Sparrows Point is the Baltimore County wrestling tournament champion once again.
Led by six individual finalists and four champions, the Pointers finished with 195 points Saturday to defend their crown from 2020 after last year’s event was wiped out because of coronavirus concerns.
Hereford (141), Catonsville (125), Parkville (106.5) and Perry Hall (102) rounded out the top five at Dundalk.
Christian Manley (106 pounds), Wayne Brooks (138), Gage Carr (182) and Hunter Petrovia (285) all won titles for Sparrows Point, with Brooks (15-1) and Carr (14-0) both getting pins.
Brooks led Towson’s Noah Richard 2-0 with an early takedown, but Richard snatched a reversal and tied the bout at 2 with five seconds left in the first period.
Brooks bounced back and secured the pin 80 seconds later.
“Wayne is just a real solid wrestler. He picks his spot and he’s good to go,” Sparrows Point coach Mike Whisner said.
Carr’s pin came with him leading Hereford’s Nate Punte 14-1 in the second period.
“I’ve been battling injuries throughout high school and it was good to be back,” Carr said. “At the beginning of the season I missed a couple of weeks with a hip injury from football, but other than that it’s been good.”
Carr improved his unbeaten record to 14-0.
“Everyone stepped up, everyone did their part,” Whisner said. “It was a real tough season because we had zero tournaments. We wrestled a total of 13 matches coming into this so this is our first experience at a tournament. The only way you get a wrestler in shape is by wrestling in something.”
Manley won his match when Perry Hall’s Dylan Young defaulted with an injury with 20 seconds left in the second period while leading 10-7.
Petrovia controlled Owings Mill’s Wes Beckett and secured an 11-5 decision in the final match of the night.
Each of the first two championship matches ended with injury defaults. Sparrow Point’s Tyler Maynor (113) was trailing Dundalk’s Ali Obaid 7-3 in the third period when the pair bumped heads. Maynor laid on the mat for several minutes and paramedics took him out of the gym.
“They didn’t take him to the hospital. They ended up looking at him in the ambulance and ended up not taking him,” Whisner said.
Sparrows Point’s Tanner Cooper (132) was the other finalist and he lost a technical decision to Chesapeake’s Ricky Figueroa, 25-10.
Woodlawn crowned the second-most champions as all three Warrior finalists won titles.
Ky-El Ali won an 8-3 decision over Overlea’s Tahikwa Theophile at 126 and Justyn Briscoe (195) and Oluwademi Omoparilola (220) won with pins.
Briscoe, the top-ranked 195-pound wrestler in the state, improved to 18-0.
Hereford had three finalists and two champions, including junior Owen Bell, who stayed unbeaten at 34-0 with a 5-1 decision over Catonsville sophomore Toby Eveleth (26-2).
“Owen works his butt off, Owen is wrestling with confidence, Owen works year-round and has great technique and he has a great mindset, a great attitude, and put all those together and you get championships,” said Hereford coach Ron Causey, who is retiring from coaching wrestling after 26 years at various positions. “I really admire the Catonsville kid, Eveleth, I love the way he wrestles, he wrestles tough, too. Owen just happens to be a little bit better, but watch out for that kid, he’s coming on strong.”
“[Bell] is strong and he’s very technically sound,” Catonsville coach George Dunn said.
Catonsville and Hereford were separated by three points heading into the finals and had two head-to-head matchups that Hereford won.
In the second victory, at 152 pounds, Hereford’s Emerson Lehnert (31-3) trailed Catonsville’s Eric Grap 2-0 after Grap (26-3) got a takedown 25 seconds into the match. Lehnert rallied with nine straight points and secured a pin midway through the second period.
Catonsville’s third finalist, Mason Ritter (160, 22-7), was pinned by Owings Mills’ Tae Simpson (10-0) in the second period, but the three losses in the finals didn’t diminish the optimism for Catonsville coach Dunn, whose squad was leading the tournament at one point during the first day.
“That was fun,” Dunn said. “It was unexpected. We are a pretty good tournament team.”
Catonsville’s Brandon Bowers (third, 132), Devin Boger (fourth, 138), Drew Ritter (fifth, 126) and Tomas Grap (sixth, 145) also got on the podium.
“We had young kids stepping up and seniors stepping up like Bowers and Boger who were both surprises,” Dunn said.
The Comets were 15-4 in dual meets during the season and are preparing for the Class 4A North regional tournament at Sherwood next weekend.
“The regions are a fresh start, we don’t know who is going to be there and you’ve got to get to the finals to make it to states,” Dunn said. “I think we’ve got a couple guys who eventually can go.”
The other champions were Chesapeake’s Russell Fary (145) and Dulaney’s Chino Chika (171).
Before the finals, Hereford’s Bell and Morgan Vandergrift and Sparrows Point’s Brooks were recognized for having more than 100 career victories.
Team results (top 10)
Sparrows Point, 195.02
Hereford, 141.03
Catonsville, 125.04
Parkville, 106.55
Perry Hall, 102.06
Overlea, 101.07
Owings Mills, 86.08
Woodlawn, 83.09
Franklin, 73.01
Dundalk, 101.07
Individual boys championship results
106: Christian Manley (SP) pinned Dylan Young (PH), 3:40
113: Ali Obaid (DUN) pinned Tyler Maynor (SP), 5:24
120: Owen Bell (HER) dec. Toby Eveleth (CAT), 5-1
126: Ky-El Ali (WOOD) dec. Tahikwa Theophile (OV), 8-3
132: Ricky Figueroa (CHES) tech. fall Tanner Cooper (SP), 25-10
138: Wayne Brooks (SP) pinned Noah Richard (TOW), 3:20
145: Russell Fary (CHES) pinned Marc Taylor (KW), 4:18
152: Emerson Lehnert (HER) pinned Eric Grap (CAT), 2:57
160: Tae Simpson (OM) pinned Mason Ritter (CAT), 2:37
171: Chino Chika (DUL) pinned Alexander Newkirk (WT), 1:22
182: Gage Carr (SP) pinned Nate Punte (HER), 3:11
195: Justyn Briscoe (WOOD) pinned Jaden McCormick (OV), 1:21
220: Oluwademi Omoparilola (WOOD) pinned Raylon Anakwo (OV), 4:37
285: Hunter Petrovia (SP) dec. Wes Beckett (OM), 11-5
Individual girls championship results
110: Layla Martin (PAT) dec. Thein Thein (WT), 8-6
115: Jennifer Steele (LR) won by forfeit
120: Kayden Battle (CAR) dec. Jaely Soto (DUL), 13-6
130: Rachael Wheatley (PH) pinned Alison Kellenberger (TOW) 1:53
140: Sarah Sunday (DUL) won by forfeit
155: Ugochi Anunobi (RAND) pinned Taylor Fitch (PH): 23
170: Maniya Moore (OV) pinned Miranda Zito (PKV): 23
190: Mame Thiam (WT) pinned De’Jae Erwin (MM) 2:39
235: Leslie Mbiakop (CHES) won by forfeit
