Archbishop Spalding senior Sean Garretson and his family were finally able to experience what a dual meet victory over perennial state power Mount Saint Joseph felt like on Wednesday’s Senior Night at Spalding.
On paper the No. 2 Cavaliers were favored to come through with that outcome, but the No. 4 Gaels are coached by Harry Barnabae, a man that knows how to get the most out of his teams, just see the unexpected win over No. 5 Loyola, who was favored in that match as proof of that ability.
Of Course, Spalding is helmed by a veteran coach, too, in Mike Laidley. Laidley is a shrewd man as well, and having the privilege of sitting near the Spalding coaches gave us an insight into his process. They were never just talking about the match at hand, but also planning moves ahead, as you would in a chess match.
While the weigh-ins revealed the Gaels were missing some of their top guns in No. 1 Corey Brown (106) and No. 3 Jake Tamai (126), the log-jam of quality wrestlers St. Joe has around that area didn’t mean this was going to be a pushover, in fact, after sweeping the first four matches, the Cavaliers witnessed St. Joe claw their way back into this thing.
A pre-match ceremony honoring the graduating seniors was especially emotional for the Garretson family because after a ten-year window, this would be the last season a Garretson will be in the Spalding lineup.
“My thoughts before the match were excitement and thankful that I was able to compete knowing that it was my last home dual match at Archbishop Spalding,” Garretson offered. “During the senior ceremony, I think my dad wanted to cry knowing he was watching his youngest son of four wrestle his last match in high school! I was excited to wrestle for my team and my family since they have been so supportive of me over the last four years. This program means a lot to me and family, and I am hoping it continues to improve in the future.”
Sean never wrestled alongside his brothers, Randy and Mitch, but has been in and around the program, watching and training with them since he was eight years old. To get one last crack at St. Joe in his final home dual meet was a golden opportunity like a script written in Hollywood.
“It’s been a fun run,” Spalding coach Mike Laidley said. “It’s been close to ten years when Ryan came in as a freshman. Yea, I think it’s been ten years I’ve had a Garretson, and all three of them were great kids and good wrestlers. Mitch never had the luck that Ryan and Sean had. Mitch, the last two years had Joe Fisk at his weight, so Mitch was always wrestling up or not in the lineup.
“Mitch was a very good wrestler, his freshman year I think he placed top three in the state at 106, and then he just started getting bumped, until his senior year, I think he wrestled 152 for us. Good family, very athletic, Ryan won a state title his senior year. And Sean, just watching those guys come back to support Sean and the whole family. Just watching him these last four years, he’s been fun.”
No. 6 Quentin Bailey got the home fans fired up with a 12-2 major decision of freshman and Kids’ All-American, Chad “CJ” Votta at 120. James Wright, who has been manning 120 and is ranked twelfth there, slid into Tamai’s hole at 126 and met a determined Isaac Cicchetti, a freshman with a highly decorated junior league career of his own. Cicchetti followed Bailey’s lead in dominating his rival but could not get the bonus points, blanking Wright, 7-0.
With his squad boasting a 7-0 advantage, it was Garretson’s turn to shine. The state’s top-rated 126ber was up at 132 and did all he could to secure a fall before settling on a 19-3 technical fall of No. 12 Ben Scheiner. With his job done in an impressive manner, Garretson did his part to get that elusive dual meet victory.
“I was happy with my performance,” remarked Garretson. “I feel like I’ve improved year over year, so it’s a good feeling distancing myself from strong opponents. I have said it throughout the year, but I am ready to take my wrestling to the next level and I think that match was a reflection of that.”
No. 1 Zane Leitzel took center stage at 138 and rolled to a 10-0 major decision for yet another dominating win by the Cavaliers. At 16-0 a depleted Gaels squad was in danger of emotionally falling out of this one.
Fortunately for them, two pins and a forfeit were logged over the next three bouts to give them life. At 144, Tyler Stephens, who is ranked fifth at 138, posted a third period pin, 5:42, over Ryder Kolat (No. 12 at 150), who came down to 144 for the Cavaliers with the usual starter, No. 8 Henry Gessford, unavailable.
