Eli gets a WOTY Award!

Archbishop Spalding’s Eli Gabrielson jumped back into the private school realm this season after spending his sophomore campaign in a South Carroll singlet and collecting a 2A/1A State Championship. Gabrielson was a state runner-up as a St. Mary’s Ryken freshman and parlayed that into a fourth-place finish at National Preps.

In Maryland, the junior dominated the competition with his only true test coming from Loyola-Blakefield’s No. 2 Jayden Jackson, a defending state champ and two-time National Prep placer. Their season long rivalry began at Ray Oliver and continued through the National Prep Round of 16.

Gabrielson picked up a string of tournament titles and went deep into the Ironman and Beast of the East Brackets while dominating Maryland competition. A look at his stat sheet for the year reveals there aren’t many more deserving candidates than Eli Gabrielson for a Wrestler of the Year Designation, and that is exactly what Legacy Wrestling is bestowing upon the junior.

“My thoughts on being named wrestler of the year are truly just how grateful I am, and how much I want to thank my teammates who pushed me in the room, my coaches who kept me healthy and never gave up in my corner and my family who was there to support me for it all,” Gabrielson added. “I just want to praise the Lord for everything this season because without him, none of it would be possible!”

On top of his individual accolades, Gabrielson experienced his second state championship in a row after South Carroll won a State Dual Championship a year ago. Since he was wearing a different Cavalier garb, Gabrielson was not around for last year’s tie atop the MIS standings with Gilman.

This year, Spalding had a lone hiccup to McDonogh in a dual meet but otherwise had little problems taking their second MIAA Tournament title and winning the states by themselves in 2026.

“My thoughts on (Spalding) winning MIAA and states and ending number one was the same since the beginning of the season to the end, I knew it was going to happen,” Gabrielson stated. “The family dynamic and hard work we all put in just goes to show the reason why we finished at the top.

“Everyone pushed each other, making another do an extra rep and getting after practice work in, we wanted to finish on the top that was the goal all year. The team felt so much like a family to always holding each other accountable and having each other’s backs when needed. When a team feels like a family, they all work together for the best!”

GETTING STARTED WITH RAY

The Cavalier won the Ray Oliver meeting versus Jackson, 8-0, in the finals to take the crown at that function. Gabrielson won by technical fall over Bradley Ament (St. Christopher’s, VA), 17-1, in the semis and decked No. 10 Freddy Brinkman of Georgetown Prep in 2:58, plus another 1:43 fall before that match.

“Looking into Ray Oliver being the first tournament of the year and really it just being a chance to wrestle some of the top guys in Maryland, I was excited to see where I compared with the others!” remarked Gabrielson. “That finals match really just kickstarted the year, felt great and had me ready for all things to come forward.”

On the other side of the holidays and two major tournaments that we will circle back to, the MIAA Dual Meet slate got underway with a second win against Jackson, 10-0, and an 18-2 tech over No. 11 Damian Manna (McDonogh).

A WAVE OF FALLS AT THE SHORE LEADS TO TREASURE

The run of duals was interrupted by the prestigious War on the Shore Tournament where Gabrielson claimed his second consecutive title after being third in his first trip there. Once again, Gabrielson would meet Jackson, and this one, in the finals, would have a closer outcome, but still no points for Jackson in a 4-0 result.

Pennridge, PA’s Matthew Coffin was stuck with ten seconds left in the second period of their semifinal, 3:50. Three other pins propelled his journey through the brackets in 1:25, 1:26 and a 1:39 decking of No. 4 CJ Votta (Mt. St. Joseph) in the quarters.

“Pinning my way to the finals at War on the Shore was not the plan going into the tournament,” revealed Gabrielson. “Obviously, it was good to get those team points, but the goal was to get on the top of the podium no matter what, even knowing that it meant I was possibly going to have to beat Jayden for the third time. Wrestling someone twice is not easy let alone three times but I thought to myself, I’m going to have to see him a few more times later in the season so let’s get this win and keep it going.”

ANOTHER MIAA CROWN FOR THE FAMILY

Gabrielson was in action at his first MIAA Tournament and captured the gold in his closest encounter with Jackson of the year, where his rival finally scored in a 5-3 decision. Gabrielson planted Votta in 1:05 of their semi and added pins of 37 and 55 seconds to reach the semis.

“It was great to wrestle in the MIAA,” Gabrielson offered. “Remembering my brother and his freshman year wrestling in the MIAAs and how he won, just made me want to win it more. Knowing that most of the kids at my weight I was going to see at states I felt that it was good to get one more feel for them before states so that way I could critique and fix whatever I needed to beforehand!”

One must realize that the season long rivalry, that was made to generally look easy by Gabrielson, was far from it. Jackson is a crafty competitor, who was highly motivated at MIAAs as he was searching for his fourth crown at the affair. That’s not an easy battle to continually engage in, yet when it was finally over, the two had tangled six times, with Gabrielson doing the unlikely and winning all of them.

