FOUR-TIMER: Glenelg's 135-pound state champ Danny Bichner (above) won his fourth Howard County title, and, theoretically, was close to being a four-time state titlist. Before winning states this season, each of Bichner's three previous losses at the state tournament had come against eventual champs Cam Hobin of South Carroll, Matt Jackson of Rising Sun and Lester Andrews of Mardela. Jackson is a three-time champ, and Hobin and Andrews, two-timers.
PINNING POWER: Among the victories for Glenelg's 152-pound state titlist, Tim Chase (top) was this fall against Mount St. Joseph's private schools champ Bobby Bowman (bottom). Chase also decked former private schools champ, Shane Milam, of McDonogh on the way to winning the prestigious Mount Mat Madness Invitational Tournament in January.
Co-Wrestlers of The Year: Danny Bichner, Glenelg; Tim Chase, Glenelg.
Danny Bichner, Glenelg -- The University of Maryland-bound wrestler was on the doorstep of winning the Class 2A-1A state tournament for three straight years before finally earning the crown during this, his senior season.
Bichner finished third at states as a freshman, and second as a sophomore and junior after narrow defeats, respectively, opposite South Carroll's eventual two-time state champion, Cam Hobin; Rising Sun's eventual three-time state titlist Matt Jackson; and Mardela's evendual two-time state titlist Lester Andrews.
Bichner earned his fourth straight Howard County title in dominating fashion, planting his first two opponents before blanking Oakland Mills' Thomas Consiglio, 4-0, in their championship bout.
At the Class 2A-1A South Regional tournament, Bichner sandwiched pins in 61- seconds and 1:45 around a semifinal forfeit victory offered by Consiglio.
At states, Bichner nailed down two pins, earned a 7-2 semifinal decision over
two-time fourth-place state finisher Aaron Patterson of Mountain
Ridge, and ground out a 5-2 victory over Smithsburg's
James Reilly, who lost for only the second time in 31 bouts.
Bichner was runner-up at both the McDonogh and Damascus Invitationals to National Preps champ Josh Fitch of McDonogh and private schools state runner-up Matt Danielson of Bulls, respectively, and finished third at the prestigious Mount Mat Madness Invitational.
Bichner won 38 of 41 bouts this season, and has 138 career wins in a Gladiators' uniform.
Tim Chase, Glenelg -- As a junior, Chase earned Howard County and Class 2A-1A South Regional titles before placing third at the Class 2A-1A state tournament -- all at 171 pounds.
The senior began this year at 160 pounds, where he lost his only match of the season by a decision to McDonogh's eventual private schools state champion, Kramer Whitelaw.
Chase won the Damascus tournament at 160 pounds as well, then dropped to 152 pounds, a move that had his talents soaring.
The stocky 5-foot-5 wrestler took advantage of his low center of gravity with a high-crotch double-leg takedown that often led to a half-nelson, followed by nearfall points for the pin.
One such moment occurred when Chase decked eventual private schools champion, Bobby Bowman, of Mount St. Joseph in an upset of the Gaels, a traditional Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference power.
Chase followed that up with a victory at the prestigious Mount Mat Madness Invitational, where he decked private schools state champion, Shane Milam, of McDonogh in their semifinal bout.
Milam was the tournament's champion at 145 pounds a year earlier, and had blanked two Virginia state champs by a combined, 12-0, coming into the MMM. Chase's effort earned him Outstanding Wrestler honors.
Chase ended the year by winning his second straight Howard County and Class 2A-1A South Regional crowns, as well as the Class 2A-1A state title with a 6-3 decison over Northern Garrett County's Andy Ganoe.
Chase ended the year with a record of 35-1, and is headed for Virginia Military Institute, where he plans to wrestle.
Co-Coaches of the Year: Scott Delpo, Gleneg; Ryan Kanaskie, Reservoir.
Scott Delpo -- In only his second season at Glenelg, Delpo -- who coached a Class 2A-1A state tournament title-winning team at Baltimore County's Franklin High in the early 1990s -- guided the Gladiators to their program's second straight Howard County Dual meet and tournament crowns as well as their first-ever Class 2A-1A state tournament title.
And the Gladiators did not shy away from competition, beginning the early season with a dual meet loss at then-defending Class 4A-3A state dual meet champion, LaPlata of Charles County, which ended the year by winning its second Class 4A-3A state tournament title in the past three seasons.
The Gladiators also wrestled in McDonogh's Ray Oliver Tournament -- which was at it's alltime most difficult -- as well as the Damascus of Montgomery County and prestigious Mount Mat Madness Invitationals.
At the Mount Mat Madness, Glenelg finished eighth out of nearly 30 teams, being the highest-placing public school program at an event that also included LaPlata and then-defending Class 2A-1A state dual meet and tournament champion Rising Sun of Cecil County.
