The Garvin Family Legacy

When Rising Sun’s top-ranked senior Zach Garvin (165 pounds) competes this season, he will do so as the final member of a winning family legacy which has spanned more than three decades in the Tigers’ program.

Zach follows older brother, Tyler, who graduated in 2024 as a three-time state champion and is now a sophomore at the University of Maryland.

Their father, Luke, was a 103-pound Class 2A-1A state champ in 1996 and a runner-up at 112 pounds in 1997. Their uncle and Rising Sun head coach, Seth, was a third-place finisher at 112 pounds in 1995.

Zach Garvin entered his final season having earned three straight Upper Chesapeake Athletic Conference titles, two regional titles in three championship berths, and placed sixth, fifth and first at the past two Class 2A-1A state tournaments.

“My hope for Zach’s final season is that he enjoys it,” Luke Garvin said. “He has found a love for the sport which I had always hoped he would. His goals are set high, and I know he hopes to end it with another state title.”

But the 6-foot-1 Garvin will hang up his singlet for good after this year, having committed to play Division III lacrosse at Elizabethtown College of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

“The fact that I’m committed to college for lacrosse just takes a lot of pressure off,” Zach Garvin said. “It allows me to be more relaxed and to be able to have more fun for my last

season.”

Garvin will major in Engineering while playing for the Blue Jays, who went 8-1 and were runners-up in the Landmark Conference and finished at 11-7 overall last season.

“Zach's final wrestling season feels like a chapter closing for both him and Luke and me. There's pride in everything he's given to the sport and who it helped him become. But it’s a mix of pride and grief. It’s a mixture of pride and grief. There is sadness because the routines, the matches, and the shared moments are finished. It's a reminder of how fast the years went and how much those moments really mattered,” said Jaime Garvin, Luke’s wife and the mother of the state champion siblings.

“There is pride that Zach is carrying on something meaningful that has been such a huge part of our family for so many years, and sadness knowing an era is ending. Wrestling represents shared time, memories, and an identity - so letting it go feels personal. Even as it ends, there is gratitude for all the time we spent together, all the celebrations, and the lessons learned when all the hard work didn't pay off. Hopefully, it is something Tyler and Zach will pass on to the next generation.”

Tyler Garvin was named Legacy Wrestling’s Lower Weight Wrestler Of The Year before graduating in 2024 as a three-time champion in his regional, Upper Chesapeake-Bay Athletic Conference and Class 2A-1A state tournaments.

“We’ve had so many great wrestlers come through Rising Sun over the years,” said Tyler Garvin, whose career record is 136-0 with 78 pins and 20 technical falls. “It was great for me and my brother to be able to stamp our names in the history books and get Rising Sun wrestling back on the map where it belongs.”

In addition to becoming Rising Sun's first wrestler to complete his entire high school career without suffering defeat, Tyler Garvin joined 2008 graduate Matt Jackson – who placed third at states as a freshman – as the Tigers' only other three-time state champion.

Winning his third state title also helped Tyler Garvin to surpass the Tigers’ pair of two-time Class 2A-1A state champions in 1994 graduate Jason Townsend and 2013 alumnus Anthony Cimorosi.

“Three decades of wrestling isn't just a legacy of matches and medals - it's a legacy of early mornings, hard lessons, discipline, and family bonds. Watching it come to an end is both beautiful and heartbreaking,” Jamie Garvin said. “There's deep pride in what my husband and sons gave to the sport, and real grief in knowing this chapter is closing. But the legacy doesn't end here - it lives on in the character they built, the faith that carried them through, and the family we became along the way.”

Tyler Garvin also ranks third on the Tigers' career victories list behind Jackson at 147-4, and Cimorosi at 142-9, this, despite being denied a freshman year of competition as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As far as the Garvin legacy, I hope that it doesn’t end here. It continues with the kids we coach and maybe one day in our grandkids,” Luke Garvin said. “Our family has been blessed to be surrounded by so many great people and coaches. No words can ever be enough to thank them.”

Zach Garvin has also made his own mark as a defender in lacrosse, particularly during a junior year in which he recovered 144 ground balls, forced 32 turnovers and added 10 goals and 5 assists on offense.

Also a long stick midfielder and close defender for the Susquehanna Stripers club lacrosse team, Zach Garvin led last year’s Tigers to a 9-5 record, titles in the Conowingo Division and Class 1A East Region, and their first-ever appearance in the MPSSAA State Tournament.

“We weren’t sure that Zach would ever grow to love wrestling. So, when he was six years old, we put him in a recreation lacrosse program where his love for lacrosse started. Zach eventually started to love wrestling as well. As a mom, I've learned that this season is about holding two things at once - being fully present while also letting go,” Jaime Garvin said.

“I'm reminding myself not to measure his success by wins and losses, but rather by how all the lessons he's learned through wrestling will carry him into the next chapter of his life. All of the dedication, hard work, extra workouts, and working through the heartbreak when things didn't go his way will help him in his college lacrosse journey.”

But Zach Garvin is certainly no slouch on the mats, where he posted a career-best record of 43-1 last season.

Nearly a year ago, Zach Garvin earned his third straight conference title by winning a battle of defending UCBAC champions, 7-2, over C. Milton Wright senior Devin Sweeney.

A week later, Garvin won his second Class 2A-1A East Region crown in three championship berths following a 27-second pin, a 20-4 technical fall and a title match fall in 1:49 over senior Bayside Conference champion German Alvarez of Snow Hill.

Garvin’s 20-4 technical fall was against Stephen Decatur junior Braydon Bell, a Bayside Conference runner-up who had finished third at regions.

At last year’s state tournament, Garvin scored technical falls in his first and second bouts by scores of 19-2, and, 19-3, before earning a 5-1 semifinal victory over Owings Mills senior Cregg Ngounou, a Baltimore County and regional champion who has placed fourth at states.

Garvin won his state title match with a 4-1 decision over Huntingtown senior Blake Ashley, a returning fourth-place state tournament finisher.

“I feel like everyone knows who I am because of who my dad and brother are. Winning starters took a lot of pressure off my back,” Zach Garvin said. “But the job isn’t finished yet. I want to make my own name for myself and cement my name as one of the top wrestlers in Maryland. My goal is to be a two-time state champion.”

Younger sister, Jillian, is a freshman cheerleader who will be matside throughout the season for Zach’s matches.

“I am helping to manage the wrestling team this year, so I still get to be a part of the team for his last year,” Jillian said. “I’ll miss not having a brother in school with me or living at home, but I’m excited to see him play lacrosse at Elizabethtown College.”