Summer & Charlie Sit at #1

Archbishop Spalding sophomores Charlie and Summer Mutschler need only to look at one another to see their most challenging and consistent rival.

“It’s nice having a sister you can practice with,” Charlie said. “You always have good competition when you need a partner who understands what wrestling is.”

As 16-year-old triplets whose sister, Jade, runs cross country for the Cavaliers, their career paths on the mats have been virtually the same.

“As a family, they understand how difficult the sport is, so they were never pushed when they were younger. Summer played travel softball, and Charlie played travel baseball and soccer. They both started wrestling in second grade for The Panthers in Pasadena,” said their father, Chuck, an assistant to 24th-year coach Mike Laidley.

“After competing with the Panthers as eighth graders, they continued their wrestling careers on to Archbishop Spalding. Summer committed to wrestling full-time during the spring of their eighth-grade year. Charlie committed to wrestling full-time during his freshman year. Jade also competed during the youth levels and now runs cross country at Archbishop Spalding. She remains one of their biggest supporters.”

The siblings excelled on the mats for the Cavaliers last season.

Charlie won 23 varsity matches a year ago, finishing third in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament before being a runner-up in the Maryland Independent Schools’ State Tournament.

Charlie also won the John Kelly Memorial Tournament hosted by Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach and finished fourth at the prestigious War On The Shore Tournament.

“Charlie’s very coachable and very focused in the room,” Laidley said. “He loves competing and he’s always looking to improve.”

Summer returns this season after having won the Northeast Regionals, been a runner-up at both the girls’ Beast Of The East and Bobcat College Open Tournaments, placed third at The Women Of Ironman event, fourth at National Preps and fifth at The Super 32 tournament.

“Last year, Summer entered both the Ray Oliver and Ocean Lakes boys’ tournaments, reaching the blood round in each before losing to senior Virginia state placers,” Chuck added. “She also competed in the MIS JV boys’ tournament and pinned her way through the bracket to win the championship.”

“Coming into this weekend, Summer has a win over No. 8 (at 106 pounds), Daniel Stefko (St. Mary’s Ryken) at the Ray Oliver tournament last season. She is entered in two national-level women’s tournaments: Women of Iron and Beast of the East.”

“Despite their success,” Chuck said, “the family has always emphasized a focus on the process, not the results — it’s a journey.”

That journey has the Mutschlers ranked first in the state in their respective weight classes by Legacy Wrestling, which is a first for Maryland wrestling.

Separated by three pounds, Charlie is top-ranked at 113 for boys, and Summer, No. 1 at 110 for girls.

“Charlie and I have been in the same weight class multiple times,” Summer said. “Once, we actually had to wrestle each other, and my dad made us flip a coin to decide the winner — I lost the coin flip.”

Their talents will be on display this weekend in the Ray Oliver Tournament at McDonogh, where the top-ranked Cavaliers will attempt to improve on last year's fourth place finish.

Last year’s Cavaliers built on their momentum from there, winning The War On The Shore and Ocean Lakes tournament before dethroning sixth-ranked Gilman as MIAA Tournament champions and tying the defending champion Greyhounds for the Maryland Independent Schools crown.

Leading the way will be junior Taina Fernandez (138), a four-time Super 32 title winner and two-time World Champion female grappler.

Fernandez and Summer Mutschler ended last season as the top-ranked females at their weights, the former at 135, and the latter at 105. Fernandez was ranked No. 1 nationally, and Summer Mutschler, 26th.

A year ago, Fernandez went 7-0 against males, also winning the Ironwoman, Beast Of The East and National Preps tournaments among girls.

Fernandez is also ranked No. 1 at 135 in Legacy Wrestling's female ratings, making her the first Maryland girl to be ranked No. 1 among boys, and, also, the first to also be top-rated among girls.

Fernandez and Charlie Mutschler are among 12 of the 14 Cavaliers' grapplers who are ranked 11th or higher within their weight classes of Legacy Wrestling's top 15 boys' ratings.

Top-ranked junior Eli Gabrielson (126) 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.

Senior Zane Leitzel (150) and junior Eli Chesla (120) are ranked second, freshman Lane Gowl (106) is third, junior Quentin Bailey (144) is fifth, and senior Ryder Kolat (157) is sixth. Sophomore Isaac Cicchetti (132) is rated seventh, junior Luke Barulli (215) is ninth, and senior Josh Taylor (165) and sophomore Luke Winkler (190) are both 11th.

Leitzel is a MIAA and private schools state champion who was fifth at National Preps, eighth at The Beast Of The East and first at both the Ocean Lakes and War On The Shore Tournaments. Chesla was eighth at National Preps, and a MIAA runner-up who placed eighth at states, this, after having won the Ocean Lakes and War On The Shore Tournaments.

Taylor finished third at MIAAs and fourth at states, Barulli was third at MIAAs and eighth at states, and Winkler was fourth at MIAAs, sixth at states, and second at Ocean Lakes.

Bailey was a state runner-up after finishing fifth at MIAAs and fourth at War On The Shore; Cicchetti was an MIAA runner-up, and Kolat was fifth and seventh at MIAAs and states but was a runner-up at Ocean Lakes.

Gowl is an accomplished former junior league wrestler; junior Mike Byrne (285) was fifth at MIAAs and third at Ocean Lakes, and junior Spencer Ferguson (175) is a transfer from California.

Fernandez and Bailey could engage in their first of a potential three wrestle-offs in their 138-pound weight class at Ray Oliver, where Fernandez is seeded first, and Bailey, fourth.

The prospect conjures memories of Fernandez’s first-ever high school tournament during her ninth-grade season.

Three years ago, as a freshman, Fernandez finished third at Ray Oliver following a 7-5 quarterfinal loss to then-junior teammate and eventual champion Sean Garretson, a former MIAA and state champion.

Fernandez was allowed to enter the McDonogh Tournament as an unattached participant, and the loss to Garretson remains the lone defeat she has suffered to a male wrestler in Maryland.

"The team has been training hard all summer and might be the closest group of wrestlers I've coached so far," Laidley said. "There is a great chemistry in the room, and they all push one another. We will be a force at The Ray Oliver Tournament this weekend."