Middletown takes Hub Cup Invitational

Freshman Gus Smith (113) and 10th-ranked senior Brodie Burdette (138) were champions among six finalists and nine top three divisional finishers as seventh-ranked Middletown captured the 20-team Hub Cup Invitational at North Hagerstown High.

Runners-up were fifth-ranked senior Carter Canale (165), ninth-ranked junior Liam Soe (126), 15th-ranked junior Tobias White (157) and senior Xavier Ford (150), with third-place efforts from second-ranked senior Landon Hofgesang (285), 10th-ranked sophomore Zach Landis (175) and 14th-ranked sophomore Ryker Keeney (144).

Sophomore Aiden McDonald (215) was fourth for the Knights (258 points), who overwhelmed 20th-ranked second-place Glenelg (154) by placing 10 wrestlers within the top four of their weight classes.

The Knights are coached by Chad Strube, a former two-time Class 2A-1A state champion in 2009 and 2010 after placing second as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore for Middletown.

"They did a great job this weekend in a tough tournament," Strube said. "All of the guys wrestled hard and tough, even when they were behind."

Smith (20-2 record) used falls in 2:39 and 3:35 to reach his semifinal, where he earned a 5-3 decision over eventual third-place finishing sophomore Youssef Abdel Rahin of Urbana. Smith pinned Thomas Johnson sophomore Caden Huskey at 5:06 of their title match.

A transfer from Saint James Academy where he placed fifth in the Maryland Independent/Private Schools' Tournament, Burdette (23-1) won his title match with a fall in 2:31 over Greencastle junior Chance Zimmerman.

Burdette reached the finals following an 85-second pin, a technical fall and a semifinal 5-0 decision over 19th-ranked Sherwood senior JJ Andrews, who was fifth in the Montgomery County Tournament and third at regions.

"Gus Smith and Brodie Burdette had impressive showings," Strube said. "In their finals, they ended up pinning and teaching their opponents."

Canale is a returning champion in the Frederick County and Class 2A-1A West Region tournaments who was a Class 2A-1A state runner-up following a 10-6 state title bout loss to then-sophomore Ethan Vayro of Lackey.

To reach the finals, Canale used a fall in 3:57, a 14-1 decision and an 11-10 semifinal victory over LaPlata senior Brett Wilkinson, who finished fifth and fourth in last year's Southern Maryland Athletic Conference and regional tournaments.

But Canale lost his title match by 10-1 major decision against sixth-ranked junior Logan Brown of Northwest, who has finished second, first and third in the Montgomery County, Class 4A-3A West Region and Class 4A-3A state tournaments.

A winner of last month's Damascus Holiday Tournament after having been a runner-up there last year, Brown described the action versus Canale, against whom he dictated the action from the neutral position.

"My strategy is always to score first, but to also continue to build on that. I shot a double-leg takedown within the first 30 seconds of the match, which led to a scramble. I thought I had scored on the edge, but I didn't get the points. But that shot gave me the confidence that I could take him down. After some movement and setups, I shot my double again and was able to finish the takedown to end the first period with me ahead, 3-0. Carter picked neutral to start the second period, which added to my confidence," said Brown, whose record on the year is 16-0 with five each in pins and technical falls.

"I knew that I had him at that point, so I just needed to keep the pressure on him. I took him down with a knee-pick early in the second period, and after riding him and a mat return, he was able to get to his feet and escape. Leading, 6-1, entering the third period, and after escaping, I went right to work securing another double-leg takedown and finished on top with the 10-1 victory. I knew Carter was ranked above me and that he was a state finalist and a Frostburg commit. I don't really like watching my opponents wrestle on film. I leave that to my coaches."

Brown's path to the finals comprised a 91-second pin, a technical fall and a semifinal fall in 5:41 against Sherwood's third-ranked senior Connor Flickinger. By defeating Flickinger, Brown avenged his 4-1 loss in last year’s Montgomery County Tournament championship bout.

