Dan Bichner was born into a friendly rivalry with older brother Matt: The siblings are Glenelg alumnus who are the assistant and head wrestling coach for their alma mater.
Matt earned a Class 2A-1A state title at 160-pounds as a senior in 2006, this, after having won a pair of Howard County titles, three regional crowns and placed fifth and third at states.
Matt’s record as a senior was 30-4, raising his career mark to 121-20 and including a state dual meet semifinal appearance by the Gladiators in 2004.
Dan earned a Class 2A-1A crown as a 135-pound senior in 2008, having been a two-time runner-up and placed third as a freshman. A four-time county and regional champion, Dan’s record as a senior was 38-3, raising his career mark to 137-12.
Dan was also a member of Class 2A-1A state tournament champions in 2008, and of teams which reached the state duals semifinals and finals in 2007 and 2008.
“Matt and I have always been close. We’ve been best friends our whole lives,” said Dan Bichner, 34. “We are both competitive by nature, but we’ve always been on the same side of it and supportive of each other.”
Dan remains by his brother’s side even now as their 26th-ranked Gladiators (11-0 league, 19-8 overall) have completed their seventh undefeated season against county teams during Matt’s 11th-year as their head coach.
Matt has an overall dual meet record of 223-49 at the helm, including a 116-4 mark against the county.
During that time, the Gladiators have won eight county dual meet crowns and five tournament titles to go with four runner-up finishes in the state duals.
“Matt puts a ton of time, effort, and energy into this program, and it shows,” Dan Bichner said. “I don’t think I would be coaching if it weren’t for him and the group of coaches that we have the pleasure to do this with as well as others who support the program.”
Among Matt’s assistants are National Preps champion Bailey Thomas (Good Counsel), National Prep All-American Doug Schenk (McDonogh), and Howard County champion David Ridenour (Glenelg).
Another assistant, Bill Smith, coached Hammond to both the Class 2A-1A state dual meet and tournament titles in 1998.
Matt Bichner’s Gladiators went 11-0 over the course of consecutive seasons in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, as well as in 2024 and 2025. Glenelg was 10-0 against the county in 2022, and 10-1 in 2014, 2015, 2020 and 2023.
A state dual meet champion in 2011, Glenelg has lost once each to Hammond, Marriotts Ridge, Oakland Mills and River Hill during Matt’s coaching tenure.
The Bichners have coached five individual state champions among wrestlers who have placed within the top six of their weight classes at states 29 times.
Jared Thomas and Max Sotka were the siblings’ first Class 2A-1A state champions in 2018.
Sotka was a 160-pound runner-up in 2017 before winning states at 170 pounds as a senior in 2018. Thomas placed third, first and second at states while wrestling at 126, 132 and 138 pounds, the latter, as a senior in 2019.
Sam Alsheimer finished fourth, second and first at states through 2019, all while competing at 182 pounds. Max’s younger brother, Drew Sotka, won consecutive state titles in 2019 and 2020, doing so at 170 and 182 pounds.
“Coach Matt and Danny Bichner were instrumental to my success as a wrestler at Glenelg High School,” Alsheimer said. “The Bichner Brothers taught us to be relentless wrestlers and to always score the next point. This has translated positively into my character development as well as all of my teammates. I would never have become a state champ without the Bichner Brothers and their mentorship.”
State runners-up for the Bichner brothers have been Robbie Baxter (220) in 2018, and Kyle Hansberger (126) and Ethan Sotka (152) in 2022, with Ethan Sotka also placing third as a senior in 2023.
The siblings have coached wrestlers to 27 individual county titles, with Alsheimer and Thomas being three-time county champions.
Leading this year’s Gladiators are 14th-ranked senior Isaac Choi (132), 12th-ranked junior Josh Choi (157), 18th-ranked junior Jonathan Sexton (138) and 21st-ranked junior Phil Key (126).
As a freshman, Key was a county champion who placed third at regions and sixth at states. Key returned to Glenelg from fifth-ranked Loyola, where he was a runner-up as a sophomore in last year’s Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament and placed fourth in the Maryland Independent Schools State Tournament.
Isaac Choi placed second at counties, fourth at regions and fifth at states last year, Sexton was second at counties and fourth at regions, and Josh Choi was third at counties.
“I’m really proud of the program we have built and sustained over the time since I was wrestling at Glenelg,” said Matt Bichner, 36, whose third seeded Gladiators play host to Poolesville (9-5) in Thursday’s Class 2A West Region Duals at 4:30pm. “We are still searching for our first state title since I have become the head coach, and that remains a goal for me and for our program.”
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