament gave Maryland wrestling fans a glimpse into the battle that will occur in the [private schools state tournament] in February," Harry Barnabae said. “Mount Saint Joseph, Ryken, No.3 Gilman and No. 4 Loyola will be vying for the title, making it a very exciting and competitive tournament."
Tsarni and Ahanj-Elias
Tsarni and Ahanj-Elias are coached by 1999 DeMatha graduate Drew Robertson, a four-time WCAC champion, winner of three state titles in four final appearances, and two National Preps crowns after having placed fifth and third.
Ahanj-Elias had an easier time improving to 18-3, capped by his 9-4 championship decision over senior Gabe Cannon of Delaware's Sussex Central.
Ahanj-Elias used a 16-0 technical fall and pair of third-period pins to reach his semifinal, where he won a 7-0 decision over Lake Braddock senior Lucas Matheny.
Tsarni used a pair of first-period pins to reach his quarterfinal, where he won by 12-3 major decision over fourth-place state finishing junior Chase Carpintieri of St Frances.
Tsarni won his semifinal, 7-3, over state runner-up Buckler before taking a come-from-behind, 4-3 decision from Stephen Decatur senior Gavin Solito, a two-time Class 2A-1A state runner-up who dropped from 165 pounds where he is ranked third.
Solito cradled Tsarni for a takedown and a 2-0 lead, but Tsarni tied the match at 2-2 on a reversal entering the second period. Tsarni trailed, 3-2, after cutting Solito before scoring a takedown for a 4-3 lead entering the third.
"Salah rode Solito tough for a minute to finish the third period and chose neutral in the third,” Robertson said. “The guys battled through some good scrambles, but Salah looked very comfortable and composed throughout the entire match."
In Solito, Tsarni beat a wrestler who entered at 22-0, having earned a semifinal, 8-0 semifinal victory over sixth-place state finishing junior Zach Garvin of Rising Sun, who finished fourth following a 9-1 loss to Buckler.
Solito had gone 28-4 as a sophomore, ending with a 9-7 state championship bout loss to Liberty senior Ryan Ohler, who finished with a record of 39-2. Solito went 47-2 last season with his 9-4, state championship bout setback coming against Owings Mills senior Amondre Wooden, who improved his record to 41-1.
"Salah had a solid tournament for a freshman," said Robertson of Tsarni, who is 29-3. "Salah defeated guys ranked sixth and second at 157 and the No. 3-ranked wrestler at 165."
Tyler Garvin Cruises
Garvin’s four victories comprised a 95-second fall, a 17-4 major decision, a 6-3 decision in his semifinal and a 7-2 championship win over Andrij Szczesniuk of Pennsylvania's Coatesville Area High.
Garvin improved to 23-0 on the year and 115-0 for his career, remaining on pace to become the first Rising Sun wrestler to complete his entire high school career without suffering defeat.
As a repeat state champion at Rising Sun, Tyler is tied with 1994 graduate Jason Townsend and assistant coach Anthony Cimorosi (2013). Tyler can join 2008 graduate Matt Jackson – who placed third at states as a freshman – as the Tigers only other three-time state champion.
Garvin’s father, Luke, was a 103-pound Class 2A-1A state champ in 1996 and a runner-up at 112 pounds in 1997. His uncle, Seth, was a third-place finisher at 112 pounds in 1995 and serves as the Tigers' head coach.
Aybar breezes
Aybar simply dominated the field to improve his overall record to 22-1, ending with a 10-4 championship bout victory over Cannaday. Aybar won his first two bouts on falls in 70 and 76 seconds before hammering his quarterfinal opponent by 17-1 technical fall, and his semifinal rival by 17-0 technical fall.
Top 10 Team Scores
1 Xavier 223.5 (From Connecticut)
2 Mt Saint Joes 193.0
3 St. Mary`s Ryken 190.5
4 Sussex Central 159.5
5 Loyola-Blakefield 142.0
6 Rising Sun 137.0
7 Whitehall 127.0
8 Perkiomen Valley Hs 126.5
9 St Frances Academy 122.5
10 Stephen Decatur 120.5
106
1st Place Match
Max Tancini (Perkiomen Valley Hs) 17-2, So. over Willmont Kai (Whitehall ) 24-2, So. (MD 9-0)
3rd Place Match
Eli Gabrielson (St. Mary`s Ryken) 19-5, Fr. over Juan Hinojosa (Stephen Decatur) 20-2, Jr. (MD 9-0)
5th Place Match
Kane Desch (C. Milton Wright) 23-3, Jr. over Benjamin Donato (Caesar Rodney) 21-9, So. (M. For.)
