Loyola senior Luke Randazzo’s done a lot of heavy lifting over his nearly four seasons as the Dons’ 285-pound wrestler, but freshman 106-pounder, Tyler Verceles, has emerged as caretaker of their lightwork.
Verceles and Randazzo earned their first-ever crowns in Saturday’s Raymond Oliver Tournament at McDonogh, pushing their unbeaten marks into the double-digits.
Their efforts paced the third-ranked Dons (122.5 points) to sixth place in a 30-team event won by New Jersey’s St. Peter’s Prep (312 points), the nation’s 24th-ranked program according to SB Live.
Loyola's coach is Steve Truitt, a 1994 graduate of St. Paul's where he won two Maryland Scholastic Association titles after finishing third and fourth over the previous two years. Truitt went 34-1 as a senior.
Ranked first and second in their respective weight divisions by Legacy Wrestling, Randazzo and Verceles were joined by second-ranked junior Jayden Jackson (120), a returning Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association title-winner who finished third.
Randazzo used falls in 49 seconds, 3:12 and 3:34 to reach the finals, where his 15-5 major decision vanquished Delaware Military Academy senior Cael DeNigris, who is ranked 23rd nationally.
“I felt good going into the match,” said Randazzo, who improved to 12-0 with 11 pins. “I knew that my sweep-singles and ankle picks were going to work. I knew he was going to be very aggressive. I just had to stay in position, so I think that I did my job.”
The victory was Randazzo’s second over DeNigris, who was runner-up at McDonogh for the second consecutive season. DeNigris lost last year’s Ray Oliver tournament title, 5-1, to Delmar White of Archbishop Spalding, against whom he is 1-1. The first victory came at Ray Oliver when Randazzo was a sophomore.
Randazzo was runner-up to White in each of the MIAA and private schools state tournaments last year, being pinned in the former and losing by 1-0 decision in the latter. White will miss his senior year as the result of a preseason injury.
“This tournament sets the tone for the rest of my season,” said Randazzo, who has also placed third twice at MIAAs and fourth once at states. “I have the Beast Of The East tournament next week, and then states and National Preps later on this year. I’m trying to win those this year to prove a point by going out as a champion.”
Verceles’ used pins in 90 and 92 seconds as well as a third in 3:12 to reach his title bout, where he earned a 5-4 decision over sophomore Royce Wetzler of Benedictine College Preparatory School.
“I knew going into the match that he relies heavily on his ties, and I also realized that he was a very good leg-rider and very talented in doing that. So I went into the match knowing that I wanted to get into my ties,” said Verceles, who improved to 11-0 with 10 pins. “I was generally successful, scoring the first takedown. Later on he was able to capitalize off of a sloppy shot, taking me down. But as I got up and out, I said to myself, ‘I’m going to work like hell and I’m going to finish this match off strong.’”
Verceles led, 3-0, early, but allowed Wetzler to tie the bout at 4-4. He required an escape in the final minute to secure the one-point victory.
“At some points he did get the legs in, but I was able to catch and avoid his legs for the most part and to escape in the second and the third. Props to him, because I had taken a bad shot and he was able to take me down with about a minute left. That made the score 4-4 with about a minute left,” Vercecles said. “I was in danger of losing at that point, but I was able to get out in about 10 seconds to go ahead, 5-4. I wasn’t passive and I held center from there, not allowing him to get into any of his ties or positions and holding him off for the final 50 seconds. I believe that was the overall difference in the match.”
A highly-decorated junior league wrestler, Verceles’ accomplishments include being ranked 11th in USA Wrestling’s 16-and-under Future Olympians Watch List, winning Maryland State Wrestling Association titles in 2023 and 2024, and capturing a Maryland Junior League State crown in 2024.
“I started wrestling when I was five years old with the Howard County Vipers,” Verceles said. “I won the Howard County Youth League tournament four years in a row, and then, in 2020, I joined Headhunters Wrestling Club coached by John Nogle.”
Verceles also owns a number of career victories over wrestlers who are presently ranked by Legacy Wrestling, including third-ranked sophomore Austin Hayes of Eleanor Roosevelt, fifth-ranked sophomore Wyatt Rossi of Sparrows Point, seventh-ranked freshman Charlie Mutschler of Archbishop Spalding, and 19th-ranked freshman Liam Rose of Archbishop Curley.
Hayes posted a record of 40-1 last year and was a runner-up at Class 4A-3A states after losing, 10-8, to South River sophomore Jackson Peeples. Peeples is currently ranked eighth at 120 pounds.
Rossi placed fourth in last year’s Class 2A-1A state tournament. Rose won the Parkville Invitational Tournament on December 7. Mutschler placed sixth at McDonogh.
During an earlier dual meet victory by the Dons over sixth-ranked St. Frances, Verceles led, 3-1, before scoring a throw for a first-period fall against 14th-ranked freshman Zebulon Bolden.
“With the exception of Zebulon Bolden, all of the other wins have been during the junior leagues in various styles. Having a league win under my belt going into the Ray Oliver tournament gave me a sense of belonging in that elite high school level,” Verceles said.
“Coming out of Ray Oliver with a strong performance builds on my confidence as I’m preparing to wrestle in Beast of the East. Although I wrestled very well, I also recognized that I made a few mistakes. I can learn from these mistakes to sharpen my technique in preparation for Beast this coming week.”
Tyler Verceles’ recent accomplishments at a glance:
- Maryland Junior League State Wrestling Champion 2024
- 2x Maryland State Wrestling Association Champion 2023, 2024
- 2x Freestyle and Greco Northeast Regionals Champion 2023, 2024
- 14u Kids Nationals Greco Champion and Freestyle 3rd place 2023
- 15u Greco U.S. Open Champion (Las Vegas) 2024
- 16u Freestyle Finalist and Greco 3rd place (Fargo) 2024
- Currently ranked #11 on USA Wrestling 16u Future Olympians Watch List
Out of State National-Ranked wins:
- #13 Traevon Ducking (Super 32 of 2023)
- #18 Lazarus McEwen (Fargo Greco 3rd place match 2024)
- #22 Brock Humphrey (14-and-under Freestyle national duals 2023)
- #25 Gabe Benyo (Tyrant Duals 2024)
Verceles’ career victories over wrestlers ranked by Legacy Wrestling.
#3 Austin Hayes, sophomore, Eleanor Roosevelt
#5 Wyatt Rossi, sophomore, Sparrows Point
#7 Charlie Mutschler, freshman, Archbishop Spalding
#9 Christian Wirts, freshman, Gilman
#11 Jake Simione, freshman, South Carroll
#14 Zebulon Bolden, freshman, St Frances
#16 Carter Mullen, freshman, Brunswick
#18 Luke Bucheimer, freshman, Boonsboro
# 19 Liam Rose, freshman, Archbishop Curley
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