Maryland Wrestlers are Beasts

Photo Credit: Thanks Chris Jones!

The Maryland Girls and Boys had some standout performances last weekend at the Beast of the East at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware. Four Girls reached the awards stand and seven boys staked a claim to hardware.

The Ladies were first on Thursday and Friday and so to keep things right, and recognize chivalry, it’s Ladies First for this recap.

SPALDING GIRLS LEAD THE WAY AT BEAST

Archbishop Spalding had two of Maryland’s three finalists with No. 1 Taina Fernandez (140 pounds) adding a third Beast of the East crown to a resume that includes two World Championships (won back-to-back and running) and No. 7 Summer Mutschler (105) falling short in her title quest. Both are the number ones in their weights in Maryland.

Fernandez stuck Chloe Ress (Choate Rosemary Hall, CT) shortly after the one-minute mark, 1:04, in the finals. In the semifinals, Fernandez won by fall in 3:42 over Jenny Gautreau (Owen J. Roberts, PA). In the early rounds, the junior added pins of 1:55, 22 seconds, and 27 seconds to the bracket.

Mutschler had the unfortunate privilege to face No. 1 Jaclyn Bouzakis, a World Bronze Medalist, in her final and succumbed to a 19-4 technical fall. To gain her finals birth, Mutchler dropped a 15-4 major decision on No. 24 Ashley Stank (Quakertown, PA). The sophomore pinned all three of her early round foes in the first period, 1:21, 29 seconds, and 15 seconds.

MARYLAND’S THIRD FINALIST, KESI TSARNI

No. 12 Kesi Tsarni (Bullis) was the first of the Tsarni siblings to grace the final stage as Salah would join her in that arena with his Sunday antics. Kesi, who is top-ranked at 145 in MD, landed in the 145-pound final opposite No. 1 Violette Lasure (Chestnut Ridge, Pennsylvania) and was given a 7-0 loss. Tsarni planted Paige Jox (Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania) 3:40 into their semifinal. To advance through the bracket, Tsarni recorded a 17-1 tech and a 50 second pin.

AGURS MAKING THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS PROUD

Gwynn Park’s Jada Agurs, who is not nationally ranked but is rated No. 3 at 105 in Maryland, gave the public schools a place winner at 110 pounds with her seventh place showing that includes a tournament ending win by fall over Stafford, Virginia’s Julie Gatto, 4:32.

Agurs fell to Adriana Yodice (Paramus Catholic, New Jersey) after beating another Jersey girl, Sophia Salazar (Morris Hills), 8-5, in the consolation bracket following a string of two pins. Up top, Agurs lost to Cheltenham’s Samantha Bentz (PA), 6-2 and had a 20 second fall. Bentz was eliminated by Gallo on the backside.

NOAH TUCKER SETS THE TONE FOR MARYLAND BOYS

Of the Maryland Boys who still ply their trade on home soil, Bullis’ top-rated Noah Tucker (No. 26 nationally) had the highest placing, coming in third at 175 pounds. In the consolation rounds Tucker beat Brock Frable (Southern Lehigh, PA), 11-7, then won an overtime battle with No. 28 Jake Robie (Christiansburg, VA), 10-7.

Tucker advanced all the way to the semis where he engaged with No. 21 Jackson Angelo (Lake Highland Prep, FL) and lost a tough one, 4-1. Two tech falls came in the early going, including a beating of Calvert Hall’s Izaac Robertucci (No. 6 at 175 in MD). A 4-1 win followed in the round of 16 against Ibrahim Dheel (Mountain View, VA), and 9-6, in the quarters versus Elijah Simak (Nazareth, PA).

Three Marylanders ended the affair in sixth place, Mt. St. Joseph’s Brooklyn Pickett (150 pounds), Archbishop Spalding’s Zane Leitzel (157), and Loyola-Blakefield’s Jayden Jackson (126 pounds).

PICKETT SHOCKS NATIONALLY RANKED AMATO

Pickett garnered the most excitement when he met No. 3 Sonny Amato (Rumson-Fair Haven, NJ) in the 150-pound quarters and took control early on. The win, while being unexpected, did not unfold in a manner that suggested luck was involved as it is with some upsets. Pickett was holding an early lead and had put two takedowns on the card, while working on a third, he secured a cradle and stuck Amato 44 seconds into the final period, 4:44.

Pickett, who is ranked No. 1 in Maryland and No. 27 in the nation, was unseeded at the Beast. One of many head scratching decisions from the seeding meeting.

Pickett began his run to the quarters with a familiar rival in national honorable mention, Jackson Weller (Delran, NJ), a wrestler he defeated in overtime at the Journeymen Fall Classic and added a 4-3 win to his stat sheet here. A forfeit then a 7-4 win against Noah Curren (Norwin, PA) led to the meeting with Amato.

After taking out Amato, Pickett would not taste victory again as he ran into a highly motivated No. 5 Charlie DeSena of Lake Highland Prep and was set aside with a 23-7 tech fall. In the consolation semis, No. 15 Tyler Traves (Mountain View) handled Pickett on a 7-2 tally. No. 9 Brady Hand (Christiansburg, VA) slapped the final loss on the Gael, 10-1, in their placement match.

LEITZEL GETS COMFORTABLE AT 157 POUNDS

Leitzel was nationally ranked as a honorable mention entry at 150 pounds then suffered two losses at Ironman that pushed him off the list. While watching Leitzel at Ironman, it seemed like something was off. The confidence and swagger were not as prevalent.