7th Place Match
Austen Decker (Sussex Central) 16-7, Jr. over Ryan Kramer (Conestoga) 14-8, So. (Dec 5-2)
113
1st Place Match
Raekwon Shabazz (Xavier) 24-2, Sr. over Jayden Jackson (Loyola-Blakefield) 19-4, So. (Fall 5:08)
3rd Place Match
Elijah Collick (Stephen Decatur) 21-2, So. over Ethan Valdisera (St. Mary`s Ryken) 20-7, Fr. (Dec 5-4)
5th Place Match
Joseph Cooper (Mt Saint Joes) 16-9, So. over Liam Vavrek (Perkiomen Valley Hs) 13-7, Fr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match
Kade Pascoe (Whitehall ) 18-7, So. over Edwin Gonzalez (Woodbridge) 22-10, Fr. (Fall 2:46)
120
1st Place Match
Tyler Garvin (Rising Sun) 23-0, Sr. over Andrij Szczesniuk (Coatesville ) 16-2, Jr. (Dec 7-2)
3rd Place Match
Jake Tamai (Mt Saint Joes) 19-4, So. over Malachi Stratton (Sussex Central) 23-7, Jr. (Dec 3-1)
5th Place Match
Austin Wood (St. Mary`s Ryken) 19-9, Jr. over Isisah womack (St Frances Academy) 32-6, So. (Dec 4-1)
7th Place Match
Cayden Farver (Loyola-Blakefield) 16-8, Jr. over Cole Moffett (Caesar Rodney) 14-9, Jr. (TF-1.5 3:30 (15-0))
126
1st Place Match
Miles Warkentine (Conestoga) 18-4, Jr. over Tyler Wood (St. Mary`s Ryken) 17-7, Sr. (MD 11-2)
3rd Place Match
Braylon Gonzalez (Xavier) 11-3, So. over Chase Murray (Sussex Central) 16-6, Sr. (MD 8-0)
5th Place Match
Jazmon Snead (Delmar Junior-Senior H S) 21-8, Jr. over Xzavier Brown (Rising Sun) 21-4, Jr. (Dec 3-2)
7th Place Match
Damond Pascoe (Whitehall ) 19-5, Sr. over Joey Capaldo (Perkiomen Valley Hs) 11-9, Sr. (Dec 3-0)
132
1st Place Match
Evan Cordrey (Sussex Central) 22-3, Jr. over Trevor Copes (Caesar Rodney) 24-3, Jr. (Dec 3-2)
3rd Place Match
Tyler Stephens (Mt Saint Joes) 20-8, Fr. over Joshua Hale (Loyola-Blakefield) 18-8, RS So. (Fall 4:39)
5th Place Match
Kevin Kasperowski (Xavier) 16-5, Sr. over Nolan Schmeckenbecher (Whitehall ) 18-5, Jr. (Dec 3-2)
7th Place Match
Maurice Womack (St Frances Academy) 28-11, Sr. over Jonathan Horne (Rising Sun) 23-6, Sr. (Dec 8-5)
138
1st Place Match
Carter Nogle (Mt Saint Joes) 25-5, Sr. over Anthony Basile (Xavier) 24-3, Sr. (Dec 9-3)
3rd Place Match
Luke Knox (Perkiomen Valley Hs) 21-3, Fr. over Talan Savage (Sussex Central) 15-5, Sr. (Fall 2:52)
5th Place Match
Gabe Hernandez (Damascus) 26-3, Jr. over Nathan O` Donnell (Upper Darby) 18-6, Jr. (Fall 2:21)
7th Place Match
Gregory Couch (Kent Island) 14-6, Sr. over Rocco Tully (Parkside) 19-7, Jr. (Dec 11-7)
144
1st Place Match
Evan Boblits (St. Mary`s Ryken) 28-3, Jr. over Kyle Levesque (Xavier) 22-5, Sr. (Dec 7-0)
3rd Place Match
Walter Smith (St Frances Academy) 26-7, Sr. over Seth Pascoe (Whitehall ) 21-4, Sr. (Dec 12-8)
5th Place Match
Pat Lamirande (Perkiomen Valley Hs) 17-7, Sr. over Steven Stotler (Woodbridge) 25-11, Jr. (Dec 8-4)
7th Place Match
Jaden Diggs (Mt Saint Joes) 18-12, So. over Cody Sandefer (Kent Island) 16-8, Sr. (Dec 2-1)
150
1st Place Match
Judah Aybar (Loyola-Blakefield) 22-1, Sr. over Cameron Cannaday (Mt Saint Joes) 22-6, Jr. (Dec 10-4)
3rd Place Match
Noah Tucker (Bullis School) 27-4, Fr. over Vincent Rivera (Xavier) 18-5, Fr. (Dec 13-6)
