Team Maryland Hardware @ the U.S. Open

Last week some of Maryland’s best wrestlers challenged themselves with a trip to Vegas to participate in the U.S. Open. Greco Roman competition came first, followed by Freestyle. Five high-schoolers placed to become All-Americans; Archbishop Spalding’s Taina Fernandez, Bullis’ Salah Tsarni and Noah Tucker, plus Mt. St. Joseph’s Corey Brown, and Loyola-Blakefield’s Tyler Verceles.

Of all those grapplers, Fernandez is the one closest to Maryland Legend Kyle Snyder on the National and International level. Like Snyder, Fernandez has won a World Title. The next steps for Fernandez are U20 then Senior level competition to make the Olympic Team as Snyder has done three times now, winning gold, silver, and placing fifth. Snyder won another Senior U.S. Open crown at 97-kilograms with all tech falls including, 11-0 over Jonathan Aiello in the finals.

Fernandez won the 135-pound weight, where she is ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Wrestling, in the Girls’ Showcase. Collecting championships is a regular theme for the Cavalier, who competed for the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club. In early April, Fernndez struck gold at the Women’s Nationals in the U17 Division at 61-kilograms and will represent Team USA as she pursues her second World Championship in a row. As with most of these titles, the Showcase was won in Fernandez’s typical dominant fashion.

In the gold medal match, Fernandez stuck Valiant Wrestling Club of Arizona’s Morgan Lucio (No. 9 at 140 nationally) in 2:54. The other three foes Fernandez came across were discarded with 10-0 technical falls, in 31 seconds over Zoe Fries (Kuna Klub, ID) in the semis, the quarterfinal meeting with Illinois’ Claudia Heeney (No. 29 in the country) was her longest prior to the finals, ending in 1:01, with the opening bout coming to a halt in 25 seconds versus Kierra Rush (Pembroke RTC, NC).

“Coming back from competing at the Girls’ Showcase in Vegas, and previously Nationals, I feel proud of both performances,” Fernadez offered. “More so than just winning them but going out there and taking full advantage of every opportunity I have to better my wrestling.

“Next up, I have a couple tournaments sprinkled throughout the month of May, but my main focuses this summer are the Pan-American Championships in Brazil, and ultimately, the World Championships in Greece. I’m super excited about showing out internationally and going into this summer, my central goal is to grow my wrestling as much as I can, taking it day by day of course.”

Tsarni continued his pattern of improving his finish at every tournament from a year ago. Last year’s trip to Vegas saw Tsarni go 2-2 in the same weight class and division, U17 Freestyle 80-kilograms. Gilman’s No. 5 Emmitt Sherlock won the gold and added a Greco title as well a season ago at this weight. Sherlock beat Tsarni, 1-0, in the Ray Oliver finals in December.

This year, Tsarni (No. 6 at 175-pounds in High School on SI’s April update) marched all the way to the finals before tasting defeat at the hands of Illinois’ No. 13 Aaron Stewart. Their finals showdown was a best of three format to determine the World Team spot. Tsarni took the first one, 3-1. Stewart won the next match, 5-4, then went on to win the deciding bout, 4-1. Stewart, a junior, won 16U Freestyle and Greco Roman crowns at Fargo the previous two years, defeating Sherlock in both styles as a freshman.

Tsarni (Capital Wrestling Club) teched three of his five opponents en route to the finals, with one coming in 2:26, 10-0, in the semis versus Alaska’s Zane Gerlach. Two nationally ranked foes fell on that voyage, No.16 Slava Shahbazyan of California was his closest win, 4-2, and honorable mention Mario Hutcherson (Pennsylvania) was handled with an 11-2 tally.

“The difference from last year is the year itself,” Tsarni said. “I matured physically and mentally and have had constant training with great coaches at Capital Wrestling Club: Elijah Oliver, Jay LaValley, Teague Moore and Max Meltzer. Every opponent was tough, but I was tougher. In the finals, I couldn’t finish all my moves because he was physically stronger, and I felt it. But next year it’ll be different.”

Maryland’s other three All-Americans earned their designations in the U17 Greco Roman brackets. Tsarni’s current teammate at Bullis and clubmate at CWC, Noah Tucker, lost to Gerlach in the consolation finals at 80-kilograms, 12-1. Tucker edged Pennsylvania’s Kyle Scott, 8-7, in the consolation rounds after falling to Utah’s Ladd Holman, 9-0, in the semis. Four tech falls delivered Tucker to the semis, including 9-0 over Nebraska’s Riley Johnson, who was previously nationally ranked at 165-pounds before moving up in weight.