At Damascus, this year's eventual Montgomery County Tournament team champion, the Gladiators were victorious for the team crown.
Another highlight of the Gladiators' season was an upset victory at traditional Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference power Mount St. Joseph.
The Gladiators also upended tough Southern Garrett County in the semifinals of the Class 2A-1A state duals before finishing as runners-up to Owings Mills of Baltimore County in that event.
But the Gladiators rebounded from the loss to Owings Mills to win the Class 2A-1A state tournament, where Owings Mills finished third.
At the Class 2A-1A state touranment, the Gladiators crowned individual titlists in seniors Danny Bichner (135), Chris Stinnett (140) and Tim Chase (152), with sophomore Brendan Conway (119) and senior Brian Marcoux (125) finishing second, the latter for the second straight year.
Ryan Kanaskie -- The 27-year-old, third-year coach hails from Pennsylvania's tough, Danville High. There, Kanaskie wrestled under his father, 37th-year coach and National Hall of Fame honoree Ron Kanaskie, 58, earning a sectional title as a senior and ending his high school career with 80 wins.
"My father taught me how to wrestle, but I think I learned more from him about how to coach and deal with kids than how to wrestle," said Kanaskie, whose father has coached two state championship teams, more than seven individual champs, and ranks No. 2, alltime, among Pennsylvania's winningest coaches with more than 600 career victories.
Kanaskie guided the Gators to a 16-5 dual meet record, including victories in 11 of their first 12 matches. Along the way, the Gators avenged a loss to Hammond, earned victories over Howard County League rivals Marriotts Ridge and River Hill, and also, handed South River of Anne Arundel County only one of its two losses in the Seahawks' 28 dual meet outtings.
The Gators, who had a record turnout of 59 wrestlers and ended the year with 52, won two tournaments in a season for the first time in the program's history with crowns at Blake High's Bengal Brawl and at Edgewood High's Invitational.
Kanaskie guided the Gators to a runner-up finish at the Howard County tournament, where junior Tyler Breitschwerdt (171) avenged an earlier loss by pinning Hammond's Nick Croniger to become Reservoir's first-ever county champion.
Breitschwerdt was one of seven Gators' wrestlers who finished within the top three of their weight classes, and one of eight who were in the top four. Ben O'Keefe (112), Zach Coe (152) and Ardy Kamali (189) finished second, Tim Schwartz (119) Mike Mullens (160) and Adam Reynold (285) were third, and freshman Mark Colabucci (125), fourth.
Nine Reservoir wrestlers qualified for the Class 4A-3A East Regional Tournament, six of whom will return to the Gators' lineup next season. O'Keefe, Breitschwerdt and Coe qualified for the Class 4A-3A state tournament, where Coe finished fifth.
"Coach Kanaskie is amazing. He respects his wrestlers and in turn they
respect him. He is very dedicated to his
wrestlers and the sport in general," said Whitney Breitschwerdt, Tyler's stepmother. "In
two and half years of coaching he has made Reservoir’s wrestling program
successful on many levels. We can't
wait to see what is to come in the future."
The first-teamName, School, year, weight
Kevin Beck, Atholton, Soph., 103
Scott Mantua, River Hill, Jr., 112
Brendan Conway, Glenelg, Soph., 119
Dan LeRoy, Centennial, Jr., 119
Brian Marcoux, Glenelg, Sr., 125
Nathan White, River Hill, Jr., 130
Danny Bichner, Glenelg, Sr., 135
Chris Stinnett, Glenelg, Sr., 140
Jovan Saunders, Oakland Mills, Sr., 145
Tim Chase, Glenelg, Sr., 152
Doug Carpenter, Atholton, Sr., 160
Tyler Breitschwerdt, Reservoir, Jr., 171
Malcolm Stennett, Atholton, Sr., 189
Mitch Cowger, Hammond, Sr., 215
Mike Massarelli, Atholton, Sr., 215
Mike Santiago, Oakland Mills, 285
The second-team
Name, School, year, weight
Zach Gerber, Glenelg, Soph., 103
Cameron Kirby, River Hill, Fr., 103
Dylan Gillett, Hammond, Soph., 112
Kris Dutt, Howard, Jr., 119
Tim Schwartz, Reservoir, Jr., 119
Tyler Bulger, Howard, Sr., 125
Brian Kraisser, Centennial, Soph., 130
Thomas Consiglio, Oakland Mills, Sr., 135
Peter Petties, Oakland Mills, Jr., 140
Kyle Werner, Atholton, Sr., 145
Zach Coe, Reservoir, Sr., 152
Alex Hufnagel, Glenelg, Sr., 160
Nick Croniger, Hammond, Jr., 171
Ardy Kamali, Reservoir, Sr., 189
Jae Kim, Marriotts Ridge, Jr., 215
Jake Pace, River Hill, Jr., 215
Brian Nance, Atholton, Sr., 285