Brown continues to notch impressive victories, including a 7-6 decision over seventh-ranked sophomore Soshiant Ahanj-Elias of Bullis, who was third in last year’s Maryland Independent/Private Schools’ State Tournament.

There is also Brown's 12-0 major decision against ninth-ranked Urbana senior Carter Kuhar, who was fourth, third and sixth in last season’s Frederick County, Class 4A-3A West Region and Class 4A-3A states.

Poolesville crowned the Wexler twins, seventh-ranked Zoya (175) and 14th-ranked Asa (157), each of whom improved to 13-0 and were champions at last month's Knightmare Invitational at Parkville.

Asa used consecutive falls in 98 seconds and 5:48 to reach the semifinals, where he required a 10-9 decision to defeat Martinsburg senior Devon Bell.

Asa won his title match by 18-10 major decision which dethroned White, a winner of a 4-1 overtime semifinal against Glenelg's fifth-ranked senior Josh Choi.

A Howard County runner-up who was third at regions and fifth at states, Choi defeated Bell, 14-5, for third place.

“Winning the Hub Cup championship really is a benchmark in my wrestling career because my opponent had a much better overall record and was the previous Hub Cup Champion," said Asa Wexler, a sixth-place finisher in the Montgomery County and regional tournaments.

"I felt so out of place being in the finals of such a hard tournament, but I surprised myself. This is somewhere I've never been before. It's showing me how much I have improved since I stepped on the mat for the first time in eighth grade."

Asa was born with an autosomal recessive visual impairment called “achromatopsia,” a rare inherited eye disorder that affects color vision. Asa has utilized special visually impaired accommodations at Poolesville, where he is an honors student.

Asa and his opponents must begin a match by touching palms. Contact must be maintained throughout the match, and if contact is not maintained, the referee has to blow the whistle and stop the action in order to get the wrestlers back into contact.

"I am extremely fortunate to have my twin brother, Zoya, make his way to the finals alongside me. It is much easier to go out onto the mat and wrestle your hardest when you know your brother is fighting the same battle as you," Asa said.

"Only Zoya is 18 pounds heavier. I have a lot to learn before I reach the county tournament, and this tournament taught me a lot about my positioning and mindset. I can't wait to face the next challenge that comes my way."

Zoya used a fall in 1:45, an 11-5 decision and a 14-2 major decision over Landis to reach the finals, where finished off Martinsburg senior Andrew Thompson in 1:43.

"It feels very good winning the Hub Cup. I think this tournament is a huge steppingstone that I completed on my way to the county, region and state championships,” Zoya Wexler said.

“But winning the finals was made easier when my twin brother, Asa, did it before me. Watching Asa’s match gave me more energy and motivated me to win. If I didn’t win, I would have let him and many other people down, and I hate doing that.”

Zoya Wexler is a returning champion in the Montgomery County and Class 2A-1A West Regional tournaments who was fourth at Class 2A-1A states last season.

“It’s really hard to be on a team where you are going to hard tournaments, wrestling hard matches, working your way through the bracket with no teammate in your shoes as well. I have counted on Asa to be there as well,” Zoya Wexler said.

“I can say, right now, that winning doesn’t mean everything. Learning and growing from your mistakes and success is what shapes you into the wrestler, and, more importantly, into the person you want to become in the future, so take it one match at a time."

The Wexlers have the right coach in Chris Tao, a 47-year-old who is the eldest of four wrestling brothers. All four Tao siblings became coaches after wrestling at Wheaton for the late and legendary Dave Moquin, a Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee.

Chris placed fourth at regionals at 160 before graduating in 1996, and Matt, 44, was a 160-pound state runner-up as a senior in ’99. Matt is the lone Tao to win county and regional titles, doing so in his final high school season.

A.J., 40, coaches at Magruder, and Tim, 43, at Oakdale. A 2003 graduate, A.J. was twice a county runner-up, qualifying for states three times while wrestling 103-to-125. Competing from 103 to 130 before graduating in 2000, Tim placed as high as second at counties and regionals and fourth at states.

