Coleman Nogle plans to savor every second of every match during this, his final season in Mount St. Joseph wrestling uniform.

“Each experience is going to be unforgettable,” said Nogle, a 126-pound senior. “It’s a little bittersweet knowing that this is the last dance for me, and I’m taking it one week at a time.”

The first couple of weeks of Nogle’s final year as a Gael are off to a blistering start with the Harvard University-bound wrestler being integral in back-to-back tournament victories.

Nogle and his younger brother, Carter (120), a junior who has committed to the Air Force Academy, were among the Gaels’ champions during each event – the first being the Dec. 3, Washington Elite Open in Charles Town, West Virginia, and the second the Dec. 9-10 Penn Manor Holiday Tournament in Millersville, Pennsylvania.

Coleman and Carter were joined on the championship podium by Joseph Cooper (106), Ben Smith (160) and Bryce Phillips (215) in West Virginia, and Cooper, Smith and Gavin Bage (285) in Pennsylvania.

Phillips and Cameron Cannaday (150) were runners-up at Penn Manor, where Coleman Nogle was named Outstanding Wrestler.

“I was very grateful to be named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler. It’s nice to know that others recognized my performance and wanted to reward me for it,” Nogle said. “However, winning the tournament as a team is more important to me.  No one is bigger than the team.

That’s something coach [Harry] Barnabae emphasizes in our room at Mount St. Joseph.”

The Nogles have each won Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and Maryland Independent Schools titles. Coleman is 8-0 this year and 94-17 for his career, and Carter, 9-0 with a 57-5 career mark.

Phillips, a junior, is a defending MIAA and MIS (private schools) state champion, and Bage, a senior, a defending MIAA champion.

“It felt like yesterday I arrived on the campus as a little freshman with four long years ahead of me. I don’t think I’ve fully processed the fact that this is my last ride. Wrestling for MSJ and coach Barnabae is very special,” Nogle said.

“It’s something I will cherish forever, and I’m just trying to enjoy every aspect of it. I look forward to sharing a long and fun season with my teammates and coaches and I believe the sky’s our limit.”

Cobras’ Sting Blue Devils, 35-34

Sophomore Nikolai Chervak decked Springbrook’s David Garcia at 5:06 of their 145-pound bout to clinch a come-from-behind, 35-34 victory for Harford Tech in the championship match of Saturday’s Dick Slutzky Golden Eagle Duals.

Others pinning for the Cobras were freshman Christian Donlick (120), junior Wesley Outlaw (152), senior Gavin Thompson (182) and senior Gavin Lawson (285), with decisions from seniors Logan Barkey (126) and Spiros Nikitaras (220), the latter in overtime, 7-5.

”We were losing to Springbrook, 34-29, going into the last match at 145 and needed a pin,” Cobras’ coach Ja’Juan Burrell said. ”Otherwise we would have lost on criteria due to an unsportsmanlike conduct after our 220′s match. He celebrated an overtime victory and threw his headgear in the process, costing us a team point.”

The Cobras’ regional champion, Charlie Turney (170) lost an exciting bout, 6-5, to the Blue Devils’ Sagbe Sieh, whose older brother, Sayfore, was a state champion in 2020. Chervak led, 12-0, at the time of the fall.

Barkey finished at 8-0, and is a 24-0 at the event. Finishing at 7-1 were Donlick, Outlaw, Turney, Thompson, Lawson, senior Damon Boniface (106), sophomore Zaden Tablan (113) and sophomore Brian Vickers  (160). 

“We defeated Bel Air 39-36 in Round 4 to win our pool,” said Burrell, whose Cobras are defending UCBAC tournament and 1A East Region Duals meet champions. “

Brian Vickers notched a huge upset over returning UCBAC finalist, Taran Johnson, in that dual, pinning him at 1:39 of the first period.”

The Cobras completed an 8-0 mark in the tournament, are 9-0 on the year, and will play host to Harford County rivals Aberdeen and Patterson Mill today at 4 p.m. Barkey and Turney are returning regional champions along with female wrestler Apollo Hayden, who also placed third in the girls’ state tournament at 145 pounds last year. Thompson and Tablan were regional runner-ups last year.”

During our UCBAC tournament win, we placed 13 of 14 wrestlers in the top six in the conference,” Burrell said. “We lost to South Carroll in the 1A State Dual semifinals last year, 48-24. We also sent 10 wrestlers to the state tournament last season.”

Making His Mark

Mark Matysek was nearing the end of his junior season playing football when Patterson Mill wrestling coach Ryan Arist asked him to compete for the Huskies on the mat.

“Mark is a great story. He came out for the wrestling team last year as a junior and placed fifth at the [Upper Chesapeake Athletic Conference Tournament] and fourth at the regionals,” Arist said.

“After being a first-year wrestler, he worked hard in the offseason and is now a senior captain. . He worked hard in the offseason and is now a team captain. It’s great to have a coachable kid like that in your program.”

Matysek’s dedication paid off at host Huskies’ Duals last weekend, where the Patterson Mill senior went 8-0 with five pins, improving to 9-0 on the year.

Matysek paced the Huskies of Harford County to an overall 7-2 record in an event won by Sussex Central (9-0) of Georgetown, Delaware. The Broadneck Bruins of Anne Arundel County and Hammond Bears of Howard County both went 8-1.

The Bruins were led by undefeated Dax Avila (145), Ryland Woodward (152), Peyton Miller (160), Max Demella (170) and Jake Chambers (182), and the Bears, Joey Munyaneza (145).

Cecil County’s Rising Sun went 7-2 behind unbeatens Adan Stewart (106), Tyler Garvin (113), Xzavier Brown (120), Zach Garvin (138/145) and Mason Testerman (182). Kyler Brown (138) went undefeated for Perryville of Cecil County.

Different Paths To A Similar Result

Calvert Hall teammates Duncan Kammer (195) and Maxwell Ohamuo (285) traveled different routes to Saturday’s victories at Knightmare Invitational at Parkville of Baltimore County.

Kammer decked Edgewood’s Malachi Coates in 22-seconds of their title bout, after which Ohamuo required overtime to win a 5-1 decision over the host Knights’ Simeon Bryant.

The duo was among the tournament runner-up Cardinals’ eight wrestlers who finished within the top three of their weight classes, with Matt Lombardo (138), Adam Malinowski (152) and Bryan Baldwin (170) finishing second, and Ty Hawk (113), Griffin Steward (126) and Sisto Averno (182) all placing third.

Victorious Linganore (308 points) dominated the Cardinals (222) points) and the 17-team field behind Lancers’ champions Josh Arthur (106), Cash Wheat (113), Dylan Rohn (132), Garhett Dickenson (138), Peyton Pickett (152), Ben Lawn (160) and Ethan Arneson (170).

Northeast’s Beau Schmidt (126) earned his crown with a 20-3 technical fall victory over Carlos Rodriguez of Archbishop Curley, and Parkville’s Donnel Dawkins (220) pinned Garland in 99 seconds.

Gladiators second at Boonsboro

Leo Conti (182) placed first, Ethan Sotka (170) and Max Dail (220), second, Travis Goodwin (285), third, and Sam Schott (160) fourth as the Glenelg Gladiators of Howard County finished second at the Battle of the Boro at Boonsboro on Saturday.