MAWA South Region Qualifier

Before we dig into what happened at the MAWA South Region Qualifier at Northeast High School in Anne Arundel County the weekend after states (March 15-16), we will give you a little background on MAWA and how it works.

The Middle Atlantic Wrestling Association has been holding their folkstyle series for quite some time now. It existed when yours truly was still in the game. Tournaments like the one held at Northeast are considered District Events and the top four advance to the South Region Tournament.

There are four regions (North, South, East, and West) and they feed into the Eastern Nationals. The boys need to qualify for the regions through districts. The Girls can wrestle in the District Tournaments, but it is not a qualifier as it is for the boys, the four regions are open enrollment for the girls.

You can wrestle in other district tournaments, even in different states. The only caveat being once you qualify for the regionals; you cannot compete at any more district events. If you do, you will be disqualified.

Three of the regional tournaments are in Pennsylvania. The South Region Tournament on April 12th and 13th is held in the same location as the Eastern Nationals, the Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland. The Eastern Nationals are May 2nd through the 4th.

Wrestlers from the Northeast event will move onto the regions along with wrestlers competing at this weekend’s MAWA event at Howard High School (March 29th). They will be joined by wrestlers competing in districts in Delaware, New Jersey, and Virginia.

The majority of the firepower was found in the Elite Division. The Advanced Division, which is for younger contestants, also houses high school wrestlers.

Frederick’s Ian Tumi placed second at states and earned the No. 4 ranking at 165lbs. Cutting weight was not on his mind at MAWAs as Tumi mixed it up with the 189lbers, taking down South River’s sixth-place state placer, No. 18 Chris Millard, 8-5 in overtime.

Tumi was joined in victory by two of his teammates, Pyne Kyaw (111) and Victor Guerra (160, No. 11 at 150).

Kyaw pinned second place finisher Adriel Loh (Annapolis) in 2:48 in the Elite brackets. Guerra did his work on the Advanced side where he won his crown with a 4-1 sudden victory overtime win over Ivan Fiel (Ashburn, VA). Guerra decked Wise’s Dorian Jordan (No. 25 at 157) in the third period of their quarterfinal meeting, 3:37. These two divisions wrestle three 90 second periods.

Staying in Frederick County, Middletown crowned one champ in each classification. Liam Soe (No. 22 at 113) grabbed the Advanced 120lb crown with a 13-0 major decision of Tyrese Jupiter (Tuscarora).

State runner-up Carter Canale (No. 5 at 175) won the Elite 171lb wall chart with a 2:21 pin of Bohemia Manor’s Josh Allen (No. 22 at 157). Walkersville’s Jack Birth (No. 18 at 157) was fourth, dropping a 5-4 decision to Kollin Sullivan (Berkeley Springs, WV), in the consolation final.

In the semis, Allen beat Sullivan, who was a state silver medalist, 9-8. Canale beat Lansdowne’s Chase Swiger (No. 15 at 165) in the quarters, 10-2. Sullivan eliminated Swiger, who was fifth at states, in the consolation rounds.

Max Birth captured an Advanced 189lb gold for Walkersville in a match with Loyola-Blakefield’s Riley Miller (No. 8 at 175). Birth was holding an 8-6 advantage when Miller defaulted. Loyola did gain a champion in both age groups with Brendan Tobin (Advanced, 130) and Jayden Jackson (Elite, 125).

Tobin collected his top honors after posting a 9-3 decision of Middletown’s Ryker Keeney (No. 20 at 126). Jackson is a state champion that is ranked second at 120lbs but moved up a few pounds and downed Jakhai Taylor of New Town.

Richard Montgomery’s Isisah Womack (No. 4 at 138) laid claim to his first state crown this year and ran into the second-place finisher in the 2A/1A 138lb brackets, No. 7 Seth Crawford (Brunswick), in the Elite 145lb finals and won an overtime bout 6-3. Crawford beat the fifth-ranked Josh Hale of Loyola, 8-2, in the quarters.

Bowie’s No. 2 Jamil Morrow was tripped up in the state finals this year after striking gold the season before. In the Elite 220 slate, Morrow took out two New Town grapplers to claim the title. In the final bout, Morrow went into overtime to get by No. 12 Olasubomi Atanlogun, a fourth-place state placer in 2A/1A, 12-9 in SV. But in the semis, he stuck John Davis (No. 12 at 190, 4th at states), 4:16.

Jeffrey Archer staked claim to an Advanced gold for Bowie at 140lbs with an 11-0 major decision against Evan Rill of Arundel. Another Prince George’s County grappler pocketed an Elite title at 152lbs when Eleanor Roosevelt’s Leo Foreman (No. 7 at 144) won by tech fall versus Francis Scott Key’s Jesse Owings.

Milford Mill is another team that saw a wrestler win a gold in separate divisions as No. 2 Amory Hills won an Elite heavyweight title and Aaron Simmons won the Advanced 220lb title. Hills, a 2A/1A state champion, pinned No. 15 Owen Reilly (Bel Air), sixth in 4A/3A states, in the beginning period, 1:13. Simmons won a best of three challenge with Daniel Gaitan Jr. of Pasadena.

Northern of Calvert County doubled down on Advanced Champs as Logan Boyle took the 135lb gold and Jacob Gough secured top honors at 171. Boyle won a 14-9 match with Jacob Hughes (Manassas, VA). Gough, No. 20 at 165, pinned Jeremiah Bedell (Eleanor Roosevelt) 2:50 into their showdown.

