Girls are taking over.
Meade, Crofton, Arundel and Chesapeake all feature more than a dozen girls wrestlers among their ranks — very much up from the year before — while Southern reports nine. The Wildcats will even send their first full girls team to an all-girls invitational this weekend.
As for the county as a whole, Broadneck is overstuffed like a post-Thanksgiving stomach with experienced wrestlers, as are South River and Chesapeake. There really isn’t a top team – there are many.
Crofton coach Jason West summed it up nicely.
“Chesapeake and South River will remain as the teams to beat I believe, but again there’s a lot of talent everywhere,” he said. “Broadneck is carrying four studs in [Peyton] Miller, [Linx] Lawless, [Branden] Whyte-Taylor and [Cam] Williams. Old Mill is still Old Mill. Annapolis and Arundel have been building something special for a couple seasons now and then teams like Meade and Glen Burnie have made huge leaps.”
Old Mill coach Jim Grim is warning people to “keep an eye out” for Arundel. South River coach John Klessinger would agree, and throw Crofton, Northeast and North County into the mix.
Chesapeake coach Randy Curtin reckons even the teams’ second tier wrestlers could beat another county’s first. In addition, an all-time high eight competitive county teams enter 3A East Region while there’s five in 4A East.
“It’s no longer a two-or-three-team race,” Klessinger said. “There are a bunch of solid teams.”
Annapolis
Coach: Tom Sfakiyanudis, 19th season
Last season: 12-10
Region: 4A East Region
Top returners: Steven Umana (106), Teddy Sfakiyanudis (165), Davis Ruhf (175), Grayden Stramanak (285), Liv Goldinger (113), Carmine Zimmerelli (120), Conrad Femrite (126), Myles Rankin (150) and Trevor Price (157).
Newcomers to watch: Sophomores Mike Groszkowski (132) and Christian Snavely (144); freshman Leo Skafiyanudis (138).
Outlook: Injuries spoiled what could’ve been a much more competitive season for the Panthers in 2023-24, given the multiple state qualifiers in their ranks. Staying healthy could pitch Annapolis back to the top.
Coach’s comment: “We’re very solid up and down the line up. The team has worked very hard since last season ended.”
Archbishop Spalding
Coach: Mike Laidley, 23rd season
Last season: 22-5, fourth in MIAA, 5th in MIS
Conference: MIAA A Conference
Top returners: Seniors Sean Garretson (126) and Sr. Henry Gessford (144); juniors Eli Chesla (113) and Zane Leitzel (138); sophomore Taina Fernandez (132).
Newcomers to watch: Charlie Mutschler, Isaac Cicchetti and Rudolph Berry.
Outlook: Losing heavyweight Delmar White, the reigning Wrestler of the Year, to a season-ending injury is a serious blow to the Cavaliers. They’re fortunate, though, that they’re still stacked.
Coach’s comment: “We feel we have a solid lineup and very strong at the middle weights.”
Arundel
Coach: Rob Connolly, second season
Last season: 9-5
Region: 3A East Region
Top returners: Seniors Luca Brown, Cole Figueroa, Seth Renton, Dayanara Rico, Erin Wright and Gigi Orellana-Henriquez; juniors Pierce Reed, Anthony Allen and Mannesseh Ojaomo; sophomore Matteo Brown.
Newcomers to watch: Tyler Tablada, Ricky Cox, Cole Ostiguy, Autumn Reed, Michelle Perkins and Camille Rumeau.
Outlook: Arundel looks to aim higher after finishing third in the county last winter and sending multiple upperclassmen to states.
Coach’s comment: “A large part of the nucleus of this team will have been together now for three years and we are a bit more battle tested than we’ve been in the past.”
Broadneck
Coach: Reid Bloomfield, ninth season
Last season: 22-6, 4A state runner-up
Region: 4A East Region
Top returners: Seniors Linx Lawless, Branden Whyte-Taylor, Peyton Miller, Cam Williams, Grayson Stewart and Cameron Zachary; juniors Miguel Caban, Jack Joseph and Tyler Langenbach.
Newcomers to watch: Freshmen Blake Jenkins and Luke Ulrich.
Outlook: In certain weights, the Bruins will show some youth early on. In others, Broadneck will be extremely dangerous.
