Maryland Nabs Ironman Hardware

Legacy Wrestling
3 days ago
4 min read

Maryland did not have a lot of success in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio at the Ironman grind. As Maryland schools were concerned, only Archbishop Spalding sent wrestlers to test themselves, two boys and two girls.

The Girls, Taina Fernandez and Summer Mutschler, brought home hardware while none of the boys, Eli Gabrielson and Zane Leitzel, reached the podium with No. 1 Gabrielson falling in the blood round at 126 pounds. In an article Legacy Wrestling published about nationally ranked wrestlers by High School On SI, we mentioned Gabrielson’s closeness to cracking those rankings and asked if this would be the year he breaks through.

It appears it is, as in the junior’s first match he took out No. 30 in the country, Czar Quintanilla of University High School in Washington. A tech fall followed that win setting up a Round of 16 meeting with No. 5 Ignacio Villasenor (Stillwater, OK). The Oklahoman produced an 18-5 major decision to drop Gabrielson to the consolation rounds.

Once in that bracket, Gabrielson picked up a fall then slayed St. Edward, Ohio’s Connor Whitely, 2-1, a wrestler who has been previously ranked in the country and placed eighth at Ironman at 113 pounds a year ago. That delivered Gabrielson to his blood round match with No. 13 Tommy Wurster of Dublin Coffman, Ohio, in which he hung tough before coming up short, 4-2. Wurster is a U.S. Open place winner that won championships in Freestyle at the Pan Am Games and Fargo over the summer.

Leitzel, who is rated second in Maryland at 150 pounds, also made the Ohio trek, but found the sledding difficult upon arrival as he went 0-2. Both losses came to Ohio wrestlers, Cooper Driscoll of St. Ed’s, 7-2, and Massillon Perry’s Cameron Plotts, 11-6. Leitzel is an honorable mention entry in the 150-pound national rankings.

Their female counterparts both reached the finals with Fernandez (140 pounds) winning her second Ironman crown and Mutschler coming up short in her title quest at 105 pounds. Both are ranked number one in Maryland at their respective weights.

Fernandez, a two-time world champion that is ranked No. 1 in the country, earned her gold with a first period fall over GG Garduno (St. Ignatius Prep, IL) in 1:31. In the semis, Fernandez met and discarded No. 23 Claudia Heeney of Lockport Township in Illinois, by fall, 1:48. Typically a stacker of technical falls, all of Fernandez’s Women of Ironman wins came on pins, the first two in 52 and 42 seconds.

“I’m so grateful every time I have the opportunity to represent Spalding on my singlet, especially with Summer, who performed her butt off this weekend! Overall, I’m just going to let this win motivate me to keep giving it my all in the room, and by no means am I going to let it satisfy me for the rest of the season.”

Mutschler came in ranked seventh at 105 pounds and met a girl who came down from 110 pounds where she was ranked eighth, Hillcrest, Utah’s Eva Zimmerman. The size difference was visible, and Zimmerman used it to overpower the sophomore, working to a 12-0 major decision.

Mutschler defeated Ohio’s Isabella Thiel (Walsh Jesuit), 9-4, in the semis and pinned her previous three foes in 1:25, 1:45, and 29 seconds.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to compete against national-level competition at this prestigious tournament and excited to get back to practice Monday to keep improving,” said Mutschler.

The Blair Boys were the only Maryland males to stand on the Ironman podium, Salah Tsarni (190 pounds) and Cael Mielnik (285). Tsarni, who is ranked 10^th in the nation, transferred to New Jersey’s Blair Academy for his junior campaign, while Mielnik has been there since his high school career began.

Tsarni won by fall in his opening match then encountered No. 14 Dom Sumpolec (Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA) in the Round of 16 where he was tripped up in the ultimate tiebreaker, 2-1. Tsarni added a tech fall and a decision to his stat sheet before reaching the blood round.

The blood round afforded Tsarni an opportunity to revisit old wounds as he squared off with No. 3 Aaron Stewart (Warren Township, IL). Stewart beat Tsarni in the finals of the U.S. Open to claim the World Team spot. Stewart did not place at the World Championships. Tsarni had to work overtime to pull it out but avenged the previous result with a 4-1 win.

After that win, the Buc beat St. Ed’s Frankie Pfeiffer, 7-1, and received a forfeit from No. 1 Adam Waters (Faith Christian Academy, PA) to land in the consolation finals. His opponent would be No. 2 Jimmy Mastny of Marian Central Catholic in Illinois. It was close, but in the end, Mastny came out on top, 5-3.

Mielnik is rated as the 29^th best heavyweight in the high school landscape and lost three matches to guys ranked ahead of him, including a 4-2 decision in the seventh-place match versus No. 27 Zayne Candelaria (Sunnyside, AZ). Prior to that, Mielnik was pinned by No. 26 Isaiah Taylor (AIM Academy, PA), a National Prep Tournament placer. Mielnik teched Bixby, Oklahoma’s Redmond Lindsey, 19-3, in the blood round.

Up top, No. 5 Alex Taylor (Mount Vernon, Ohio) sent Mielnik to the consolation bracket on an 11-3 major decision. Two major decisions advanced Mielnik through the early stages, leading to his meeting with Taylor.

“Honestly, heading into Ironman, repeating my title was the last thing on my mind,” offered Fernandez. “Throughout the entire tournament, before every match, I was just focused on trusting all the hard work that my teammates and I have put in so far this year and doing my best to showcase it every time I stepped on the mat. I’m so grateful every time I have the opportunity to represent Spalding on my singlet, especially with Summer, who performed her butt off this weekend! Overall, I’m just going to let this win motivate me to keep giving it my all in the room, and by no means am I going to let it satisfy me for the rest of the season.”