Freshman Dominic Gray (120), junior Chris Nice (145) and seniors Gavin McDowell (138), Savion Rickets (182) and Cade Zengel (195) all went 8-0 to lead Bel Air to the crown at the 15-team Tomahawk Duals Tournament at Havre De Grace High last weekend.

McDowell had four pins and a technical fall to improve to 27-3 on the year and was named Outstanding Lowerweight Wrestler. McDowell is a two-time Upper Chesapeake Conference Athletic Conference Tournament runner-up and regional champion who placed sixth at last year’s Class 4A-3A state tournament.

Nice pinned seven opponents to improve to 28-0 and seeks to improve on last year’s UCBAC and regional champion finishes as well as last year’s sixth-place finish at states.

Rickets pinned five opponents and had one technical fall in the tournament to improve to 26-5 on the year, having placed second in last year’s UCBAC and third at regions. A returning UCBAC and regional runner-up, Zengel had seven pins to improve to 29-2, and Gray pinned five opponents to improve to 24-7.

“This year’s team is a tight-knit, fun group that works hard,” said 30th-year coach Craig Reddish, a 1987 Bel Air graduate who was a regional champion and placed third at states.

“We have a blend of experienced senior wrestlers and first year wrestlers that make up our line-up. I am proud of how they compete, win or lose. Hopefully this victory will help motivate the team to finish strong.”

Others wrestling well for the Bobcats were freshman Kahlil Mobley (106), junior Ian Nitz (220) and seniors Manny Lucas (152) and Taran Johnson (220). Nitz was 7-1 with five pins, Lucas was 6-2 with five pins, Mobley went 6-2 with four falls, and Johnson, 5-2 with five pins.

Lucas and Johnson were both second at each of the UCBAC and regionals last year, and Nitz is a returning third place finisher at UCBACs who was a regional runner-up.

The Cougars (24-7) defeated county rival Harford Tech, 42-28, in the finals, a victory that avenged two previous losses to the Cobras, Reddish said.

“After losing twice to Harford Tech, we knew we could beat them, so this was a great win for our team. This shows that we’re really improving and getting better heading toward the postseason,” Nice said.

“We’re preparing to make a run at the state duals. I’m very fortunate to be in a wrestling room where my practice partners all push me to be better. We have an amazing coaching organization that wants the best for us and helps us to improve.”

The Cougars were runners-up to the Cobras at the season-opening Dick Slutzky Golden Eagle Duals, where Reddish earned his 500th career dual meet victory against Thomas Wootten of Montgomery County.

“We lost, 39-36, to Harford Tech in the beginning of the season and 38-35 in our UCBAC dual meet two weeks ago. Both of the previous matches came down to the last match with both teams winning seven individual matches,” Reddish said.

“The major difference in this match was a close victory at the 182 weight class where Savion Rickets avenged a loss to Charlie Turney, 6-5. Turney pinned Ricketts in the conference dual meet. The other major victory was by our freshman first-year wrestler, Kahlil Mobley by fall over Damon Boniface. Boniface and Mobley had split in the two previous meetings.”

The runner-up Cobras were paced by sophomore Zaden Tablan (113/120), freshman Christian Donlick (120/126), seniors Logan Barkey (126/132) and Gavin Thompson (220), and juniors Connor McNamee (132), Ryan Sewell (145/152), Wesley Outlaw (152) and Spiros Nikitaras (195).

Barkey went 7-0 with six pins to improve to 24-1 on the year, Tablan was 7-0 with four pins to improve to 22-1, Outlaw, 7-0 with four pins to rise to 22-2, and Thompson, 7-0 with three pins to improve to 22-4.

McNamee was 5-0 with two pins, and a technical fall, Nikitaras went 4-0 with a pin, Sewell was 6-1 with five pins, and Donlick, 6-1 with two pins.

Wrestling well for third-place Patterson Mill were junior Adkhamjonov Akbarjon (106/113), junior Jeff Gessner (126), senior Zach Alkhatib (145) and senior Mark Matysek (160/170). Akbarjon went 8-0 (eight pins), Gessner, 6-0 with four pins and a technical fall, Alkhatib, 6-0 with two pins, and Matysek, 6-1 with five pins.

North Harford was led by sophomore Tommy Blankenship (120), senior Cruz Cespedes (138), sophomore Holden Young (170) and junior Clay Lawrence (285). Lawrence was 8-0 with six pins, Blankenship was 8-0 with four pins and a technical fall, Young was 8-0 with four pins, and Cespedes, 7-1 with seven pins.

Sophomore Brayden Polly (106), senior Clayton Dicus (113), freshman Chase Ullman (113/126) and junior Landon Pinnell (152.160) paced Eastern Tech.