Coach’s comment: “It should be an exciting season for Broadneck as we are not quite sure where this teams’ ceiling is. Senior leadership will be key in the development of our younger wrestlers.”
Chesapeake
Coach: Randy Curtin, 10th season
Last season: 29-3, county dual meet champions
Region: 3A East Region
Top returners: Seniors Xander Dodd (215), Matthew Curtin (175) and Ethan Mills (144); juniors Brayden Roberts (126) and Owen Collins (150); sophomore Rex Graves (138).
Newcomers to watch: Freshmen Quin Greenstreet (106), Bently Schmidt (113) and Carson Roberts (120).
Outlook: An already deep Chesapeake team ballooned in size with the addition of 17 girls.
Coach’s comment: “We also have 55 boys on our roster. We expect to be competitive at the county, region and state level. We are deep in talent in multiple weight classes. We have a nice mix of returners and talented ninth graders coming in.”
Crofton
Coach: Jason West, fifth season
Last season: 21-13
Region: 3A East Region
Top returners: Seniors Grace Ackermann (115), Lexy Pabon (125/126), Nate Gottlieb (120), Ayden Eremita (138), Garin Chappell (144), Ryan Eremita (150/157), Jakob Kim (150/157), Chris Coleman (190/215), Alpay Aslan (190/215) and Val Patterson (190/215); juniors Aiden Burkett (106), Isabella Coe (140), Breyon Thompson (135), Renata Arroija-Guzman (155), Octavius Brown (165) and LaDarian Roulhac (190); sophomores Nyle Borges (113), Carter Rermgosakul (132) and Katie Huyssoon (145).
Newcomers to watch: Ruby Russell (105), Nora Kelly (140) and Rory Andrews (115).
Outlook: The boys team is senior-laden and the first group that has spent four years together. They are, however, lacking junior experience, per West. The girls team returns four state place-winners, including two-time state champ Lexy Pabon, and is aiming for a state crown.
Coach’s comment: “The hardest thing to overcome will be the hardship of the off season and the loss of our JV coach Blair Meek. However, we will be dedicating this season to him and looking to do great things in his honor.”
Glen Burnie
Coach: Kevin Cabradillia, 16th season
Last season: 16-24
Region: 4A East Region I
Top returners: Seniors Noah Obinna (144/150) and Elijah Boston (285); junior Logan Birch (120); sophomores Daniel Canas (106) and Maddox Parr (144/150).
Newcomers to watch: Senior Kunle Ajani (126); juniors Brian Hernandez (175/190) and Daniel Buruca (175/190); sophomore Abdullah Ashraf (132).
Coach’s comment: “We have a solid foundation with wrestlers that have a few years of experience. Excited to see how our guys develop and end the season.”
Meade
Coach: Art Saumenig, first season
Last season: 7-20
Region: 4A East
Top returners: Seniors Cole Bass (132), Ian Roberts (175), Bradley Morales (190), Christian Jones (285), Mason Marshall (285), Viviana Abalama (145) and Alanis Molina (105); juniors Joe Puia (132), Marcus VanSickle (165) and Devin Bullik (215/285); sophomore Dominic Brown (132).
Newcomers to watch: Seniors Eli Ayala (132), Angel Rubio (138), Isiah Haynes (175) and Ethan Tuohey (150); juniors Savion Maskham-Simmons (106/113), Jalani Lewin (120), Owen Barry (165) and Kenneth Smith (215); sophomores Owen Healy (113/120) and Antonio Abalama 132/138.
Outlook: Meade turned out an encouraging 59 wrestlers this winter, including 16 girls. On the boys side, the Mustangs hope youth mixes well with a small crop of seniors.
Coach’s comment: “The excitement in the room for the season has been very high and everyone is working hard in the room to get better every day. I’m excited to see where we finish at the end of season.”
Old Mill
Coach: Jim Grim, 20th season
Last season: 29-5
Region: 3A East Region
Top returners: Seniors Keon Gavin, Khi Church, Ruben Salas, Dominick Hurley and Noel-Norman Williams; juniors Logan Johnson and Trey Martini.
