Seven days before securing his second straight state crown, Stephen Decatur's Danny Miller (top) won this clash of returning 189-pound state titlists by pinning Old Mill's Ethan Brown (bottom) for the Class 4A-3A East Region title.
THROWN FOR A LOSS: Stephen Decatur's 135-pound Skylar Snead (top) used numerous lateral drops on the way to consecutive technical fall victories over Arundel's Jordan Hernandez (bottom), whom Snead defeated for the Class 4A-3A East Region and Class 4A-3A state tournament crowns. (Photo by Matt Eppard).
by Lem Satterfield
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Although Stephen Decatur of Worcester County didn't add the Class 4A-3A state tournament crown to the Class 4A-3A state duals title it won last month at North Carroll of Carroll County, two of the Seahawks, nevertheless, left a lasting impression on those who witnessed their efforts over the two-day event at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House.
Senior 135-pounder, Skylar Snead and junior 189-pounder Danny Miller each won state titles, with Miller adding the large schools version to the one he earned a year earlier at the Class 2A-1A level.
Snead improved his overall record to 41-0, with Miller rising to 43-2.
"You come out here, and you wrestle all year for this tournament, and you want to make a great showing for this tournament," said Miller, shortly after pinning Montgomery County runner-up and eventual fifth-place state finisher, Paul Okeyo, of Walter Johnson, at 1:40 of their semifinal bout.
"You want to wrestle smart, wrestle hard, you know, with good hips, and your good finishes," Miller said. "Everything you need to do to win the match."
Neither Snead nor Miller left anything to chance.
Snead won by fall, major decision and decision, respectively, with the later being a semifinal, 10-3 victory over the previous year's fourth-place state finisher, Sam Cannon of Chopticon.
Cannon entered their bout having won 36 of 37 matches, but Snead reserved his best effort for his final bout of Saturday night.
Snead scored a number of throws on the way to winning by a 20-3 technical fall over Arundel's Jordan Hernandez, whom he had beaten by technical fall a week earlier in the finals of the Class 4A-3A East Regional.
"Last time I wrestled [Hernandez,] he was a very strong kid, a very physical kid who never stops coming," said Snead.
"I thought he might come in with a gameplan to try to stop me with the thows and all, but he kept charging me," said Snead. "This feels awesome. It's crazy, and it's unbeleivable."
Miller won his first two bouts by a combined, 16-3 before facing Okeyo, and then he blanked North County sophomore Patrick Louis Carey, 6-0, for the crown.
Miller had hoped for a rematch with another state champ in Old Mill's Ethan Brown, whom he pinned in their Class 4A-3A East Regional final a week earlier.
But Carey scored a 12-6, semifinal upset of Brown, who finished fourth after losing a rematch with Catonsville freshman, Tyler Weedon, by the score of 7-5.