Laidley elected to forfeit to super freshman Fargo All-American Brooklyn Pickett (No. 3 at 144) instead of engaging with him at 150lbs. This set up a pin by St. Joe senior, No. 2 Cameron Cannaday, over Nicco Stellar, also in the third frame, 4:38. And just like that, the Gaels turned a 16-0 deficit into an 18-16 lead.
Forfeits were prevalent in this dual and one was received by Josh Taylor at 165 to put him team back out front for a brief moment, 22-18, before Garrett Greb won a swing-match at 175 over James Ward with a first period fall, 1:46, to return the lead to the Gaels, 24-22.
Another forfeit from St. Joe at 190lbs was given to Luke Winkler, which was followed by Luke Barulli sticking Jonah Selassie in the middle frame, 3:51, to extend the Cavalier edge to ten, 34-24.
Three bouts remained but without Brown in uniform and not even in the building to weigh-in as a decoy, Spalding had to feel good about where they were sitting with No. 4 Charlie Mutschler (106) and No. 2 Eli Chesla (113) in their pipeline.
Before rolling over to the little guys, the big boys had to dance and that would be Michael Byrne for the home team and Thomas Brandel for the visitors. Brandel did his part, flattening his foe in the first,1:14, to close the gap to four, 34-30.
Sadly, the end of this match would be anticlimactic as St. Joe forfeited to both Mutschler and Chesla, to seal the win for Spalding and present something to the home faithful they have not seen in a long time, a Cavalier win over the Gaels, 46-30.
“Beating MSJ is something that does not happen often, and I don’t think that over the past ten years that my family has been involved with Spalding wrestling have we ever beaten MSJ in a dual, so I feel very accomplished and proud for our team,” Garretson continued. “MSJ is always a tough team and although I wish we had more success against them throughout my years, winning our final dual against them felt special. I knew what our team was capable of, so I am proud that everyone’s hard work showed on the mat.”
As we head into big three, in which Garretson has had tremendous success, the senior has a chance to pick up his third MIAA Crown (second as a sophomore), garner his second state crown to go with the one he earned as a freshman. A runner-up at states last year, Garretson was third in his second season.
An even bigger accomplishment is on the table, a few weeks down the road, where Garretson will have the opportunity to become a four-time National Prep All-American. After pacing fourth as a freshman, Garretson followed that up with a seventh-place finish then came in fifth at last year’s installment.
Laidley isn’t sure of the timeframe, but it’s been a long time since Spalding handled St. Joe in a dual meet. But it goes back farther than the arrival of the first Garretson.
“Well, obviously, the last couple of years, we were building towards this,” said Laidley. “I think our dual meet last year came down to a match and I forget exactly the circumstances. Harry did something, they made a move and our kid didn't deliver, so we were close last year.”
Before the main event, both teams faced Archbishop Curley, with Spalding opening the tri-meet with a 68-9 win and St. Joe winning the middle matchup, 43-32.
The lopsidedness of the Cavalier’s tally over the Friars was driven by three upsets in the upper weights, all from wrestlers who are unranked by Legacy Wrestling.
At 165, Josh Taylor defeated No. 19 Dylan Fish, 8-5. Luke Winkler (190) and Michael Byrne (285) had a competition to see who could author the greater surprise, Winkler decked No. 12 Bailen Boutz, 2:43, and Byrne used a pin of his own to shock No. 10 Kahlil Regan, 3:22.
Other notable Spalding wins in the Curley match were Chesla teching No. 22 Evan Kaliadoukas, 19-3, and Leitzel pinning No. 15 Oscar Davis, 1:37.
Two notable outcomes from Curley’s tangle with St. Joe were Allison posting a 20-7 major decision of Davis and Regan downing Brandel, 6-2.
St. Joe’s dual meet portion of the year is complete now with wins over No. 5 Loyola-Blakefield, No. 8 McDonogh, No. 12 Saint Frances Academy, and No. 15 Saint Mary’s Ryken. And losses to No. 1 Gilman and now No. 2 Spalding.
“I felt we wrestled well in what would have been key matches if our full lineup was healthy,” said Gael coach Harry Barnabae. “Falls by Tyler Stephens, Garrett Greb, and Thomas Brandel were impressive. I thought Spalding’s upperclassmen Sean Garrettson and Zane Leitzel were very impressive as well. We are looking forward to the end of the year tournaments which should prove to be exciting.”
