Wrestler of the Year - Elijah Collick

Two weeks prior to winning their respective fourth straight state titles, top-ranked seniors Elijah Collick (132) of 19th-ranked Stephen Decatur and JoJo Gigliotti (138) of fourth-ranked South Carroll received advice during a zoom meeting with Aaron Brooks, who, like them, earned all of his accolades while remaining at a Maryland public school.

"I'm from Hagerstown, so it's borderline Pennsylvania on the Mason-Dixon line, so we traveled more in junior leagues than when I got to high school," said Brooks, who established a trifecta as a four-time high school state title-winner at North Hagerstown High School in addition to winning as many championships both in the National High School Coaches’ Association and NCAA tournaments, the latter at Penn State.

"Once I got to high school, it was more just about refinement. I stayed in Hagerstown. I did the Fargo camps and that kind of stuff, but my [father, John Brooks,] brought at lot of people to us. So, kids in the area if they were from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, we kind of scheduled some practices. But I really think that at this point in your career, and going forward in college as well, you need good partners."

The duo spent nearly an hour speaking with Brooks, who went 163-2 over the course of his high school career to become a four-time Class 4A-3A state champion comprising records of 45-1 as a freshman, 43-1 as a sophomore, 46-0 as a junior and 22-0 as a senior.

"I think this is really exciting," said Collick, before asking the first question of Brooks. "I just want to ask you, like, with you being from Maryland, how was your build-up? Were you traveling to go to other practices or just working hard in your own [team's wrestling] room?"

Brooks' travels beyond college included an Olympic Freestyle bronze medal in the Paris Games, where he defeated Jabrail Shapiev of Uzbekistan, 5-0, in August 2024.

"I think that on the build-up side, you just need to know what you want to get better at. A lot of people go into training with no goals, like, 'I'm going to get better at wrestling.' But what does that look like? '" Brooks asked. "'Am I going to work on my set ups, or am I going to work on my upper body? My baseline defense?' The build-up for me was in the gym. I could be wrestling with a first- or second-year wrestler, but I was always working skills a lot."

Collick: "So you were working more on your technique?"

Brooks: "One hundred percent."

Collick's technique was on display last month at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro as his Class 4A-3A state title-winning effort made him the Seahawks' first-ever four-time state title winner after having done the same by capturing his fourth straight Bayside Conference and regional crowns over the previous two weeks.

Collick ran his record on the year to 46-1 with 24 pins and 15 technical fall, adding this year's Class 4A-3A state title to his previous year's three Class 2A-1A versions and being named a Legacy Wrestling Wrestler Of The Year.

"Legacy means a lot to me. Being able to make history shows that all of the hard work that I put in has paid off." Collick said. "It also allows others to see that as well. Advice from Aaron Brooks also helped me to see wrestling from a different perspective, and to focus on new aspects of the sport."

But the path to glory wasn't easy for Collick, who advanced to the title match following a difficult overtime victory over Chesapeake-Anne Arundel’s previously unbeaten second-ranked sophomore Corey Brown.

Collick trailed Brown, 1-0, entering the third period and tied the bout at 4-4 to send it into overtime, where his three-point takedown secured the come-from-behind win. Things went much smoother for Collick in the finals, which he won by fall in 1:44 over Rockville’s 17th-ranked senior Damian Melendez, a Class 4A-3A West Regional champion who entered with a record of 43-1.

A transfer from second-ranked Mount St. Joseph, where he earned a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association title, Brown wrestled back to third place. Brown ended his season with a record of 23-1 with 13 pins and five technical falls, having won titles in the Anne Arundel and Class 4A-3A South Region.

“I was a little nervous before the match, but I felt like if I was able to get my shots, I would have this kid. Going into the third period, I was like, ‘I got this kid.' I’m stronger on the top, but when I cut him and let him up in overtime,” Collick told a mat-side Legacy Wrestling’s Dan Casey, a wrestler for Hereford High School.

“I knew that I had to get it. I knew that I could bid for some time and that eventually I was going to get him. When I looked around after the match. The experience was a lot of fun, and a highly competitive match in the semifinals. where the entire crowd was watching. That made it more exciting.”

Collick joined two-time champion Noah Reho as only the second Seahawks' freshman to win a state title as a 106-pound ninth-grader and surpassed three-time champion Danny Miller by becoming the program's first four-time state champion.

Armed with a career mark of 179-6, Collick has surpassed three-time state finalist Jagger Clapsadle (158 wins), state champion Nico D'Amico (153), four-time place-winner Andy McKahan (147), Reho (140) and Miller (139) on the Seahawks' list of all-time victories leaders.

