by Lem Satterfield


Click here to view Lem Satterfield's DigitalTop 20 Wrestling poll

Atholton's Mike Massarrelli broke a 6-6 tie when he reversed and caught River Hill's Jake Pace with a tenth of a second left in the second period of their 215-pound bout, rallying the Raiders in a come-from-behind, 43-33 Howard County League dual meet victory that was part Tuesday tri-meet at previously unbeaten Marriotts Ridge.

The Raiders (2-0 overall, 2-0 league) were down by as much as 27-3, after the first six bouts, but had earned pins in four of the previous five matches to come within, 33-27, of the Hawks (2-1 overall, 2-1 ) when Massarrelli took the mat against Pace.

"I did a Granby roll, and he tried to follow me. I saw him land on the mat, so I scooped the head, got the arm, and, knowing there wasn't much time left, I pressured back and went for the pin," said Massarrelli, a county and regional runner-up.

"But that guy is really strong, and he's a soccer player, so he was real strong in the legs," Massarrelli said. "I really had a lot of trouble preventing him from standing up."

Massarrelli's win tied the overall match at 33-33 before his teammates, Brian Nance (285) and Kevin Beck (103), closed out the victory with a 47-second pin and a 9-1 major decision over Cameron Kirby, respectively.

The Hawks were ahead, 27-3, on pins by state champ Scott Mantua (119), Evan Shebel (125), Jose Griffin-Benitez (135) and state runner-up Nathan White (140).

The Hawks' run included a decision from Sean Kirby (130), which countered the decision by the Raiders' Rylan King (103)

The Raiders were within, 27-21, following three straight pins by Kyle Werner (145), county runner-up Doug Carpenter (152) and Dono James (160), and within, 33-27, after a forfeit to the Hawks' Scott Trench (171) was countered by the Raiders' county runner-up Malcolm Stennett (189).

Massarrelli was in his first match of the season after having suffered a broken left fibia during a tackling drill in football practice during the seventh week of the season.

 And in Pace, Massarrelli faced a wrestler who was coming off of an earlier, 7-6, upset victory over Class 2A-1A South Regional champ, Jae Kim, of Marriotts Ridge in a the Hawks' 42-25 victory over the Mustangs.

"I had been wrestling for about a week in practice, but not live -- just drilling and stuff," said Massarrelli, a senior. "I knew that my leg was coming back, and I learned on Friday that I was going to try and come back for this. But basically, I was gassing out there. I was hoping I'd have enough left in the tank."


Atholton   43,         River Hill  33   

Started at 112:

112- Rylan King (A) d. Isa Muhammed, 12-7 (3-0, A)
119- Scott Mantua (R) p. Tom Chilcoate, 3:35 (6-3, R)
125- Evan Shebel (R) p. Matt Benecky, 4:05 (12-3, R)
130- Sean Kirby (R) d. Adam D'Amico, 12-6 (15-3, R)
135- Jose Griffin-Benitez (R) p. Griffin Varner, 4:33 (21-3, R)
140- Nathan White (R) p. Jim Geiser, 2:17 (27-3, R)
145- Kyle Werner (A) p. Arvind Stone, 0:53 (27-9, R)
152- Doug Carpenter (A) p. Chris Bailey, 1:16 (27-15, R)
160-Dono James (A) p. Garrett Walsh, 3:55 (27-21, R)
171- Scott Trench (R) by forfeit (33-21, R)
189- Malcolm Stennett (A) p. Jesse Yu, 3:14 (33-27, R)
215- Mike Massarelli (A) p. Jake Pace, 4:00 (33-33)
285- Brian Nance (A) p. Eric Kohr, 0:47 (39-33, A)
103- Kevin Beck (A) mj. Cameron Kirby, 9-1 (43-33, A)