by Lem Satterfield
A district golf champion is Eastern Tech's best returning wrestler, and at least two others are members of the Mavericks' record-breaking, undefeated football team that is playing another undefeated squad, River Hill of Howard County, in Saturday's Class 2A state championship at M&T Bank Stadium.
So all-in-all, long-time wrestling coach Ray Groszkowski may yet field a solid team capable of making some noise in the county's Class 2A-1A this season, along with perennial power Owings Mills.
But for now, he's sort of in a wait-and-see mode.
Among the leaders of this year's Mavericks is expected to be Dustin Peddicord, a returning Class 2A-1A North Region titlist who placed fourth at states, and who excelled in golf this past fall.
"Dustin finished with a
25-11 record. Along with Peddicord, there's also our 285-pound
wrestler, Charles Walker, who is a starting tackle on the football
team," Groszkowski said of Walker, who placed fourth in the region and finished with a 20-11 record last year.
"The varsity returns 10 wrestlers from last years squad, along
withy quality wrestlers from the junior varsity team which placed 3
rd
in the county," Groszkowski said. "Together with the junior varsity county
champions, Jesse Swain and Ahmed Gharib , the team should be fairly competitive."
Coach: Ray Groszkowski, 36th year (second at Eastern Tech)
Last year's record: 11-3
Wrestlers to watch:
103: Brandon Ebert, Jr.
112: Sheon Dredden, Soph., fifth region
119: Charlie Gordon, Jr.
125: Mike Shook, Jr., third JV counties
130: Dustin Peddicord, Sr., first region, fourth states
135: Jordan Spivey, Jr., third JV counties
140: Chris Peralta, Jr., second JV counties
145: Jesse Swain, Jr., JV county champ
152: Nick Gardner, Sr.
160: Jarrod Childs, Sr.
171: Jack Arnold, Fr.
189: Ben Miller, Jr.
215: Ahmed Gharib, Jr., JV county champ
215: Jon Laubach, Jr.
215: Zach Ulrich, Sr.,
285: Charles Walker, Sr., fourth region