Ray Oliver set the Stage

The Ray Oliver tournament a couple weeks ago appeared to have set the stage for the season.

Top-ranked sophomore Charlie Mutschler (113) improved on last year's sixth-place finish, second-ranked senior Zane Leitzel (150) upgraded from his third place effort of a year ago, and top-ranked junior Eli Gabrielson (126) earned his first Ray Oliver Tournament crown as the trio of champions led top-ranked Archbishop Spalding to the overall team title at McDonogh last weekend.

Fifth-ranked junior Quentin Bailey (138) and seventh-ranked sophomore Isaac Cicchetti (132) finished second, top-ranked junior Taina Fernandez (138) was third, and third-ranked freshman Lane Gowl (106) fourth as the Cavaliers' (215 points) overcame runner-up St. Christopher's (200) of Virginia and improved on their fourth-place finish of a year ago.

"Most of our kids wrestled up to or better than their seeds, so I think our team performed very well," said 24th-year coach Mike Laidley, whose Cavaliers dethroned sixth-ranked Gilman for last year's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament crown before tying the Greyhounds for the Maryland Independent/Private Schools' title. "Our upper weights are football players and have only been in our room for two weeks because of their playoff run. We have a long way to go, but the hard work from this past summer is paying off."

Leitzel used falls in 49 seconds, 2:20 and 3:23 to reach his semifinal bout, where he earned a 16-1 technical fall over Delaware Military Academy senior Piero Papili, the eventual third place finisher. Leitzel earned an 8-5 title match victory over fourth-ranked senior Joshua Hale of Loyola-Blakefield, a returning third-place finisher at MIAAs and private school states.

"It has been a long offseason of training," said Leitzel, a returning MIAA and private schools state champion who was fifth at National Preps. "I am proud of the team earning the championship over the weekend, but we have bigger goals to accomplish this season."

Gabrielson was equally dominant using pins in 1:43 and 2:58 and a 17-1 technical fall in his semifinal bout before winning his championship match by 8-0 major decision over second-ranked senior Jayden Jackson of Loyola, who is a returning MIAA and private schools state champion.

Gabrielson is a transfer from second-ranked South Carroll, where his 43-0 record included winning last year's Carroll County, region and Class 1A state titles and finishing second in the National High School Coaches' Association Tournament.

"I wanted that match very badly. I've been looking forward to it," said Gabrielson, who, as a 106-pound freshman at St. Mary's Ryken earned a title in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, was a private schools' state runner-up and placed fourth-place at National Preps. "Jayden's a good opponent and a tough wrestler. I just wanted to go out there and have fun and to be happy with the outcome no matter what, because, 'Praise God for the opportunity' was the mentality."

Mutschler used pins in 4:23, 3:51 and 3:44 to reach his semifinal bout to score a 7-0 decision over McDonogh's second-ranked sophomore Jacob Naylor, who was fifth at MIAAs and fourth at private school states a year ago. In the finals, Mutschler required a 13-10 decision to defeat Caesar Rodney senior Benjamin Donato.

"Wrestling Ben is always fun," said Mutschler, who was third at MIAAs and second at private school states last season. "I felt like I got stronger as the match went on. Back to the lab."

Fourth-ranked Loyola crowned sixth-ranked freshman Charlie Cooper (106) and top-ranked sophomore Tyler Verceles (120), the latter being a returning MIAA runner-up, private schools champion, and fifth place National Prep finisher, who earned the Ray Oliver Tournament title for the second straight season.

Cooper's path to the title comprised a 19-3 technical fall, a semifinal 3-1 decision over third place finishing freshman Luca Seramone of Delaware Military Academy and a 1-0 shutout of second-ranked McDonogh freshman Braidyn Taby in the finals.

Verceles used pins in 73, 91 and 98 seconds to earn a semifinal matchup and a 5-0 decision over the Cavaliers' second-ranked senior Eli Chesla, an eventual sixth-place finisher who was a runner-up at both MIAAs and private schools' states and finished eighth at National Preps last season. Verceles pinned Chantilly senior Carter Shin in 3:26 of their championship match.

"Our team battled incredibly hard this weekend. This was a strenuous event, but we persevered and came out with a respectable performance," Verceles said. "We have much room for growth, development and improvement as we have many newcomers in our starting lineup."

Top-ranked junior Noah Tucker (175) of Bullis has risen two weight classes from 157 pounds, where he placed third at each of last year's Ray Oliver and private schools' state tournaments.

Tucker was nevertheless impressive by winning his crown by decking four opponents and scoring a technical fall against the other comprising a 20-5 technical fall and pins in 1:56, 3:07, 3:08 and 2:59.