“I am thankful for my opportunity to compete at the U.S. Open and continue to see improvement,” remarked Tucker. “All though I did not reach the top, it is all steps in the right direction. I was upset I could not participate in Freestyle due to me suffering from a head injury first match in Greco and after wrestling five more matches in Greco, I was not in the right state to continue. But like always (I’m) thankful and back to the lab.”

The 51-kilogram fifth place match pitted Brown and Verceles against each other. Brown, who is ranked 15th in the country at 113-pounds, decked Verceles, who is an honorable mention entry at 113 nationally, in 1:03. Brown downed Indiana’s Traevon Ducking, who was nationally rated at 106-pounds, 13-0, then took out Oregon’s Drew Dawson, 6-0. In the semis, Brown was tripped up by Virginia’s Carter Shin, 4-4, and then lost once more to Texas’ Jackson Shipley, 8-0, to land in the fifth-place match. Shin defeated Gilman’s Liam McGettigan (No. 1 in Maryland) in the 113-pound final at Ray Oliver, 4-1.

“Placing at the U.S. Open is a good accomplishment but not what I wanted,” Brown said. “I went into to that tournament to make the Greco World Team. I was winning my semifinal match, but in the second period I gave up four points and lost. It hurt bad because I had control of that match and got lazy at the end. I’m using this loss as motivation to learn and get better in my position. Wrestling Verceles for fifth just shows that the Headhunters boys are good at Greco. Tyler is a great wrestler and one of my best practice partners. Just because we are teammates, on the mat we are there to win.”

Verceles’ path to placement was similar to Brown’s in that, he too, reached the semis before dropping to the consolation bracket. Verceles, like Brown, came close to winning his semifinal match with Indiana’s Jeremy Carver before falling, 6-5. Verceles lost to Illinois’ Kaleb Pratt, 8-3, before seeing Brown. A pin, a tech, and a 4-3 decision of Iowa’s Matt Prine allowed Verceles to advance to the semis.

“Regarding moving up in weight, I wrestled some different opponents that were bigger than I was used to,” reflected Verceles, who won an MIS State Championship at 106-pounds this year. “

However, the competition and the tournament were the same, so I competed the with the same intensity I always do. I strive to reach that All-American status, so in the room I work as hard as possible and push myself and my partners to work harder in every position. And this past weekend, that work paid off. Although this experience provided me with competition that I was less familiar with, I think it will benefit me in the long run by preparing me for different wrestling styles, especially for Fargo.

“I thought I wrestled overall pretty well, especially for my first Freestyle and Greco tournaments of the year. However, there are still small mistakes I made that happened to cost me multiple matches. Those finer-point details my coaches emphasize in the practice room are crucial in every position in every match at the 17U division. My coaches often stress that the difference between first and sixth is one minuscule adjustment in a few major positions. So, in preparation for my next competitions, I will work in the practice room to improve on and master those positions."

“When I entered the tournament at 51-kilograms, I knew there was a possibility of wrestling Corey. He and I are practice partners. We drill and scrap with each other every practice. We will both always support one another, whether we’re in the same bracket or a different bracket. So, in the Semis of Greco, we both cheered for each other, even though if we both had won, we would have wrestled each other in the finals. When we wrestled in the fifth place match, I went out and tried to get to my positions and tried some different moves because we are both very well versed in each other’s style. Corey capitalized on my bad positioning and ended up getting the fall.”

As if their Greco similarities were not enough, Brown and Verceles, both repping the Headhunters, came within two wins of placing in Freestyle, albeit in different weight classes. Verceles stayed in the 51-kilogram classification and posted a 3-2 record that included losses to No. 11 Justin Farnsworth (Stellar Trained, PA), 4-1, and former honorable mention, Cruzer Dominguez (MWC Wrestling Club, NE), 9-3.

Brown did his work with the 55-kilogram grapplers going 2-2 with two straight losses to Ohio’s honorable mention Tommy Wurster, 7-2, and unranked Lukas Foster of Illinois, 11-0.