Polly was 8-0 with four pins and a technical fall to improve to 21-1, Dicus went 6-0 with five pins to improve to 24-1, Ullman went 5-1 with four pins to improve to 22-2, and Pinnell was 6-1 with five pins and a technical fall.

Loch Raven was paced by junior Chris Beegan (126), senior Malic Page (145), senior Jacob Latorre (152) and senior Ahmad Robinson (285). Latorre was 8-0 with four pins and a technical fall, Page was 7-1 with seven pins, Robinson was 6-1 with five pins, and Beegan, 6-1 with four pins.

North East sophomore Mason Boyd (132/138), sophomore Aidan Cantrell (138) and senior Kameron Schank (160). Boyd and Schank were 8-0 with seven pins, and Cantrell was 5-1 with four pins.

Leading Parkville were juniors Donnell Dawkins (195) and Simeon Brayant (285). Dawkins and Bryant each went 7-0 with five pins.

Havre de Grace sophomore Conner Birth (113), Joppatowne Joel Oyekanmi (132) and Towson junior Henry Kline (160) all went unbeaten. Birth was 8-0 with seven pins, Oyekanmi was 7-0 with five pins and a technical fall, and Kline, 6-0 with four pins to improve to 18-2.

Boog Is Best Of The Nest

Cru Boog (222 pounds) was named Outstanding Heavyweight wrestler for 13th-ranked Manchester Valley, which went 9-0 and crowned Lance Chapman (108), Ryan Hydorn (122), Brayden Vandervoort (128), Tyler Burry (152) and Braeden Fourhman (197) at last weekend’s Best Of The Nest Duals at Kenwood.

Boog and Burry are ranked 10th for a Mavericks’ squad which eclipsed runner-up Marriotts Ridge of Howard County, whose champions were Atley Turner (134), Alex Gladstone (140) and Jonah Obitz (172).

Fourth-place Westminster crowned Randy Green (287), and Kelly Bailey (115) earned a title for the host Bluebirds.

Cougars’ Delmar White remains unbeaten

Sophomore 285-pounder Delmar White improved went 7-0 with six pins to pace Chesapeake-Anne Arundel to a fourth place finish at the 14-team Cavalier Duals at Archbishop Spalding last weekend.

White improved to 31-0 (17 pins) in an event won by Wallenpaupack Area High School in Hawley, Pa., having placed third at counties, second at regions and sixth at states last season.

“The coaches felt good about how all of us were performing. I felt really good at that tournament, and very strong,” said White, 16, who accomplished five falls in the first period in 19, 27, 35, 43 and 56 seconds. “I always want to be humble, and I know I can lose this year to someone, but I’ll always try my best to improve.”

Cougars sophomore Braydon Ambrose (106) went 6-1 with five pins, and junior Michael Greenstreet (120) went 6-1 with four pins. Ambrose improved to 22-4, having placed fourth in both the counties and regions last year.

Five wrestlers went unbeaten for the host Cavaliers, who finished fifth as freshman Eli Chesla (106) went 7-0 with four pins, sophomore Sean Garretson (120/126) went 7-0 with five pins and a technical fall, junior Vincent Paolucci (126/132) went 7-0 with six pins, freshman Zane Leitzel (132/138) went 7-0 with four pins and a technical fall, and junior Charlie Gessfordr (145/152) was 7-0 with three pins.

Wrestling well for Northeast of Anne Arundel County were sophomore Scott Anderson (170) and senior David Fish (182). Anderson went 6-1 with five pins to improve to 17-3 on the season, and Fish, 6-1 with two pins to 18-3.

For Annapolis, Nik Antonelli (152) went 6-1 with four pins and two technical falls, and teammate Grayden Stramanak (220), 4-1 with four pins.

Warpath Invitational at Franklin

Third-place Glenelg crowned seventh-ranked Class 2A-1A state-runner-up Ethan Sotka (160) at last weekend’s Warpath Invitational at Franklin High of Baltimore County, an event won by Linganore of Frederick County.

Fourth-place C. Milton Wright’s champions were Mitchell Nguyen (120) and Devin Sweeney (145), with fifth-place Liberty of Carroll County crowning Dylan Rubin (195), Samuel Jordan (220) winning for sixth-place Mount Hebron of Howard County.

Fourth-ranked Owen Bell (126) of Hereford earned his crown with a 46-second pin over 20th-ranked Nicky Anderson of Williamsport High of Washington County.

A two-time county and regional champion who placed fourth at state last year, Bell improved to 21-0 (14 pins) and is headed for Bucknell University to wrestle.

Bell’s path to the finals included falls in 14 and 22 seconds before dispatching of Anderson, who entered their clash of unbeaten wrestlers at 25-0.

Fifth-ranked defending Class 4A-3A state champion Calvin Kraisser (138) improved to 15-2 on the year by pinning Brody Zumbano of C. Milton Wright in 5:46.

