Northern-Garrett & Nate Wilhelm are Hungry

Northern-Garrett senior Nate Wilhelm has had his ups and downs this season, which is by design, according to coach Casey Kamp.

Ranked #8 by Legacy Wrestling at 126 pounds, Wilhelm is 21-3 with 12 pins, having suffered all three losses at 132 pounds.

But Kamp believes that Wilhelm’s setbacks at the higher weight class during the regular season will ultimately make him a winner by moving down for the Bi-County, Class 2A-1A West Region and Class 2A-1A state tournaments.

“Having an undefeated record is not always good going into the state tournament,” said Kamp, who placed third as a freshman and won three consecutive Class 2A-1A state titles before graduating from Northern-Garrett in 2006. “I think being battle-tested and pushing the limits is very important. I strive to get losses for all of my wrestlers. You cannot be afraid to lose.”

Wilhelm is motivated, having placed second and third at states during the past two seasons.

“This is my last year of wrestling, so I want that state championship,” Wilhelm said. “I want it more than ever, not only for my school but also to help me to get into college.”

Kamp’s 10th-ranked Huskies are 20-3 overall heading into this weekend’s Bedford High Tournament in Bedford, Pennsylvania, having lost earlier this year to eighth-ranked regional rival Middletown, sixth-ranked Stephen Decatur, and West Virginia’s top-rated AAA team, University.

Kamp said the 34-team Bedford tournament features 33 teams from Pennsylvania, with only the Huskies being from Maryland.

The Huskies are coming off Wednesday’s 58-12 rout of Williamsport during which Wilhelm lost a 132-pound decision following a last-second reversal by eighth-ranked senior Camden Hull.

On the flip side, Wilhelm has vanquished a pair of state champions, one being North Marion’s Noah Hess of West Virginia and the other being Elijah Collick of Stephen Decatur.

“It was cool to beat two state champions. I also knew that I could win if I just went out and dictated, wrestling my match,” Wilhelm said. “I knew that Noah Hess was a state champion and that I could win, but I didn’t even know that I was wrestling the state champion, Collick, when I beat him.”

Ranked second at 113 pounds, Collick was unbeaten before losing to Willhelm, 4-2.

“I lost to a kid who was good at riding legs,” said Collick of Wilhelm. “But I’ve been practicing how to get out of the legs ever since.”

A year ago, Wilhelm finished third at states behind Collick after South Carroll’s Grayson Barnhill pinned him in 76 seconds of their semifinal bout and lost his title bout to Collick, 5-3.

“I had never wrestled Barnhill before that, and I got cradled and pinned,” Wilhelm said. “It was a tough loss because I knew I could have done better.”

As a freshman, Wilhelm was runner-up to Rising Sun’s Tyler Garvin, a senior two-time state champion who is ranked No. 1 at 120 pounds and remains undefeated over the course of his career.

Wilhelm realizes he needs to build on his victories against Collick and Hess toward maintaining his focus on the ultimate goal.

“In the end, those were just two, normal season matches,” said Wilhelm, who will compete at 120 pounds at Bedford. “What really matters is what I do down at the state tournament.”

In 2000, the Huskies’ crowned four champions among six wrestlers who placed within the top three of their weight class to win the Class 2A-1A state tournament with a record 173 points.

Title-winners for that Huskies squad were Pete Stein (103), Matt McNees (119), Kamp’s cousin, Brandon Kamp (140) and Mark Wolf (160). There were also third-place finishes from Blake Huber (112) and Paul Beitzel (130).

Casey Kamp has accounted for three of the Huskies' 21 individual state championships, as has three-time title winner Jacob Brenneman before graduating in 2023. The Huskies had a trio of two-time state champions with Wolf (2000, 2001), Stein (2000,2002) and Andrew Maranduzzo (2009, 2010).

“Being a three-time state champ helps,” with credibility said Kamp, whose career record was 122-7. “But to be a good coach, it takes more than just being a good wrestler. Coaching is a lot more than just teaching moves.”

Wilhelm is among the Huskies’ six returning Bi-County champions who were Class 1A-2A West Regional runners-up. The others are juniors Matthew Beitzel (113), Caleb Brenneman (150) and Nick Riley (175), sophomore Devon Opel (132) and senior Jared Graham (165).

The seventh-ranked Beitzel and the eighth-ranked Brenneman are both 23-1 after having placed fourth at states. Beitzel has 11 pins and Brennemen has 15 falls.

Opel is 22-2 with 12 pins after having placed sixth at states. Riley is 20-5 with 13 pins, and Graham, 16-5 with 13 pins.

Freshmen Mason Glotfelty (120) and Lucas Wolf (144) are also contributing.

Glotfelty is team’s only undefeated wrestler at 23-0 with five pins, having placed third at junior league states as an eighth grader.

Lucas Wolf is the nephew of Mark Wolf, winner of titles at 160 in 2000 and at 171 in 2001. Wolf’s father, Michael, placed third at states at 152 pounds in 2005.

Kamp anticipates a postseason drop in weight for many of his wrestlers, with Beitzel targeted for 106, Glotfelty going 113, Wilhelm at 120, Opel, 126, Wolf, 138, and Brenneman, 145.

“We seek out competition. We constantly push the limit,” said Kamp, in his 11th season. “No one remembers your losses. It’s not about the middle of the season. They remember how you finish.”

Northern’s Class 2A-1A State Champions (21 total)

Three-time champs

Jacob Brenneman

Casey Kamp

Two-time champs

Adam Moranduzzo

Mark Wolf

Pete Stein

Individual champs (21 total)

Blair Bittinger (135) 1990

Jimmy Warnick (130) 1998

Brandon Stein (125) 1999

Jesse Shimrock (140) 1999

Pete Stein (103) 2000

Matt McNees (119) 2000

Brandon Kamp (140) 2000

Matt Wolf (160) 2000

Mark Wolf (171) 2001

Blake Huber (112) 2001

Pete Stein (125) 2002

Casey Kamp (103) 2004

Casey Kamp (112) 2005

Casey Kamp (125) 2006

Brock Glotfelty (215) 2007

Adam Moranduzzo (135) 2009

Adam Moranduzzo (145) 2010

Jorday Day (152) 2018

Jacob Brenneman (113) 2020

Jacob Brenneman (138) 2022

Jacob Brenneman (138) 2023

Class 2A-1A State Tournament Champs

2000 (State record 173 points)