Rossi's goal is to become a two-timer

Fifth-ranked junior Wyatt Rossi (113) is on a mission to become the third Sparrows Point wrestler to repeat as a Class 2A-1A state champion after having placed third as a freshman.

Having finished with a record of 39-1 last year, Rossi can join the Pointers’ two-time state champions Tommy Free and Mike Young, who graduated in 1997.

Armed with a 106-9 career mark that includes this year’s record of 29-3, Rossi earned his third straight Baltimore County title two weeks ago at CCBC Essex.

At counties, Rossi registered pins in 37 seconds and 1:47 as well as a 20-4 technical fall in his title-match with 20th-ranked sophomore Class 4A-3A North Region champion Gavin Young of Perry Hall, whose record is 27-3.

A week later at Randallstown, Rossi won his third straight title in the Class 2A-1A North Regional Tournament following pins in 61 and 92 seconds, the latter against Hereford freshman Chase Utz.

Among Rossi’s most difficult rivals could be Calvert’s fourth-ranked junior Ethan Valdisera, who returns to the weight class where he went 37-0 last year with 23 pins and six technical falls.

A two-time Southern Maryland and regional champion who won last year’s Class 2A-1A state title, Valdisera has a record of 43-0 that includes 15 pins, 17 technical falls as well as a 120-pound victory by fall against Rossi from earlier this year.

“[Valdisera] is a great wrestler,” Rossi said. “I wrestled him in a tournament earlier in the year, and I’m looking for my get-backs.”

Valdisera transferred from St. Mary's Ryken, where as a freshman he was a 113-pound champion in both the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and the Maryland Independent Schools State Tournaments.

“Becoming a two-time state champion is a goal I have set for me to accomplish at the end of the season, so I always keep that in mind,” Rossi said. “Each of my victories is just another step toward my end-goal for the season. I have to keep everything in perspective as I wrestle each match.”

Rossi got a taste of how difficult that task can be in his title match of last month’s 2026 Wolf Pack Mayhem Tournament, where he lost a 120-pound bout, 1-0, to 11th-ranked Catonsville sophomore Owen Shelley, who won Outstanding Wrestlers Honors.

Shelley currently has a record of 38-0 after winning his first Baltimore County title after having been second as a freshman and capturing his second straight Class 4A-3A regional crown.

Rossi can also learn from the Pointers’ Dom Ambrosino and Russell Fary, two predecessors who failed to become repeat state champions after winning titles as juniors.

In 2022, Ambrosino decked Williamsport’s previously undefeated Landen Harbaugh at 4:33 of their state title match, this, two years after Harbaugh was a state runner-up in 2020 following a one-point loss.

Where Ambrosino finished fifth as a senior, Fary went 38-0 as a state champion in 2024 only to finish sixth as a senior following a semifinal loss to the eventual champion.

“When you focus on things like your record, whether you’re winning or losing, or your ranking and what other people think, the fear of failure can overwhelm your ability to be free in the moment. It’s a very self-centered mindset so the isolation tends to steal your joy,” said Free, a first-year coach at Havre de Grace High.

“On the flip side, if your focus is on taking on the biggest challenges, doing your best, being a great teammate, and being grateful to God for everything, you’ll find constant progress and joy. Failure is no longer something to fear, because it’s just another opportunity to get better and another gift to be grateful for.”

Free finished second, first, fifth and first at states over consecutive seasons, while Young won back-to-back titles at 130 pounds in ‘96 and ‘97.

Young, 46, edged Wheaton’s Josh Munsey, 2-1, as a junior, and Oakland Mills’ John Nguyen, 1-0, as a senior.

“It took all of that constant preparation and hard work that goes into wrestling in order for me to win back titles. It was relentless and tough, from the late days of practice, endless hours of prep, and just talking about positioning and different situations with my dad,” said Young, coach of the Young Guns Junior League program in Moyock, North Carolina.

“We discussed strategies and what to do to take away certain moves from certain guys, and that’s what paid off for me my senior year. Going into the third period, I knew no one could hold me down. I also knew that when I got out, I was not getting taken down. I learned that my best offense was my defense, honing in on certain skills I knew that nobody can stop.”

Free’s roller coaster journey started at Edgewood as a 103-pound freshman in 1994, when he lost his Class 2A-1A state final bout, 2-1, to Oakland Mills senior Juri Freeman.

Free returned to the 103-pound finals in 1995 when the sophomore earned a 4-2 decision over Kent County High freshman Davey Blake, a winner of three Class 2A-1A state titles in four championship berths before graduating in 1998 with a career record of 141-2.

“After I lost in the finals as a freshman, I was on a mission to win the next year. My focus was on improving,” said Free, 46. “I was as sharp as I could have been both physically and mentally coming into sophomore year. So, there was just a lot of positive momentum in many ways leading to going undefeated that year and beating Davey in the finals.”

But Free finished fifth at states in 1996 as a 119-pound junior, losing his semifinal to Mardela’s eventual runner-up Rodney Stine and Owings Mills’ fourth-place finisher Drew Bowers.

Free was at his most dominant as a 125-pound senior in 1997, winning his title match by 15-0 15-0 over North Caroline’s Darren Hollingsworth.

“The longer I went undefeated the more pressure I put on myself to not lose, so by the time states came around, I was wrestling so tight because I was scared to death of losing. Fifth place wasn’t acceptable in my mind, so I was on a mission again. After junior year, I felt challenged again, but I didn’t carry the burden of needing to be perfect,” Free said.

“In the finals after the first period as a senior, I was up 11-0 and I knew I was going to win. Everything slowed down, and I saw everybody who had been with me for so many matches and so many years sitting on the edge of the mat. The Bible says that a perfect love casts out all fear, and there was certainly no fear in that moment. I was wrestling free, and boy was it fun.”

Sparrows Point has crowned a state champions 14 times, with seven of them being guided by 21st-year coach Mike Whisner comprising Ambrosino, Fary, Rossi, Max Hammond (2017), Ethan Smith (2017) and the Carr siblings, Lexx (2220) and Gage (2022).

A recent inductee into the Maryland Chapter of the National Hall Of Fame for Lifetime Service, Whisner’s Pointers tied Perry Hall for their sixth county tournament crown last season.

Rossi dominated last year’s postseason starting at counties, where his three pins comprised those in 26, 94 and 56 seconds, the last against Hereford’s Connor Cline in their championship bout.

Presently a 17th-ranked junior at 120 pounds, Cline has twice placed second at counties as well first and third at regions and sixth at states.

At regions last year, Rossi earned pins in 30 seconds, 2:14 and 3:51, the last in his title match with South Carroll’s Jake Simione.

A two-time Carroll County regional champion who finished third at states last year, Simione is currently a ninth-ranked sophomore at 113 pounds.

Rossi didn’t ease up on the gas at states, where he used falls in 53 and 84 seconds as well as another in 1:54 to reach the finals for a 12-2 major decision over Huntingtown’s Owen Hayden.

Currently a sixth-ranked junior at 113 pounds, Hayden has placed first twice, and second, once in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference, won a pair of regional titles in three championship berths, and finished second and fifth at states.

Hayden lost this year’s SMAC title bout, 17-1, to Valdisera, and was also a Class 2A-1A East regional runner-up to Valdisera following a 6-2 decision loss.

“I’ve got a good momentum going,” Rossi said. “I’m feeling pretty good right now. I’m looking at winning another state title and becoming a two-timer.”