The Eastern Shore saw Kent Island and Kent County crown Elite Division champs. Kent Island’s Gavin Lindner pinned Stephen Decatur’s Gavin McBride, 2:50, at 118lbs. Kent County’s fourth place state finisher, Scottie Ford (No. 17 at 150) slayed Jeremiah Mitchell (North County), 7-3, at 160lbs.

Chopticon’s Aiden Arnold (No. 17 at 120) won a 9-3 decision with La Plata’s Deegan Woomer for the Elite 130lb championship. The host school crowned Blake Harris at 135 in the Elite Ranks after a 17-8 major of Bethesda-Chevy Chase’s Felipe Jacome.

Glen Burnie’s Daniel Canas dropped a 16-0 tech on Ethan Bittenbender (Ashburn, VA) for the Advanced 110lb bracket.

A noteworthy result came from the 142lb third place match in open division when two guys ranked at 132lbs toed the line and No. 13 Cooper Cammarata (Tuscarora), a fourth-place state placerer in 4A/3A, downed private school state champion, No. 5 Christian Manley (Mt. Carmel), 4-1 in overtime.

Both lost in the championship bracket to the eventual gold medalist from Frederick Chase De Maille. De Maille defeated James Laubach of Outsiders Wrestling Club, 4-1, in the finals.

Elite (only bracketed weights show up on this list)

118

1st Gavin Lindner MD (Stevensville) F Gavin Mcbride MD (Berlin), 2:50

3rd Owen Healy MD (Laurel) DEC Jay Resnik (Pasadena), 5-3

125

1st Jayden Jackson MD (Baltimore) TF Jakhai Taylor MD (Randallstown), 21-6 1:21

3rd Jalani Lewin MD (Odenton) DEC Maurice Owens (Pasadena), 7-5

130

1st Aiden Arnold MD (Mechanicsville) DEC Deegan Woomer MD (La Plata), 9-3

3rd Will Brinker VA (Brambleton) F Joshua Cimo DE (Frederica), 0:40

135

1st Blake Harris (Pasadena) MD Felipe Jacome MD (Chevy Chase), 17-8

3rd Joe Silberman MD (Reisterstown) DEC Logan Henry MD (Pasadena), 4-1

140

1st Aydan Livelsberger PA (Hanover) F Evan Clarke MD (Baltimore), 1:01

3rd Cayden Boedecker MD (Jefferson) MD Zachary Capps VA (Arlington), 13-0

145

1st Isisah Womack MD (Gaithersburg) DEC Seth Crawford MD (Brunswick), 6-3 SV

3rd Joshua Hale MD (Manchester) DEC Noah Shird MD (Parkville), 2-0

152

1st Leo Foreman MD (University Park) TF Jesse Owings MD (Westminster), 19-4 4:04

3rd Ediz Buchin MD (Cheverly) DEC Jamison Cramer VA (Hamilton), 7-6 UTB

160

1st Scottie Ford MD (Chestertown) DEC Jeremiah Mitchell MD (Severna Park), 7-3

3rd Hayden Tyree MD (Brandywine) DEC Juwon Omotoso MD (Randallstown), 3-1

171

1st Carter Canale MD (Middletown) F Josh Allen MD (Warwick), 2:21

3rd Kollin Sullivan WV (Berkeley Springs) DEC Jack Birth MD (Walkersville), 5-4

189

1st Ian Tumi MD (Frederick) DEC Chris Millard MD (Edgewater), 8-5 SV

3rd Teagan Gratkowski MD (Pasadena) F John Edwards MD (Lusby), 0:56

220

1st Jamil Morrow MD (Bowie) DEC Olasubomi Atanlogun MD (Owings mill), 12-9 SV

3rd John Davis MD (Owings Mills) FOR Sam Oji ii MD (Frederick)

Advanced

110

1st Daniel Canas MD (Glen Burnie) TF Ethan Bittenbender VA (Ashburn), 16-0 3:54

3rd Brock Katzenberger MD (Baltimore) F Amir Jah MD (Greenbelt), 2:35

120

1st Liam Soe MD (Middletown) MD Tyrese Jupiter MD (Frederick), 13-0

3rd Jackson Caraballo PA (Quakertown) F Jase Diaz DE (Magnolia), 2:15

125

1st Van Ferguson PA (Spring Grove) F Kaiden Hetrick MD (Arnold), 0:37

3rd Andrew Bevilacqua MD (Arnold) DEC Blake Gezelle MD (Annapolis), 3-2

130

1st Brendan Tobin MD (Lutherville Timonium) DEC Ryker Keeney MD (Middletown), 9-3

3rd Canaan Cornish MD (Salisbury) DEC Jake Rivero MD (Salisbury), 3-1

135

1st Logan Boyle AL (North beach) DEC Jacob Hughes VA (Manassas), 14-9

3rd Matthew Mayr VA (Berryville) TF Harvin Alvarez (Pasadena), 19-3 1:47

140

1st Jeffrey Archer MD (Pasadena) MD Evan Rill MD (Annapolis), 11-0

3rd Jj Spence DE (Marydel) DEC James Pettiford MD (Clarksville), 4-1 SV

145

1st Chase Alvarez VA (Ashburn) DEC Carter Straight VA (Stephens City), 7-1

3rd Nika Rakis MD (Olney) MD Rajat Bhaskaran DE (Wilmington), 12-0

152

1st Reese Keene VA (Chantilly) TF Luke Monaco MD (Bethesda), 16-1 3:58

3rd Mozamil Nasratyar VA (Brambleton) FOR Alexander Little MD (Sykesville)

160

1st Victor Guerra (Pasadena) DEC Ivan Fiel VA (Ashburn), 4-1 SV

3rd Dorian Jordan MD (Upper Marlboro) DEC Zachary Landis MD (Middletown), 7-2