BREAKING: Collick wins Battle of Titans in Semis

Photo Credit and Shoutout to Oluwapelumi Adepoju

Stephen Decatur's top-ranked senior Elijah Collick scored an overtime takedown for a 7-4 victory over Chesapeake-Anne Arundel’s previously unbeaten second-ranked sophomore Corey Brown to win their 132-pound Class 4A-3A state semifinal bout on Friday night at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro.

“I was a little nervous before the match, but I felt like if I was able to get my shots, I would have this kid. Going into the third period, I was like, ‘I got this kid,” Collick told a mat-side Legacy Wrestling’s Dan Casey, a wrestler for Hereford High School.

“I’m stronger on the top, but when I cut him and let him up in overtime, I knew that I had to get it. I knew that I could bid for some time and that eventually I was going to get him. When I looked around after the match. [Seeing the crowd around the mat] after the match, I felt great.”

“Collick was superior on his feet and elected to just let Brown up in overtime” remarked Legacy’s Billy Buckheit. “To my eyes, he was the more technically sound wrestler. He attacked, while Brown reacted. I watch a lot of high-level wrestling and evaluate the top talent in the nation. This match was worthy of the hype and contained some tremendous sequences!”

Having improved his record on the year to 45-1, Collick will face Rockville’s 20th-ranked senior Damian Melendez, who improved his record to 43-1 with a 9-7 decision over Guilford Park’s 24th-ranked Alvin Pinkney.

A transfer from second-ranked Mount St. Joseph, where he earned a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association title, Brown slipped to 21-1 with 12 pins and four technical falls, having won titles in the Anne Arundel and Class 4A-3A South Region over the previous two weeks.

Committed to The University of Nebraska, Collick became the Seahawks' first-ever four-time title winner of the conference and is attempting to become the program's first-ever four-time regional and state tournament champion. Having won three Class 2A-1A state titles, Collick will attempt to win his first of the Class 4A-3A variety in two weeks.

Collick has joined two-time champion Noah Reho as only the second Seahawks' freshman by earning last year's 106-pound title, and he can surpass three-time champion Danny Miller by becoming the program's first four-time state champion.

Collick has a career mark of 178-6 and has surpassed three-time state finalist Jagger Clapsadle (158 wins), state champion Nico D'Amico (153), four-time place-winner Andy McKahan (147), Reho (140) and Miller (139) on the Seahawks' list of all-time victories leaders.

Collick suffered his lone defeat this year by 8-7 decision when bumping up to South Carroll’s top-ranked 138-pound senior Jo Joe Gigliotti, a University of Maryland-bound wrestler who is pursuing his school-record fourth straight Class 2A-1A state championship to go with as many Carroll County and regional crowns.