Gigliotti and Collick are not only the first pair of wrestlers who captured their fourth state title in the same season, but they made history by clashing in the finals of January’s War On The Shore Tournament.

Collick suffered his lone defeat this year by 8-7 decision when bumping up to face Gigliotti, a University of Maryland-bound wrestler who earned his school-record fourth straight Class 2A-1A state championship to go with as many Carroll County and regional crowns.

"The match with JoJo exposed some of my flaws," Collick said. "But it ultimately helped me to grow and to improve as a wrestler."

Gigliotti and Collick became Maryland's 10th and 11th four-time public school state champions, following Aberdeen's Matt Slutzky (1989-1992), Owings Mills' Steve Kessler (1994-1997), Hereford's Josh Asper (2005-2008), Southern-Garrett's George "Brutus" Scheffel (2007-2010), Centennial's Nathan Kraisser (2009-2012), Middletown's Danny Bertoni (2014-2017), Centennial's Jason Kraisser (2016-2019), North Hagerstown's Aaron Brooks (2015-2018) and Centennial's Calvin Kraisser (2021-2025).

Collick was officially the first state champion for fourth-year coach Josh August, who also guided Logan Intrieri to a crown at 132 pounds in 2023, and Gavin Solito (157) to a title in 2024 after having been a two-time runner-up.

"Elijah's a special wrestler who has ice in his veins," said August during January of Collick's sophomore year. "Elijah would weigh 106 and compete at 113 and win major decisions over state place-winners. I remember hearing Elijah say...'If my team needs a pin or a technical fall, it's not about me and my record, it's about what I can do for the team.'"

With Collick in the lineup, the Seahawks have earned their fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth consecutive Bayside Conference Tournament titles, and back-to-back state dual meet crowns in 2023 and 2024 representing their program's fifth and sixth overall.

Elijah followed his father into wrestling, far surpassing his patriarch. Elijah's father, Latra, suffered a 5-4 Class 2A-1A state quarterfinal loss to eventual four-time champion Josh Asper of Hereford and finished fifth at states as a junior in 2007. Latra was a Class 2A-1A state runner-up as a senior in 2008 following a 3-2 state championship loss to three-time state champion Vince Taweel of Hammond.

"It's surreal that at a young age, people were saying that 'Elijah is going to be a four-time state champion’. But what people are thinking, and reality can be two different things," Latra Collick said. "But no matter the challenge, I see how hard Elijah has worked, his dedication, and all of his effort turn into becoming a four-timer into a reality is amazing."

Below is a chart provided by wrestling historian Luke Broadwater regarding Maryland's four-time state and/or National Prep Champs, of which there are a combined total of 17. Broadwater is a board member of each of the Maryland State Wrestling Hall of Fame Committee and the Maryland State Wrestling Association.

National Preps:

Todd Beckerman (DeMatha) - 4x National Prep Champ

Rudy Rueda (DeMatha) - 4x National Prep Champ

Mack Lewnes (MSJ) - 4x National Prep Champ

Public school states:

Bobby Truby (Sherwood) - 4x State Champ (Twice In Maryland, Twice in Pennsylvania))

Matt Slutzky (Aberdeen) - 4x State Champ

Steve Kessler (Owings Mills) - 4x State Champ

Josh Asper (Hereford) - 4x State Champ

George "Brutus" Scheffel (Southern Garrett) - 4x State Champ

Nathan Kraisser (Centennial) - 4x State champ

Danny Bertoni (Middletown) - 4x State champ

Jason Kraisser (Centennial) - 4x State Champ

Aaron Brooks (North Hagerstown) - 4x State champ

Calvin Kraisser (Centennial) - 4x State champ

Private school states:

Josh Fitch (McDonogh) - 4x State champ

Mack Lewnes (Mount St. Joseph) - 4x State Champ

Mike Rowe (DeMatha) - 4x MD State champ

Eric Friedman (St. Paul's) - 4x State champ

Alfred "Baby J" Bannister (Bishop McNamara - 4x State champ

Stephen Decatur's state champions

2007 Trevor Rickett (112 pounds)

2007 Danny Miller (189)

2008 Skyler Snead (135)

2008 Danny Miller (189)

2009 Danny Miller (189)

2019 Noah Reho (126)

2020 Noah Reho (145)

2020 Nico D'Amico (132)

2020 James Parana (160)

2022 Alex Koulikov (195)

2023 Elijah Collick (106)

2023 Logan Intrieri (132)

2024 Elijah Collick (113)

2024 Gavin Solito (157)

2025 Elijah Collick (126)

2026 Elijah Collick (132)