"I'm proud of my performances earning four pins and a technical fall. This was a great way to start out the season, and I'm looking to carry this momentum into the next few upcoming competitions," Tucker said. "This season, I'm looking forward to scoring more points, having fun, and looking for the results to take care of themselves. That, along with my continuing growth with my Bullis teammates as a whole."

Tucker's last fall in 2:59 came in the title bout against Gilman's fourth-ranked junior Arthur Konshak, who returned to the 175-pound division he competed in last year toward earning third place at Ray Oliver before winning MIAAs and private school states.

"For the pinning sequence against Arthur Konshak, I did a shuck off his elbow pass which dropped him to his knees, where I whipped him to his back into an over-and-under to secure the pin," Tucker said. "I am not at all too worried about any opponents I could possibly face. I'm simply concerned about my growth as a wrestler. I spent a lot of time this summer training and lifting with Capitol Wrestling Club and Chase Performance, so I decided to wrestle my natural weight and to trust in my training and abilities."

That summer training has led to Tucker being ranked 20th in the country.

Fourth-ranked junior Dominic Manna (157) has moved up from 150 pounds, where he finished seventh at Ray Oliver, fourth at MIAAs and fifth at states last season.

Manna followed a fall in 1:46 with consecutive technical falls by scores of 20-3, and, 19-3, to reach his semifinal bout. Manna ground out a 5-3 decision over Benedictine College Preparatory sophomore Elliott Crews, the eventual third-place finisher. Manna won his title match by equally difficult, 9-6, decision against junior Vicente Granada of Virginia's Frank W. Cox High School.

Bailey lost his title match by 7-1 decision to senior Noah Rankin of St. Christopher, this, after winning his semifinal match by overtime, 4-1, decision over top-ranked teammate Taina Fernandez.

An eventual third-place finisher, Fernandez's loss to Bailey was only her second to a Maryland wrestler, boy or girl, as a high school wrestler. In addition, Fernandez's loss to Bailey is considered by Laidley to be their first of a potential three wrestle-offs in their 138-pound weight class.

A returning state runner-up after finishing fifth at MIAAs, Bailey vanquished Fernandez, a four-time Super 32 title winner and two-time World Champion female grappler who ended last season ranked No. 1 nationally among girls at 135 pounds.

Ray Oliver was Fernandez’s first-ever high school tournament three years ago during her ninth-grade season, when she finished third following a 7-5 quarterfinal loss to then-junior teammate and eventual 126-pound champion Sean Garretson, a former MIAA and state title winner.

Fernandez was allowed to enter the McDonogh Tournament as an unattached participant, and, until facing Bailey, the loss to Garretson had been the lone defeat she had suffered to a male wrestler in Maryland.

As a 126-pound freshman at Ray Oliver, Fernandez posted a 5-1 record that included two pins and a major decision. Fernandez wrestled back to take third place with 5-3 victory over then-sophomore Drew Roggie of St. Christophers of Virginia.

Roggie entered the match with Fernandez having placed sixth as a freshman at the previous year’s National Preps Tournament where he defeated Jake Tamai of Mount St. Joseph, an eventual MIAA and private schools state champion.

Team Scores

1 Archbishop Spalding 215.0

2 St. Christopher`s VA 200.0

3 Frank W. Cox, VA 184.0

4 St. Paul VI Catholic, VA 158.0

5 Loyola-Blakefield 154.5

6 McDonogh 153.0

7 Delaware Military Academy 133.5

8 Benedictine, VA 102.0

9 Gilman 98.5

10 Bullis School 93.0

11 Sussex Central, DE 85.0

12 Saint Mark`s, DE 78.0

13 Dematha 73.5

14 Smyrna, DE 72.5

15 Caesar Rodney, DE 67.5

16 Chantilly, VA 65.0

16 Cosby, VA 65.0

18 St. Johns College, DC 57.5

19 New Kent, VA 57.0

20 Good Counsel 56.5

21 Cape Henry Collegiate, VA 56.0

22 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel 53.0

23 Calvert Hall College 46.5

24 James W. Robinson, VA 44.0

25 Landon School 38.5

26 Patrick Henry HS, VA 37.5

27 Gonzaga, DC 36.0

28 Georgetown Prep 29.5

29 Saint John Paul the Great, VA 27.5

30 St. Paul`s School, MD 25.0

106

1st Place Match

Charles Cooper (Loyola-Blakefield) 3-0, Fr. over Braidyn Taby (McDonogh School) 3-1, Fr. (Dec 1-0)

3rd Place Match

Luca Seramone (Delaware Military Academy) 4-1, Fr. over Lane Gowl (Archbishop Spalding) 3-2, Fr. (Dec 11-7)

5th Place Match

Braxton Rankin (St. Christopher`s) 3-2, Fr. over Jaden Uhde (Smyrna) 3-3, Fr. (For.)