Also, in that 55-kilogram field was Stephen Decatur’s national honorable mention, Elijah Collick, who posted a 5-2 record, coming within two matches of All-American status. Collick picked up a big-time win over Iowa’s No. 9 Nico DeSalvo, 8-1, in the early rounds. Collick could not get past Wisconsin’s Maximus Hay in the round of 16, dropping their match on criteria, 10-10. Hay placed seventh beating Wurster in the placement match.

In the consolation bracket, Collick lost to California’s Nathan Reynolds, 7-0. Hay eliminated Reynolds in the next match. In an interesting turn, Collick defeated both of Tennessee’s Cordero Brothers in the consolation rounds, Rene, 10-0, and Dominic, 13-2.

St. Mary’s Ryken’s Evan Boblits, ranked 26th nationally, posted a 2-2 record and came within two wins of placing in the Greco Roman 67-kilogram bracket in the U20 division. The U20 slate contains college wrestlers as well as high school. In fact, one of Boblits’ losses came to Ethan Sylvester, who is enrolled at Southwest Minnesota State, 5-0. The other came to Greco specialist, Amryn Nutter of Wisconsin, 9-0. Nutter reached the finals and finished as runner-up to Pennsylvania’s Pierson Manville.

Maryland Greco Roman standout, Carter Nogle, currently of the Air Force Academy and formerly of Mt. St. Joseph, secured a bronze at 63-kilograms in the U20 slate with an 8-0 tech of Utah’s Geronimo Rivera (No. 27 at 132-pounds in the nation by High School on SI). Nogle’s only loss came to the eventual champion, Colorado’s Landon Drury, 6-4, in the semis. Four tech falls were used for Nogle’s other victories.

Maryland had a bronze medalist in the Masters B Freestyle brackets at 70-kilograms in Girls’ National Team Coach Justin Wildy, who competed for the Headhunters. Wildy, who coached at Woodlawn before taking the head position for women’s wrestling at Marymount University, won his third-place match over California’s Jacob Salas, 16-8. Wildy’s sole loss came in the round of 16 to the eventual silver medalist, Mitchell Johnson (Spartan Elite, NC), 14-4.

Another Master Grappler earned All-American status in both disciplines as MM Grant placed third in Freestyle in B competition at 130-kilograms and was second in Greco. In Greco, Grant lost by fall, 1:27, to Washington’s Garret Johnson. Johnson would beat Grant in Freestyle, also with a pin, 1:06, in round robin action. Johson would finish second to New Jersey’s Vincent Mancuso, who beat Grant, 6-3. Marcus Priolo secured a Greco Roman Bronze at 70-kilograms in the Masters’ B classification.

Richard Fedalen, who wrestled at McDonogh and is now on the mats at Colombia University, reached the fifth-place match in Senior Greco competition where a double forfeit occurred with Army’s Xavier Johnson. Fedalen beat Johnson, 9-3, in the quarters.

Two others with Maryland ties performed well but did not reach the podium. Ben Smith spent a year at Mt. St. Joseph before moving onto the New York Military Academy. Smith, who is ranked 24th in the nation at 175-pounds, went 4-2 and needed two more wins to reach the podium. Both of Smith’s losses at U20 79-Kilograms came versus nationally ranked high school guys, No. 9 Peyton Westpfahl (Missouri), 8-2, and honorable mention Bo Koedam of Iowa, 2-1.

Paul Ognissanti took his considerable talents to Blair Academy in New Jersey for the entirety of his high school career, reigniting a Maryland pipeline that has seen Cael Mielnik and Peter Snyder go that route over the last few years, and will continue with Salah Tsarni’s move to Blairstown for his junior season.

Ognissanti reached the blood round at 74-kilograms in the U20 class, falling to Georgia’s Dom Bambinelli (No. 4 at 165 by High School on SI), 4-2. Ognissanti’s other loss was to Pennsylvania’s Joe Sealey in the quarters, 12-1.

Snyder won a National Prep Championship as a freshman and placed fifth as a sophomore. Mielnik was a Prep runner-up as a freshman. Both wrestled parts of this season but were not at National Preps. Tsarni has shown he’s in their league and maybe one of the best Blair has ever poached from Maryland.

***There were a lot of results/brackets to go over. Our apologies if we missed anyone from Maryland that placed. If we did, please send us a message and we will add them to the article***