"I thought that Zoya wrestled probably his best matches of the year so far. He continues to grow and learn. Asa also wrestled some really stiff competition and wrestled some of his best matches of the season as well. The hardest thing for Asa, is that due to blind rules, you need to be in constant contact," Chris Tao said.

"Normally when a wrestler is up one to three points with 15 seconds or less left in the whole match, wrestlers will back up and stall. Asa can’t do that due to his adapted rules, so we need to come up with some plans on how and what he can do if that situation comes up again down the road."

Also crowning two champions was Thomas Johnson in third-ranked senior Rhys Ferguson (144) and sophomore Reese Davis (132), each of whom defeated one of the Womack siblings of Richard Montgomery.

A fourth-place finisher in the Frederick County Tournament, Davis won his championship by forfeit after Joey Womack was disqualified from his semifinal bout.

Reese's victories included a quarterfinal 7-6 decision over eventual sixth-place finishing senior Bradly Hamilton of South Hagerstown as well as major decisions by scores of 11-1 and 12-2.

Ferguson scored falls in 50 and 55 seconds before winning his semifinal, 10-9, over Keeney, a returning runner-up in the Frederick County and regional tournaments.

Ferguson then scored a title match fall in 1:53 against the Rockets' third-ranked senior Isisah Womack, whose 40-0 record of a year ago included winning the Montgomery County, Regional and Class 4A-3A state tournaments.

"I took him down with a high crotch and got my back points from there. I didn't plan on being reversed, but he's a great wrestler and in matches like these, the unexpected can happen," said Ferguson, who transferred from Walkersville High.

"I simply maintained my composure, biding my time, and I found the opportunity to put the match away. When you have opponents who are equally matched in strength and speed, mistakes are what provides the victory for one over the other."

Second-ranked Class 2A-1A state runner-up senior Seth Crawford of Brunswick also owns a fall this year over Isisah Womack, whose record slipped to 14-2 with 10 pins and four technical falls.

Womack scored a fall in 1:59 of last year's state title bout against North Point senior Gable Pauole, who entered their clash with a record of 44-0 and as a defending champion in both the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference and Class 4A-3A East Region Tournaments.

Ferguson has placed second once and third twice in the Frederick County Tournament, fourth and second at regions, and third at Class 2A-1A states. Ferguson's record on the year is 26-0 with 17 pins and five technical falls, with a career mark of 133-15 with 71 pins and 17 technical falls.

"I didn't know much about him other than he's a good wrestler. I was told that he was an undefeated two-time state champion. I am familiar with facing opponents with these types of credentials," Ferguson said. "I knew that he was tall and lanky, and there is a certain strategy to wrestling against opponents with that type of physique. I also knew that if I went out there and set the tone of the match by putting him on the defensive, I would be able to control the match, and that's what I did."

Womack's accomplishments of a year ago included victories by 20-3 technical fall and 16-3 major decision over Class 4A-3A state champion Neil Sharma of Magruder.

Womack transferred from Saint Frances Academy of Baltimore back to his home neighborhood school and the Rockets’ program, where, as a freshman, he placed third at counties before winning a regional title and placing fifth at the Class 4A-3A state tournament at 113 pounds.

Isisah and Joey had enjoyed a season of success at Saint Frances, finishing first and third as a sophomore and freshman in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament. Isisah became the Panthers’ first ever MIAA champion.

South Hagerstown crowned ninth-ranked sophomore Logan Ardinger (106), whose championship bout 4-0 decision over Northwest's eighth-ranked senior Kyle Osborn followed pins 57 and 81 seconds as well as one in 2:46.

Ardinger is a defending champion in the Washington County Tournament, and Osborn was fourth in last year's Montgomery County Tournament,

North Hagerstown Hub Cup Team Scores

Middletown (MD) 258

Glenelg (GL) 154.