7th Place Match

Grayson DeCosmo (Archbishop Spalding) 9-5, So. over Trent Carter (New Kent) 15-10, So. (Dec 7-2)

113

1st Place Match

Charlie Mutschler (Archbishop Spalding) 28-12, So. over Benjamin Donato (Caesar Rodney) 3-1, Sr. (Dec 13-10)

3rd Place Match

Jacob Naylor (McDonogh School) 4-1, So. over Damian DuChez (Bullis School) 48-7, So. (Dec 4-1)

5th Place Match

Miles Molina (Gilman School) 5-2, Jr. over Peyton Friedman (St. Paul VI Catholic) 47-15, So. (Dec 3-0)

7th Place Match

Zane Messiter (St. Johns College) 39-10, So. over Max Behrooz (St. Christopher`s) 24-10, So. (MD 11-3)

120

1st Place Match

Tyler Verceles (Loyola-Blakefield) 51-5, So. over Carter Shin (Chantilly) 4-1, Sr. (Fall 3:26)

3rd Place Match

Cole Perrin (Delaware Military Academy) 49-13, Jr. over Waylon Anderson (Cosby) 5-2, Fr. (MD 11-0)

5th Place Match

JD Vassar (Gilman School) 31-13, Jr. over Eli Chesla (Archbishop Spalding) 23-10, Sr. (For.)

7th Place Match

Jamen Haliburton (Smyrna) 17-4, So. over Joseph Fortunato (Saint John Paul the Great) 47-16, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:59 (15-0))

126

1st Place Match

Eli Gabrielson (Archbishop Spalding) 4-0, Jr. over Jayden Jackson (Loyola-Blakefield) 39-6, Sr. (MD 8-0)

3rd Place Match

Carson Miller (Frank W. Cox) 36-10, Sr. over Christian Wirts (Gilman School) 41-14, So. (MD 9-1)

5th Place Match

Isaac Slayter (Saint John Paul the Great) 53-12, Sr. over Bradley Ament (St. Christopher`s) 63-15, So. (For.)

7th Place Match

Mills Banton (Patrick Henry HS) 35-12, Jr. over zebulon Bolden (Dematha Catholic) 38-19, So. (Dec 6-3)

132

1st Place Match

Drew Roggie (St. Christopher`s) 38-9, Sr. over Isaac Cicchetti (Archbishop Spalding) 22-5, So. (Fall 3:52)

3rd Place Match

Clif Bakhsh (Saint Mark`s) 57-10, Sr. over Wes Baumgartner (McDonogh School) 4-2, So. (Dec 8-3)

5th Place Match

Jaydan Mieth (Sussex Central) 26-14, Sr. over Leo Badolato (St. Paul VI Catholic) 43-7, Sr. (Dec 9-5)

7th Place Match

Conner Walck (Cape Henry Collegiate) 37-12, Sr. over Troy Kang (James W. Robinson) 34-11, Jr. (Dec 4-1)

138

1st Place Match

Noah Rankin (St. Christopher`s) 36-10, Sr. over Quentin Bailey (Archbishop Spalding) 27-12, Jr. (Dec 7-1)

3rd Place Match

Taina Fernandez (Archbishop Spalding) 12-1, Jr. over Mason Comegys (McDonogh School) 4-2, So. (Dec 10-5)

5th Place Match

Johnny Spence (Caesar Rodney) 5-2, So. over Brady Cramer (Cosby) 5-3, Jr. (MD 11-2)

7th Place Match

Jacob Lauby (James W. Robinson) 31-14, Jr. over Landon Cahill (Frank W. Cox) 31-21, Jr. (MD 8-0)

144

1st Place Match

Nate Foldes (Benedictine) 5-0, Jr. over Jackson Grandel (Delaware Military Academy) 30-21, Sr. (TF-1.5 5:53 (19-4))

3rd Place Match

Ethan Glessner (St. Johns College) 50-15, Sr. over Caleb Rafal (Frank W. Cox) 34-9, Sr. (MD 10-1)

5th Place Match

Malik Peralta (Cape Henry Collegiate) 39-15, Sr. over Will McDonough (Archbishop Spalding) 3-3, So. (MD 10-0)

7th Place Match

Koen Fredricks (St. Paul VI Catholic) 43-19, Sr. over Spartan Koslov (Georgetown Prep) 41-17, So. (Dec 7-4)

150

1st Place Match

Zane Leitzel (Archbishop Spalding) 36-4, Sr. over Joshua Hale (Loyola-Blakefield) 43-15, Sr. (Dec 8-5)