5th Place Match
Josh Strong (St. Mary`s Ryken) 15-9, Sr. over Amarian Manuel (Stephen Decatur) 18-7, Jr. (SV-1 5-3)
7th Place Match
Logan Brown (St Frances Academy) 24-9, Fr. over Kaleb Blaylock (Lake Braddock) 10-10, Sr. (Fall 4:49)
157
1st Place Match
Salah Tsarni (Bullis School) 29-3, Fr. over Gavin Solito (Stephen Decatur) 22-1, Sr. (Dec 4-3)
3rd Place Match
Will Buckler (St. Mary`s Ryken) 18-5, Jr. over Zach Garvin (Rising Sun) 23-2, So. (MD 9-1)
5th Place Match
Jacob Charlesworth (Lake Braddock) 19-4, Sr. over Devin Sweeney (C. Milton Wright) 22-5, Jr. (Dec 4-3)
7th Place Match
Chase Carpinteri (St Frances Academy) 24-9, Jr. over Mason Simonds (Leonardtown) 15-7, Jr. (Fall 4:55)
165
1st Place Match
Nicolas Barnabae (Mt Saint Joes) 8-0, Jr. over Koen Bowling (St. Mary`s Ryken) 14-6, Jr. (Fall 1:28)
3rd Place Match
AJ Kuntz (Leonardtown) 23-1, Jr. over Michael Bertrand (Woodbridge) 18-6, Jr. (Dec 8-2)
5th Place Match
Riley Miller (Loyola-Blakefield) 14-7, Fr. over Jaxon Simms (C. Milton Wright) 20-8, So. (MD 10-1)
7th Place Match
Derrick Grant (St Frances Academy) 27-9, Jr. over Cruz Mota (Sussex Central) 14-13, Jr. (Fall 2:03)
175
1st Place Match
Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (Bullis School) 18-3, Jr. over Gabe Cannon (Sussex Central) 17-3, Sr. (Dec 9-4)
3rd Place Match
Jacen Mcleod (Leonardtown) 23-1, Jr. over Lucas Matheny (Lake Braddock) 17-2, Sr. (Fall 1:20)
5th Place Match
Maximus Morse (Xavier) 20-5, Jr. over Jack Weldon (Coatesville ) 12-4, Jr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match
Giuseppe Mellinger (Kent Island) 20-4, Sr. over Brandon Jefferson (St. Mary`s Ryken) 9-4, Sr. (M. For.)
190
1st Place Match
Austin Lewis (Mt Saint Joes) 23-4, Sr. over Mason Testerman (Rising Sun) 22-1, Sr. (Dec 6-0)
3rd Place Match
Ryan Matheny (Lake Braddock) 16-2, Sr. over James Hopkins (Whitehall ) 23-4, So. (Dec 4-1)
5th Place Match
Kole Kohut (Stephen Decatur) 19-5, Sr. over Jake Ehret (Damascus) 24-5, Sr. (Dec 3-1)
7th Place Match
Braeden Wood (Octorara Area HS) 18-5, Sr. over Matthew Smith (Conestoga) 9-10, Jr. (MD 14-3)
215
1st Place Match
Charles Weidman (Xavier) 20-4, Jr. over Elijah Farr (Rising Sun) 19-4, Jr. (Fall 3:22)
3rd Place Match
Nate McDaniel (Stephen Decatur) 21-4, Jr. over Douglas Johnson (St Frances Academy) 25-7, Jr. (Dec 4-2)
5th Place Match
Dominic Shead (Woodbridge) 16-9, So. over Jacob Senkow (Upper Darby) 9-6, Sr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match
Rami Ayoub (Coatesville ) 9-9, So. over Robert Stailey (Leonardtown) 4-7, Jr. (M. For.)
285
1st Place Match
Cole Euker (Perkiomen Valley Hs) 8-1, Jr. over Luke Randazzo (Loyola-Blakefield) 5-1, Jr. (Fall 2:30)
3rd Place Match
Bryan Silva (Damascus) 25-4, Sr. over Alden Gaboury (Xavier) 13-7, Jr. (Fall 2:42)
5th Place Match
Oren Lacey (Leonardtown) 9-5, Jr. over Ali`i Turner (Parkside) 19-3, Sr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match
Daryl Woral (Woodbridge) 18-6, Sr. over Ryan Tran (Whitehall ) 7-6, Sr. (Dec 7-5)
Girls War on the Shore results can be found here:
https://bit.ly/2024GirlsWotS