Strasburg (ST) 153.5

Martinsburg (MA) 144.5

La Plata (LP) 133.0

Gov. Thomas Johnson (TJ) 129.5

Poolesville (PO) 126.5

Sherwood (SW) 125.5

Northwest (NW) 115.0

Urbana (UR) 110.0

Greencastle (GC) 93.0

Richard Montgomery (RM) 81.5

Stone Bridge (SB) 78.0 1

Loudon Valley (LV) 67.0 1

South Hagerstown (SH) 67.0

Southern Garrett (SG) 57.5

Smithsburg (SM) 53.0 0

North Hagerstown (NH) 51.0 0

Maryland School for the Deaf (MS) 33.

Digital Harbor (DH) 0.0

106

1st: Logan Ardinger (SH) d Kyle Osborn (NW), 4-0

3rd: Miguel Echevarria (UR) d Aaron Zehner (SW), 14-10

5th: Parker Brown (MD) d. Aalyan Traiq (RM), 7-3

113

1st: Gus Smith (MD p. Caden Huskey (TJ), 5:06

3rd: Youssef Abdel Rahin (UR) d Kahl Cordell (GC), 8-4

5th: Mason Rossi (RM) d. Nick Palankar (NW), 7-6

120

1st: Aiden Swink (ST) d. Gabriel Helmen (UR), 10-5

3rd: Landon Clore (SW) p. Moose Reichow (SB), 1:57

5th: Cam Bowman (MD) by ff Derrick Peters (LV)

126

1st: Sabastian Garcia (SB) d. Liam Soe (MD), 6-1

3rd: Nick Putnam (TJ) d. Eli Troxell (ST), 11-5

5th: Nicolas Ortiz (RM) p. Zach Frattali (GL), 2:28

132

1st: Reese Davis (TJ) b ff. Joey Womack (RM)

3rd: Kaden Riggleman (MA) p. Ethan Dimmerling (PO), 2:57

5th: Nolan Adolphson (ST) d. Bradly Hamilton (SG), 7-4

138

1st: Brodie Burdette (MD) p. Chance Zimmerman (GC), 2:31

3rd: Deegan Woomer (LP) d. JJ Andrews (SW), 10-5

5th: Cole Harcrow (LV) d. Nathaniel Hernandez (UR), 9-6

144

1st: Rhys Ferguson (TJ) p. Isaiah Womack (RM), 1:53

3rd: Ryker Keeney (MD) d. Drew Earehart (MA), 7-3

5th: Owen Hannah (LP) p. Ramzi Emad (GL), 2:54

150

1st: Collin Schaffner (MA) d. Xavier Ford (MD), 8-3

3rd: Braedon Martinez (ST) d. Caleb Nicholson (LV), 10-6

5th: Kaden Dietrich (SM) d. Justin Suh (RM), 6-3

157

1st: Asa Wexler (PO) d. Tobias White (MD), 18-10

3rd: Josh Choi (GL) mj Devon Bell (MA), 14-5

5th: Thomas Clodfelter (SB) p. Ben Foster (SM), 2:05

165

1st: Logan Brown (NW) mj. Carter Canale (MD, 10-1

3rd: Brett Wilkinson (LP) mj. Conner Flickinger (SW), 13-5

5th: Daniel Bianco (GL) d. Marcello Falconio (NH), 2:13

175

1st: Zoya Wexler (PO) p. Andrew Thompson (MA), 1:43

3rd: Zach Landis (MD) p. Damien Johns (GC), 1:35

5th: Max Meiser (LP) tf. James McCoy (GL), 3:00

190

1st: Mason Kirby (LV) p. Carson Duckworth (ST), 1:50

3rd: Devonte Lynn (NW) d. Matthew Garcia (GL), 12-7

5th: Jack Whitley (LP) d. . Bennett Mayne (NH), 9-4

215

1st: Terrell Cofield (MA) d. AJ Lopez (SW), 11-4

3rd: Ben Jansen (GC) p. Aiden McDonald (MD), 1:48

5th: Caleb Ladson (GL) d. Gianluca Radice (PO), 2:08

285

1st: Hutson Conrad (ST) p. Sima Saavedra (LP), 3:38

3rd: Landon Hofgesang (MD) p. Mason Knapp (GL), 0:44

5th: Baen Summerlin (MS) d. Mykes Hopkins (SW), 1-0