Perhaps, it was the cut to 150 doing him wrong because up at 157 pounds for the Beast, Leitzel looked like the guy we’re used to seeing and will be cracking those rankings again after gaining wins over two from the honorable mention portion, Zachery Little (Sumit, TN) and Justin Lowery (Loudon County, VA) en route to his final landing spot.

Leitzel opened with a tech fall and a pin before running into Honorable Mention Joe Monticello (Hanover Park, NJ), another inexplicably unseeded grappler, suffering a tech fall loss, 16-1.

Two pins in the consolation bracket came before the two ranked wins. Leitzel dropped consecutive 4-1 decisions starting in the consolation semis to Nazareth’s Cade Campbell and ending with Drew Moro (Brecksville, OH).

JAYDEN JACKSON’S GRAND 100TH WIN

Jackson’s Beast trip was given more to celebrate about when the senior collected the 100th win of his career and parlayed those good vibes into a place on the podium.

Jackson came out on fire registering two tech falls before his round of 16 bout with Jack Baron (Germantown Academy, PA), who edged him, 1-0. Four wins in a row delivered Jackson to placement position. Notable wins came over Matthew Mulligan (Bergen Catholic, NJ) by fall, 3:54, and 7-4, versus Paramus Catholic’s Joseph Pellicci. Jackson also decked erroneously seeded Brandon Cynar (Woodbridge, VA), who was somehow granted the third seed.

A consolation semi loss to Honorable Mention Carter Chunko (Saucon Valley, PA) by a 10-2 score led to a fifth-place match with Jack Cole (Bethlehem Catholic, PA) and a 7-5 loss.

COOPER BREAKS THROUGH AS A FRESHMAN

Another member of the Loyola collective, freshman Charles Cooper (No. 1 at 106 in MD), joined Jackson in the placer’s circle with an eighth-place finish at 106 pounds.

Cooper had a tight match in the round of 64, resulting in a 7-5 win over Joshua Perez (Xavier, CT), and then his first encounter with Stephen Bagocius (Camden Catholic, NJ), who teched the Don, 21-4.

Once down below, Cooper peeled off four straight wins to land in placement position. Two of the wins could have gone either way with Cooper securing an ultimate tiebreaker win over Cody Weidner (Civic Memorial, IL) and a 10-8 decision of Dylan Deck (Germantown Academy).

Bergen Catholic’s Ryan Halal’s 14-1 win dropped Cooper into his second rendezvous with Bagocius, and while this was closer, it was still not in the Dons favor as he fell, 10-1.

SALAH TSARNI REPLICATES RUNNER-UP FINISH IN A NEW SINGLET

A year ago, No. 10 Salah Tsarni was a runner-up at 165 pounds to Lake Highland Prep’s Claudio Torres. As Tsarni’s thirst for national level competition grew, the junior decided he needed a bigger arena, a place where he could be tested week-after-week, and that led to his departure from Bullis to the Blair Academy.

The growth the Blair practice room forces upon a wrestler started presenting itself to Tsarni at last week’s Ironman when he avenged a U.S. Open Finals loss to Illinois’ Aaron Stewart (Warren Township).

At the Beast, another bit of evidence of the ongoing changes to Tsarni came about when he picked off World Bronze Medalist, No. 5 Tanner Hodgins (Howell, NJ) in the semifinals with a last second takedown. Prior to that Tsarni discarded No. 15 Alex Reyes (Holmdel, NJ), 7-1. Three pins came early on for the Buc.

Tsarni then found himself in the finals with a guy who beat him in the ultimate tiebreaker at Ironman, No. 9 Dominic Sumpolec (Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA). Sumpolec was more aggressive in this one and worked to an 8-4 outcome.

LIAM MCGETTIGAN ENJOYING THE HIGHLANDER LIFE

When news broke of Liam McGettigan’s migration south to Lake Highland Prep, Legacy’s initial thoughts were, look out, he’s going to blow up down there. That’s not a slight to the Gilman program or coach Bryn Holmes, but the approach at Lake Highland is more nationally oriented.

They hit all the major tournaments and schedule duals with any of the top dogs that will take them on. They start with Ironman, then Beast, PowerAde, AND Escape the Rock. The only big tournament they are not attending is the Doc Buchanan in California and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that land on their schedule in the coming years.

The head coach down there; Mike Palazzo has a knack for taking guys on the periphery of the rankings and turning them into national level talents. Outside of this year’s edition of Tyler DeKraker, Palazzo doesn’t typically go after the blue-chip guys. He knows what he’s looking for in his wrestlers, finds them, and cultivates the talent quickly.

McGettigan placed at Ironman and Beast as a freshman but took his lumps at 113 pounds a year ago. It wasn’t just the regular season that gave him fits. In the offseason, there were more questionable losses going on his sheet than flattering wins.

In the early fall, there were signs of improvement but still not enough to get him added back into the national rankings. McGettigan walked into the Ironman and kept advancing all the way to the podium, picking up quality wins that garnered him a spot back in the rankings.

As the Beast opened, McGettigan was ranked 21st in the country now and was expected to place. As he slid through the rounds, the junior picked up a win over No. 26 Cael Muller (Notre Dame-Green Pond) and eventually found No. 1 Rylan Seacrist (Brecksville) staring him down in the semis. Seacrist posted a 19-4 tech.

McGettigan pushed that aside and got to work on his third-place finish which came over the nation’s 4th ranked wrestler, Killian Coluccio (Lacey Township), by an 8-4 score. McGettigan also defeated Muller at Ironman as part of his eighth-place showing.