3rd Place Match

Piero Papili (Delaware Military Academy) 50-16, Sr. over Niko Colavecchio (St. Paul VI Catholic) 46-9, Jr. (TF-1.5 3:42 (20-4))

5th Place Match

Griffin Van der Waag (St. Christopher`s) 27-9, Sr. over Peyton Conaway (Sussex Central) 34-28, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:08 (18-2))

7th Place Match

Ethan Ferger (Caesar Rodney) 4-2, Sr. over Adam Ayala (New Kent) 16-14, Sr. (Dec 11-8)

157

1st Place Match

Dominic Manna (McDonogh School) 5-0, Jr. over Vicente Granada (Frank W. Cox) 33-15, Jr. (Dec 9-6)

3rd Place Match

Elliott Crews (Benedictine) 5-1, So. over Miles Hinson (St. Christopher`s) 28-13, Sr. (Fall 0:47)

5th Place Match

Quinn Morrison (New Kent) 50-18, Sr. over Hunter Goodin (Chantilly) 5-3, Sr. (Fall 1:48)

7th Place Match

Josh Dempsey (Sussex Central) 12-12, Jr. over Luke Garrett (Caesar Rodney) 6-3, Jr. (MD 10-0)

165

1st Place Match

Karl Ludwig (Frank W. Cox) 38-1, Sr. over Cole Wilson (St. Paul VI Catholic) 37-3, Sr. (MD 10-2)

3rd Place Match

Soshiant Ahanj-Elias (Bullis School) 50-11, So. over Liam Kilner (The Heights School) 29-14, Sr. (Dec 13-12)

5th Place Match

Nevan McKneely (Loyola-Blakefield) 28-11, Sr. over Sawyer Peck (Gilman School) 4-3, Jr. (Fall 2:17)

7th Place Match

Justin Ryland (Delaware Military Academy) 38-21, Jr. over Nolen Baker (Chantilly) 3-3, Fr. (MD 14-3)

175

1st Place Match

Noah Tucker (Bullis School) 49-6, Jr. over Arthur Konshak (Gilman School) 41-8, Jr. (Fall 2:59)

3rd Place Match

Eric Pendlebury (St. Christopher`s) 21-14, Sr. over Ashton Ritz (Cosby) 5-2, Sr. (Fall 2:52)

5th Place Match

Dylan Kivett (Dematha Catholic) 8-4, Sr. over Theo Darras (St. Paul VI Catholic) 44-15, Sr. (Fall 3:00)

7th Place Match

Christopher Tomer (James W. Robinson) 26-16, Sr. over Jackson Emel (Saint Mark`s) 16-36, Jr. (Fall 2:27)

190

1st Place Match

Rudy Wagner (Frank W. Cox) 42-3, Sr. over Bojan Sulc (Gonzaga) 39-7, Sr. (Fall 5:40)

3rd Place Match

George Tate (Good Counsel) 41-10, Sr. over Townsend Winans (Cape Henry Collegiate) 46-11, Jr. (SV-1 7-4)

5th Place Match

Riley Miller (Loyola-Blakefield) 26-13, Jr. over Teagan Gratkowski (Smyrna) 33-20, Sr. (Fall 1:47)

7th Place Match

Giuseppe DiMonte (McDonogh School) 4-2, Sr. over Luke Winkler (Archbishop Spalding) 22-11, So. (Fall 2:44)

215

1st Place Match

Cash Colbert (St. Paul VI Catholic) 62-1, Sr. over Hayden Myers (St. Paul`s School) 3-1, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:24 (19-4))

3rd Place Match

Shane Montgomery (Saint Mark`s) 37-18, So. over Vake Martin (St. Christopher`s) 24-17, Jr. (Fall 3:26)

5th Place Match

Stephan Mason (Bullis School) 42-13, Jr. over Tavon Mitchell (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) 3-3, Jr. (Dec 6-5)

7th Place Match

Anthony Roblero (Sussex Central) 17-26, Jr. over Cullen Rigby (St. Mary`s Annapolis) 3-3, So. (Fall 3:25)

285

1st Place Match

Sean Boyd (Benedictine) 4-0, Jr. over Izaque Tomaz (Frank W. Cox) 31-7, Sr. (Dec 9-6)

3rd Place Match

Cameron black (Dematha Catholic) 52-12, Sr. over Lance Clelland (St. Christopher`s) 33-12, Jr. (MD 14-5)

5th Place Match

Bryton Brown (Good Counsel) 38-14, Sr. over Cole Bryant (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) 4-3, Jr. (Fall 2:01)

7th Place Match

Bryan Urruita (St. Paul VI Catholic) 17-6, Sr. over Mike Byrne (Archbishop Spalding) 18-13, . (For.)