“Wrestling Jayden for the fourth time in the MIAA finals and him scoring points on me for the first time definitely was an eye opener during the match,” Gabrielson continued. “But I couldn’t let it take over me, and instead, I stuck to my offense and wrestled my match. I knew it was going to be hard to keep facing him, but this sport is hard and you have to do hard things to win so you just got to keep pushing.”

SECOND TITLE OF A DIFFERENT VARIETY

Gabrielson’s second career state championship, and first of the MIS variety, came with a stat line that is more reflective of their non-MIAA tournament meetings as he slayed Jackson with another shutout, 7-0. Manna was given a 15-1 loss and two second period pins came before that in 2:22 and 2:31.

“It was my second time being in the state finals in private school and this time I knew I couldn’t let nerves get to me and instead stuck to my plan and just went and had fun on the mat,” Gabrielson elaborated. “Praying and knowing that God is always in my corner was a key aspect of my state tournament, just knowing that whatever his plan is, is what’s right and that I just have to trust in God. It was truly a blessing to win a second state title.”

BIG BAD BRACKET AT PREPS

Gabrielson’s Prep Bracket was loaded with five nationally ranked wrestlers, including himself, who is ranked 34th in the nation by High School on SI. In the early going, the junior pinned Lake Highland Prep’s Ethan Reilly in 1:55, and then had one final meeting with Jackson, whom he disposed of 4-0. A quarterfinal win over No. 42 Isaac Novod (Belmont Hill, MA), who was the number one seed, granted a podium position to Gabrielson.

“After the blood rounds at Beast and Ironman, I pushed myself harder than before knowing that National Preps would be just as hard,” said Gabrielson. “Getting to the quarterfinals match against Novod, and watching him wrestle, knowing that I can beat anyone in that bracket was a huge confidence booster. I just went out on that mat, gave it my all and like my coaches always like to say, we will be the most conditioned on that mat. I did exactly that and blew my lungs until I got my escape to win it! That win was just amazing!”

Things shifted during his semifinal showdown with No. 33 Jack Baron (Germantown Academy, PA), with Gabrielson falling 5-2. In the consolation rounds, Gabrielson was tripped up by the New York Military Academy’s post-graduate Johnny Green, 9-2. Gabrielson ended on a high note by landing in fifth after a forfeit from Wyoming Seminary’s No. 36 Alex Marchetti.

“Making the semis and guaranteeing a top six place was nice but I wanted more than that,” Gabrielson lamented. “I went out and wrestled my next two matches, and both were tough loses but you can’t dwell on the negative and instead look at the positive which was getting the chance to wrestle the second day and placing at such a tough weight!”

MORE STRUTTING ON THE NATIONAL STAGE

The Cavalier has danced around the national rankings throughout his time in high school, appearing a few times and then falling out. Gabrielson landed back in the national report after reaching the blood round at Ironman where he picked up a big win over No. 35 Conner Whitely (St. Edward, OH) and Washington’s Czar Quintanilla (University). Setbacks at Ironman came from No. 8 Tommy Wurster (Dublin Coffman, OH) and No. 3 Ignacio Villasenor (Stillwater, OK).

Wurster was a Fargo and PanAm Games Champ. Villasenor is a three-time state champion and former World Bronze Medalist.

A run to the blood round at Beast of the East didn’t include wins as big as those at Ironman but were still impressive as he downed National Prep placer Brendan Kelly of Malvern Prep, 5-1, and won a 2-0 match with Jersey’s James Fearon (Hunterdon Central Regional). Losses were delivered by Bethlehem Catholic’s Jack Cole, who did not finish the year, and No. 12 Carter Chunk (Saucon Valley, PA), 5-1. Chunko is an AA Pennsylvania state silver medalist.

“Blood rounds at both Ironman and Beast of the East were obviously not what I had planned but both tournaments also gave me the chance to see what I needed to improve on,” reasoned Gabrielson. “I had goals set to place high at both and just fell short, but I feel because of that it pushed me to finish the rest of the season off how I intended.”

BLOOD ROUND CURSE RETURNS AT NHSCAs

Gabrielson tried his hand at the NHSCA Junior Brackets at 120 pounds after living at 126 all year. We wish we could say it paid off and he at least equaled last year’s second at NHSCA but alas, he did not reach the podium after a promising start that saw him land in the quarters before taking two losses.

A 9-7 win came in the first match with Arizona’s Eli Sanders and then a 14-1 major decision before dropping another major, 10-1 on Utah’s Easton Olson. In the quarters, Gabrielson lot to Pennsylvania’s No. 24 Tommy Gretz and came up short in his first consolation match with Ohio’s No. 33 Derion Williams. Gretz was second in the AAA States and Williams was a DIII State Champ.