Friars’ Fearsome Foursome

Freshman Bailen Boutz (160), junior Brandon Lewis (220) and seniors Kamron Hampton (170) and Matt Thuman (182) powered Archbishop Curley to the team championship at the Jan. 6-7 Loch Raven Duals Tournament at Loch Raven High.

Boutz, Hampton, Thuman and Lewis went 8-0 individually for the Friars, who also finished 8-0 as a team and placed 13 wrestlers within the top three of their weight classes.

Finishing second were freshman Adeoluwa Adewuyi (138) and sophomores Kahlil Regan (195) and Kevin Bright (285), with third-place finishers in freshmen Abdallah Alquran (106), Carlos Rodriguez (126) and Gavin Sparzak (132), juniors Jeff Fortune (145) and Darren List (152), and senior Tim Steven (113).

The Friars of first-year coach Paul Boettcher, a 1999 Curly graduate, won their dual meets by an average of 60-19.

Boetcher said Lewis is a team captain with “a handful of junior league experience,” having placed fifth at last year’s Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament and seventh at the private schools state tournament.

Thuman is a team captain with a background in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu who “is pretty good with all kinds of throws” and “will headlock anyone from anywhere at any time,” Boettcher said.

Hampton is a second-year wrestler and team captain who leads by example, and Boutz has “five or six years of junior league experience,” Boettcher said.

Bright is a sophomore and “a great athlete” who began wrestling “about a week” before the season-opening “Parkville tournament and took 5th,” Boettcher said.

Regan has placed in every tournament thanks to his knack for capitalizing on opponents’ mistakes. Alquran is a first-year wrestler who “weighed 96 pounds earlier this year” but is currently at 103, according to Boettcher.

Boettcher calls Stevens, a “tough, raw” first-year wrestler who is interested in attending the Naval Academy. Rodriguez is a transfer from Loch Raven who has “placed in every tournament and been in the finals twice,” according to Boettcher.

Sparzak is transferring his soccer skills, and the “raw and aggressive” Adewuyi “came out of nowhere and nearly pinned his way through” the Loch Raven tournament, Boettcher said.

Sibling and assistant coach Mike Boettcher graduated from Curley in 1998, and Paul Boettcher, in 1999, each competing at 140 pounds as seniors.

Mike Boettcher was a three-time MIAA champ, won two state titles in three championship appearances, and placed fourth at the National Preps.

Paul earned crowns in the MIAA and private schools state tournaments as well as All-American honors – the latter by placing fourth at the National High School championships at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University.

“I got the job in late August. Tim Schoen and my older brother Mike are the two assistants,” said Paul Boettcher. “We’re all committed to building the program back to what it was and better.”

Gators’ Dolezel Grabs Championship Revenge

Reservoir sophomore Andrew Dolezel (120) scored a 16-1, technical fall victory over seventh-ranked Class 4A-3A state runner-up Jacob Gaum of Walt Whitman High of Montgomery County in their title bout of last weekend’s Grapple At The Brook Tournament at Springbrook of Montgomery County.

Not only did Dolezal avenge a 6-2 loss of a year ago by defeating Gaum, but the third-place state finisher improved his record to 28-1, pacing the Gators to sixth place in an event won by Cape Henlopen High of Lewis, Delaware.

Gilman Grapplers Go Unbeaten

Gilman sophomores John Jurkovic (126) and Emmit Sherlock (138/144) as well as junior Tyson Sherlock (132/138) all went 4-0 with two pins to pace the host Greyhounds to a fourth-place finish at last weekend’s Gilman Dual.

Conley Captures Moment For Mount

Mount St. Joseph junior Maximus Conley (132) is finally making his mark this season after being a reserve wrestler in the past. Most recently, Conley overcame a 3-0 deficit for a 5-3 victory over Gilman’s eighth-ranked sophomore John Jurkovic in the Gaels’ 56-16 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association dual meet victory on January 11.

Conley’s effort followed a fifth place finish at the East Coast Catholic Classic at Benedictine Prep in Richmond, Va., on January 7, preceded his seventh-place finish at the January 13-14 War On The Shore after being unseeded. Conley secured his seventh-place finish with a 6-5 victory over 14th-ranked Gregory Couch of Kent Island in Stevensville, Md.

Paint Branch Invitational

Glenelg Country School junior Rhys Edwards (138) used a 2-1 decision over Sherwood of Montgomery County junior Vasili Siarkas to win the crown at the Panther Invitational at Paint Branch High of Montgomery County last weekend.

Perryville senior Kyler Brown (132) earned his crown with a 5-3 decision over Gwynn Park of Prince George’s County junior Sejad Lejean, improving his overall record on the year to 19-2.