The night before this meeting, Spalding spanked Loyola, 59-14, and followed up these wins by defeating Calvert Hall, 73-6, on Friday night. Earlier in the year they handed a loss to Saint Frances as well. The Cavs will end their dual season at McDonogh on Monday. As of now, the only blemish on their dual resume is a close loss to Gilman.
The road back to being a more complete dual meet team took a reconnection with the football program that was missing for a period of time.
“You know it goes back to Zach Abey (who ended up playing Quarterback for the Naval Academy) and around 2013,” Laidley recalls. “(Because) when he was a senior he didn't come out for the wrestling team because he was playing football and the coach said, hey, I'd rather you stay in the weight room, so Zach made this decision not to wrestle and when he did that, four other football guys, who three of them were in our lineup, went with him and then for like six to eight years we could not get connected back with football players they were just staying away from the wrestling room.
“In the past three years we're starting to fill our lineup in with football guys, there's been a reconnect and now the bigger guys are coming out. You look through the through the books, my light to middle weights have always been some of the best kids. We just didn't have anything after you’d get to like 175. You get up there in the heavyweights, we wouldn't have anything. So obviously you know we're excited, we've been doing the right thing, there's a newfound connection with the football program. The coach loves his lineman wrestling. (Now) we got the heavyweights that are going to anchor our dual meet team.”
There is a bright future ahead for the Cavaliers as youth is on their side.
“My lineup is filled with freshman and sophomores,” remarked Laidley. “I do have six seniors graduating but only two of them are regular starters in their weight class and that’s Gessford and Garretson. Dylan Briles is a 144lber wrestling 57. He’s light. He actually certified at 38. So, it’s not like we’re going to have any holes. We got kids to fill in right behind them, so we’re pretty blessed right now. We feel good about the program. Our upper weights are all freshmen and sophomores and they’re doing very well.”
Spalding shined at the War on the Shore, surprising then No. 2 South Carroll, by winning the team title. The Cavaliers also won the team crown at Ocean Lakes’ John Kelly Invitational in Virginia ahead of traditional state powers Grassfield and Great Bridge. Laidley feels like they could have more of that mojo in store for the stretch run.
“We’re pretty excited,” Laidley elaborated. “Taina has been nursing an injury, and she should be in the lineup for the MIAAs and states. She’s Going to play a big part. We’re going to fill the lineup. We’re not going to have any holes. We’ll have a semi-inexperienced guy going in at 175 but for the most part we’re filling the lineup now and we feel that most of our kids can push through and get in the top four in the MIAAs. Even place well in the states so we’re excited.
“Honestly, we’re a better tournament team. I like our chances against Gilman. They have four kids that are just really good and tough. But I believe we got six or seven weight classes that we’re going to do very well in the states on, so it’s going to be fun. Obviously, you know it’s matchups and other schools coming in. It just depends on the seeding and you gotta have a little luck in these tournaments. But we like our chances.”
Archbishop Spalding 46, Mount Saint Joseph, 30
(Match started at 120)
120-Quentin Bailey (AS) maj dec Chad “CJ” Votta, 12-2
126-Isaac Cicchetti (AS) dec James Wright, 7-0
132-Sean Garretson (AS) tech fall Ben Scheiner, 19-3
138-Zane Leitzel (AS) maj dec Connor Allison, 10-0
144-Tyler Stephen (MSJ) pinned Ryder Kolat, 5:42
150-Brooklyn Pickett (MSJ) won by forfeit
157-Cameron Cannaday (MSJ) pinned Nicco Stellar, 4:38
165-Josh Taylor (AS) won by forfeit
175-Garret Greb (MSJ) pinned James Ward, 1:46
190-Luke Winkler (AS) won by forfeit
215-Luke Barulli (AS) pinned Jonah Selassie, 3:51
285-Thomas Brandel (MSJ) pinned Michael Byrne, 1:14
106-Charlie Mutschler (AS) won by forfeit
113-Eli Chesla (AS) won by forfeit
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