Spalding last won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference wrestling title in 2011. That 14-year drought ended Saturday, in part because of its championship-winning football program.
“We have a very good football program at Spalding, and for the longest time, football players wouldn’t even come out, so we weren’t filling the upper weights,” coach Mike Laidley said. “The last three weight classes we have are football guys … and without them, we wouldn’t have won this.”
All three of Spalding’s heaviest wrestlers finished fifth place or better.
The second-ranked Cavaliers led for much of the day Saturday at the MIAA championships, hosted by Gilman, and posted a comfortable win, amassing 239 points. No. 4 Mount Saint Joseph finished second with 207.5 points, while defending champion Gilman, who went 9-0 in conference duals this winter, placed third with 194.5 points.
Gilman dominated last year’s tournament, when it outpaced Mount Saint Joseph by 34 points. The Greyhounds were the top-ranked team in the state and enjoyed the comfortability of its home gym, but came up short this year.
“We looked at it on paper. We knew, based on the seedings, they had a little bit of an edge on us,” Laidley said. “But you know what? That’s paper, and [it doesn’t matter] until you wrestle.”
Spalding has manifested this win all season, breaking down each end-of-practice huddle with a “champs” on three. Those words have never rang truer.
Spalding relied on its depth. Only two Cavaliers won their weight class. At 132 pounds, senior Sean Garretson pinned Mount Saint Joseph’s Ben Scheiner in the second period, while junior Zane Leitzel scored one of the most dramatic wins of the final round at 138.
Leitzel, Maryland’s top-ranked wrestler in the weight class according to Legacy Wrestling, was taken down by MSJ’s Tyler Stephens — ranked fifth in Maryland — in the first period and entered the third down 4-1. He picked up a quick escape point then kept pushing for a go-ahead takedown. Finally, with two seconds on the clock, Leitzel scored his takedown and won the match, 5-4.
“I knew it was going to be a good match, but I didn’t expect it to be that close,” Leitzel said. “Going into the third, I knew I had the gas tank and I was just going to keep on going at him.”
Spalding also had three runners-up and three third-place winners to rack up the points.
Despite finishing in third, Gilman won the most individual titles with four. At 113 pounds, Liam McGettigan methodically broke down Spalding’s Eli Chesla, 4-0. John Jurkovic (157) used a takedown and near fall to build a 9-3 lead and won his 157-pound match over MSJ Cameron Cannaday, 9-6.
Also, Arthur Konschak pinned Loyola-Blakefield’s Riley Miller at 175 pounds, and then Emmitt Sherlock, a senior committed to the University of Virginia, won his third state title with a 1-0 victory over St. Frances’ Elijah Josey at 190 pounds. A second-period escape was the only point of the match.
No. 12 St. Frances finished with three individual titles, dominating the heavier weights. At 150 pounds, Braxton McAvey beat Calvert Hall’s Griffin Stewart, 11-1. Chase Carpintieri topped Haden Myers, 10-4, at 165 pounds. At 215 pounds, Douglas Johnson outmanned Gilman’s Isaiah Trusty, 8-3.
Like Spalding, Mount Saint Joseph displayed its depth with five wrestlers in the finals, but only two came out on top. The Gaels’ Corey Brown and Loyola Blakefield’s Tyler Verceles entered ranked one and two in the state, respectively. But Brown left no doubt. He got a first-period takedown and opened up the second with an escape for a 4-0 lead. He took down Verceles again, and this time got two separate four-point near fall calls to bring an early end to the match with a 15-0 technical fall. Brown, who had three pins en route to the finals, won the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award.
Also for the Gaels, at 126 pounds, Jake Tamai downed McDonogh’s Wes Baumgartner, 4-0.
Loyola won two individual titles as well. Jayden Jackson brushed past Spalding’s Isaac Cicchetti with a 19-3 tech fall at 120 pounds, before Luke Randazzo closed the day at heavyweight, pinning Archbishop Curley’s Kahlil Regan 1:19 into the first period.
Severn also attained an individual title, as Nicky Melfi earned a tech fall over Spalding’s Henry Gessford, 17-1.
