Sherlock brothers and McGettigan reach podium, Mt. St. Joe’s Nogle also earned hardware. Gilman’s top-ranked freshman Liam McGettigan (106) and No. 1-ranked junior Emmitt Sherlock (165), along with top-rated senior Carter Nogle (138) of Mount St. Joseph placed fourth, with a sixth-place finish from second-ranked Gilman senior Tyson Sherlock (144) at last weekend's Beast Of The East Tournament at the Bob Carpenter Center on the University of Delaware's campus in Newark, Delaware.
Gilman and Mount St. Joseph finished 19th and 28th at The Beast, won by Blair Academy of Blairstown, N.J. While Nogle and the Sherlocks are defending champions in both the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and Maryland Independent Schools State Tournaments, McGettigan is a standout freshman who is continuing to make his mark on the state scene.
Nogle and the Gaels had won the Dec. 8-9 Penn Manor Holiday Tournament at Penn Manor High School in Pennsylvania, where Nogle earned the 139-pound title –his second straight at the event – with an 8-1 decision over Braden Rozanski (Upper Perkiomen, PA). After winning titles at the season-opening Ray Oliver Tournament at McDonogh on December 1-2, McGettigan and Emmitt Sherlock both placed seventh at the December 8-9 Ironman Tournament at Walsh Jesuit High School in Ohio. Tyson Sherlock was a runner-up at McDonogh and fell short of placement at the Ironman due to losing in the Blood Round.
At the Ironman, McGettigan, who was unranked nationally, won his seventh-place bout via 7-2 decision over Timmy Mazur (St. Edward, Ohio), who was listed in the Honorable Mention section of the SB Live National Rankings at the time.
Emmitt Sherlock defeated Nick Singer (Faith Christian Academy, Pennsylvania), 2-1, in the seventh-place match at Ironman. The following is a look at each of the four wrestlers' journeys at The Beast in alphabetical order using their last names.
Liam McGettigan
McGettigan went 6-2 with two pins, and both of his setbacks came against Blair Academy freshman Vincenzo Anello, who is ranked 7th in the nation to McGettigan’s 15th.
McGettigan pinned twice and used a 3-2 decision to reach his championship quarterfinal bout against Anello, where he lost, 3-2.
In succession, McGettigan used decisions of 6-4, 6-4 in overtime, and 7-2 to reach the consolation finals, where Anello won, yet again, 3-0, to earn third place.
"Annello is strong and likes to hang in ties," said McGettigan, whose overall record is 15-4. "I need to do a better job of clearing and getting better looks."
McGettigan has been off to a blazing start, his championship run at McDonogh including an 87-second fall, a technical fall, and a 70-second semifinal pin against Archbishop Spalding sophomore Eli Chesla, who was third at MIAAs and fourth at states.
McGettigan won a tight championship match, 4-2, over Eli Gabrielson of St. Mary’s Ryken in the finals of the McDonogh Tournament.
“I'm just wrestling and competing the best I can," McGettingan said. "In terms of [only] being a freshman, that's not really a thought."
Carter Nogle
Nogle went 5-2 with three pins to improve his record on the year to 14-2. Nogle also placed for the third time in as many seasons at The Beast, having finished fifth in 2021 and fourth last season.
Nogle lost his third-place bout, 7-3, to Nazareth's nationally 12th-ranked Tahir Parkins, a fourth-place finisher in Pennsylvania's AAA state tournament who has finished seventh in junior freestyle at Fargo and eighth at Super 32.
Nogle had used three second-period pins and an overtime, 4-2, decision to reach the championship semifinals, where he fell, 3-2, in overtime to eventual tournament runner-up, junior William DeKraker, of Blair Academy.
Ranked 17th nationally, DeKraker placed third at Ironman and is also a transfer from McDonogh who beat Carter’s brother, Coleman, two years ago in the private school state finals.
"Obviously the semi-finals didn’t go my way but we will definitely meet up again. I will definitely expand on my offense early," Nogle said. "I need to try to open up the match. I always find myself better when more points are scored even if I have to sacrifice a few takedowns to score more."
Nogle also earned his 100th career victory in the consolation semifinals with a 4-2 decision over nationally 24th-ranked Mountain View, VA sophomore Tyler Traves.
"My current record is 100-14, so I was able to hit my 100th milestone in the consolation semifinal match. I was very grateful to be able to place three years at the Beast of the East," Nogle said.
"Fortunately, I found my ideal weight class at 138 and am able to use my size and strength to my advantage. It is a long and tough tournament, but I was glad that I could keep wrestling my hardest till the end."
Emmitt Sherlock
The 6-foot-2 Emmitt went 6-2 with a technical fall, rising to 17-4 on the year with six pins and a technical fall. Sherlock used a technical fall, a major decision and a 6-3 decision to reach his championship semifinal bout, which he lost, 7-5, to the senior eventual runner-up Ryan Garvick of Central Dauphin in Pennsylvania.
Garvick is heavily credentialed, being a Pennsylvania state runner-up who placed third at the NHSCA nationals. But Sherlock bounced back to win three straight, comprising a 3-1 victory over returning Beast placer and 13th-ranked nationally, Bryce Griffin of Civic Memorial, IL and consecutive 4-2 overtime decisions. Sherlock then faced junior Jordan Chapman, an earlier 12-11 loser to Garvick. Sherlock trailed 4-3 when he appeared to have secured a buzzer-beating takedown for the victory only to be denied.
“I agree, I definitely believe it was a takedown. I had two under-hooks," said Sherlock of his bout with Chapman, who is ranked 10th nationally. Chapman is a third-place finisher in New Jersey's state tournament who was fourth at Fargo and sixth at last year's Beast Of The East event.
"I stepped in with my hips and got to a side-by-side position. I threw my leg in over the top and put him on his hip. That’s where I believe the takedown was. But it’s all a part of the sport, you get some and you lose some."
Tyson Sherlock
Tyson went 6-3 with a pin. He reached the championship quarterfinals following a 66-second fall and a 7-3 decision before losing, 5-2, to the eventual seventh-place finisher, Maddox Shaw of Thomas Jefferson, PA. Shaw is ranked third nationally at 138.
Tyson's next four victories comprised decisions of 9-2, 3-0, 1-0 in overtime, and 2-1 before losing his consolation semifinal and fifth-place bouts. The consolation semifinal loss was to Sonny Amato of Fair Haven, NJ, who is nationally ranked 20th at 144.
Tyson, who is listed as an honorable mention wrestler by SB Live, was also a third-place finisher at last year’s National Preps Tournament as well as last year's National High School Coaches’ Association tournament champion after being a fourth as a freshman and a runner-up as a sophomore.