Newcomers to watch: Seniors Darmitri Looney and Brandon Womack; juniors Ricardo Forde, DuJuan LaRue, Zykhi Mooring and Austyn Bunn; sophomore Anthony Faulkner.
Outlook: The Patriots are fortunate to return what they do, even after losing longtime heavyweight RJ Duncan to graduation.
Coach’s comment: “[We] also a lot of brand-new kids. Gotta get our young guys up to speed. The quicker we do that, the better off we will be.”
Severn
Coach: Tom Wheeler, fifth season
Last season: MIAA B champions
Conference: MIAA B Conference
Top returners: Senior Nicky Melfi (144); junior Talin Krashoc (190); sophomore Dominic Montgomery (132).
Newcomers to watch: Sophomore Rowan Ward (132)
Outlook: The Admirals did extremely well last season, but will focus on building up the new wrestlers this year. Melfi also eyes his first state title.
Coach’s comment: “We are a young team with freshmen filling most of our varsity lineup. The development of our underclassmen will be key to our success.”
Severna Park
Coach: Samuel Ziff, third season
Region/Conference: 3A East Region
Top returners: Senior Allana Adams (140); juniors Michael Queen (132), Andrew Bonk (126) and Aidan Holly (157); sophomore Brett Gleisner (285).
Newcomers to watch: Nicholas Luoto (106), Aiden Bass (113) and Brody Clark (120).
Outlook: The Falcons are well-seasoned, especially in the top half of the lineup. Additionally, Queen is on track to break 100 wins this season.
Coach’s comment: “Our numbers as a team have grown, which I am always happy to see. We still have a few gaps in the lineup that should fix rectify themselves in a few weeks when wrestlers can get down to weight.”
South River
Coach: John Klessinger, 25th season
Last season: 35-6
Region/Conference: 3A East Region
Top returners: Seniors Busayo Balogun (285), Ben Ford (165), Pete Laye (150), Sam Travis (165) and Cristian Erazo (190); juniors juniors Trent Shipley (126), Evan Paximadas (190), Andrew Velleiux (132) and Austin Langis (132); sophomores Jackson Peeples (120lbs), Ethan Burger (144), Nicco Seppi (138).
Newcomers to watch: Seniors Manny Rosas-Luna (113) and Geno Budowski (144); juniors Jamison Gerrity (138), Max Martinez Cruz (175) and Chris Millard (190); sophomores Shaams Ghambir (106), Matt Dague (215) and Mason Stanger (126); freshman Wayne Hicks (150).
Outlook: The Seahawks are loaded with multiple state qualifiers, placers – one champion, Peeples – and county champions from both the varsity and former JV level.
Coach’s comment: “Our focus is to improve and get better. We have a tough schedule. Right now, that’s our outlook. Come in each day and get better. If we can stay consistent and healthy, we will be ok.”
Southern
Coach: Jeff Schrumm, 23rd season
Last season: 7-7
Region/Conference: 2A West Region
Top returners: Seniors Domenica Gladwell (120), Elvis Kressley (150), Luke Thurston (157) and Robert Smith (285); junior Patrick Guy (165); sophomores Hunter Mahoney (120) and Dru DiSilvestre (138)
Newcomers to watch: Sophomores Ryan Wilkerson (106), Christian Kinee (113), Ryan Moreland (132), Randy Griffith (175) and Grant Perkins (215)
Outlook: The Bulldogs overall skew young but return strong seniors like two-time state champion Gladwell, and state qualifiers like Mahoney.
Coach’s comment: “We have some depth in the room at most weights and hope to compete with all teams in the county.”
Coaches’ Wrestlers to Watch:
Wrestlers named be coaches other than their own:
Taina Fernandez, Spalding
Peyton Miller, Broadneck
Cam Williams, Broadneck
Brandon Whyte-Taylor, Broadneck
Linx Lawless, Broadneck
Logan Johnson, Old Mill
Noel-Norman Williams, Old Mill
Jackson Peeples, South River
Busayo Balogun, South River
Matteo Brown, Arundel
Cole Figueroa, Arundel
Michael Queen, Severna Park
Beau Schmidt, Northeast
Carter Alexander, North County
Teddy Skafiyanudis, Annapolis
Jagger Franz, Annapolis