Championship matches
106: Corey Brown (Mount Saint Joseph) 34-1 won by tech fall over Tyler Verceles (Loyola-Blakefield) 37-3 (TF-1.5 3: 58 (15-0)); 113: Liam McGettigan (Gilman School) 31-5 won by decision over Eli Chesla (Archbishop Spalding) 17-7 (Dec 4-0); 120: Jayden Jackson (Loyola-Blakefield) 29-3 won by tech fall over Isaac Cicchetti (Archbishop Spalding) 14-4 (TF-1.5 2: 49 (19-3)); 126: Jake Tamai (Mount Saint Joseph) 35-3 won by decision over Wes Baumgartner (McDonogh School) 37-10 (Dec 4-0); 132: Sean Garretson (Archbishop Spalding) 24-3 won by fall over Ben Scheiner (Mount Saint Joseph) 28-13 (Fall 3: 21); 138: Zane Leitzel (Archbishop Spalding) 27-4 won by decision over Tyler Stephens (Mount Saint Joseph) 37-6 (Dec 5-4) 144: Nicky Melfi (Severn School) 26-3 won by tech fall over Henry Gessford (Archbishop Spalding) 17-6 (TF-1.5 3: 28 (17-1)); 150: Braxton Mcavey (St. Frances Academy) 27-5 won by major decision over Griffin Stewart (Calvert Hall College) 2-1 (MD 11-1); 157: John Jurkovic (Gilman School) 33-7 won by decision over Cameron Cannaday (Mount Saint Joseph) 26-9 (Dec 9-6); 165: Chase Carpinteri (St. Frances Academy) 22-5 won by decision over Hayden Myers (The Saint Paul’s School for Boys) 2-1 (Dec 10-4); 175: Arthur Konshak (Gilman School) 34-7 won by fall over Riley Miller (Loyola-Blakefield) 15-9 (Fall 3:11); 190: Emmitt Sherlock (Gilman School) 42-3 won by decision over Elijah Josey (St. Frances Academy) 28-6 (Dec 1-0); 215: Douglas Johnson (St. Frances Academy) 25-13 won by decision over Isaiah Trusty (Gilman School) 21-3 (Dec 8-3); 285: Luke Randazzo (Loyola-Blakefield) 34-3 won by fall over Kahlil Regan (Archbishop Curley) 39-6 (Fall 1:19).
Third-place matches
106: Charlie Mutschler (Archbishop Spalding) 20-11 won by decision over Christian Wirts (Gilman School) 29-9 (Dec 4-0); 113: James Wright (Mount Saint Joseph) 16-7 won by major decision over Evan Kaliakoudas (Archbishop Curley) 36-7 (MD 12-2); 120: CJ Votta (Mount Saint Joseph) 20-12 won by fall over JD Vassar (Gilman School) 20-8 (Fall 0:39); 126: Cayden Farver (Loyola-Blakefield) 28-13 won by tech fall over EJ Hill (Boys’ Latin School) 24-12 (TF-1.5 4:00 (19-3)); 132: Zach Glory (Gilman School) 29-13 won by decision over Christian Manley (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) 3-2 (Dec 8-2); 138: Joshua Hale (Loyola-Blakefield) 32-10 won by fall over Oscar Davis (Archbishop Curley) 38-13 (Fall 0:52); 144: Seve Lombardo (Boys’ Latin School) 24-9 won by decision over Lincoln Weeks (Loyola-Blakefield) 13-6 (Dec 4-2); 150: Nevan McKneely (Loyola-Blakefield) 21-6 won by decision over Dominic Manna (McDonogh School) 32-13 (Dec 7-6); 157: Aidan Kammar (Calvert Hall College) 5-1 won by decision over Derrick Grant (St. Frances Academy) 15-13 (Dec 13-6); 165: Josh Taylor (Archbishop Spalding) 17-11 won by decision over Dylan Fish (Archbishop Curley) 37-11 (Dec 4-1); 175: Izaac Robertucci (Calvert Hall College) 4-1 won by tech fall over Leo Marks (McDonogh School) 25-13 (TF-1.5 5:00 (15-0)); 190: Bailen Boutz (Archbishop Curley) 40-7 won by fall over Luke Winkler (Archbishop Spalding) 16-5 (Fall 2:21); 215: Luke Barulli (Archbishop Spalding) 15-7 won in sudden victory – 1 over Max Stanziale (McDonogh School) 19-9 (SV-1 10-7); 285: Logan Brown (McDonogh School) 16-10 won by decision over Thomas Brandel (Mount Saint Joseph) 9-10 (Dec 4-0)
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