Owings Mills 140-pounder Cody Rosen-Stone (top) is among nine of his team's wrestlers who advanced into today's semifinals of the Franklin Invitational Tournament...
...as is his Eagles' teammate Tony Mack (top) shown winning last year's Class 2A-1A state title.
"Every tournament we go to makes us better, which is why we're here.
You want your team ranked because my teams wrestle better when they're
ranked. My teams have always wrestled better than they are, and we've
beaten teams that people don't think we can beat. Some of that is
because my kids believe in themselves when I believe in them. It's
like, 'I believe in you, so believe in yourself.'"
Owings Mills wrestling coach Guy Pritzker following Wednesday night's
seeding meeting concerning his Eagles' underdog status for this weekend's Franklin Invitational Wrestling
Tournament.
by Lem Satterfield
During his 26 seasons as a high school coach, Guy Pritzker has guided Owings Mills High to a combined 10 Class 2A-1A state duals or tournament titles and a Maryland record 26 individual state champions.
One of the reasons for that is his ability to get as much out of his teams as possible -- just as Pritzker appeared to be doing on Friday -- the first of the two days for the 14-team Franklin Invitational Tournament.
Entering Saturday's semifinals, Pritzker's unranked Eagles had advanced nine wrestlers forward into championship rounds, with their 90 points leading runner-up North Caroll (89 points) of Carroll County, Archbishop Curley of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association's A Conference, and Urbana of Frederick County.
In doing so, the Eagles are leading teams that are ranked Nos. 11, 4, and, 10, respectively, in the DigitalSports-Maryland State Wrestling Association's Top 20 when virtually no one but Pritzker thought that they could.
Moving forward were Avi Friedman (103), Kevin Dufour (112), Cody Rosen-Stone (140), Mitch Barker (145), Hassan Edmondson (152), state champion Tony Mack (160), Ja'Twan Murdock (171), Trent Carr (189) and Julio Truillo (285).
Hot on the Eagles' heels, however, are the Panthers of Carroll County with 10 wrestlers in Saturday's semifinals, comprised of state runner-up Jason Thomen (215), Mason Goretsas (119), fourth-place state finisher Kyle Lemmon (125), Jeremy Seipp (130), Bryan Hoff (135), Ben Smearman (145), Chris Stout (152), Jesse Coulby (160), Kyle Forbes (189) and Nathan Shaffer (285).
Archbishop Curley's Friars, coached by Gregg Kessler, a former three-time state champion under Pritzker at Owings Mills, has moved Brett Przywara (103), Mike Miklos (119), private schools state champ Tyler Scarinzi (125), Bubba Corbett (135), Ali Saadulaev (140), Joe Foster (160), Tim Wood (171), Leo Johnson (215) and private schools runner-up Tony Powell (285) into today's semifinals.
Urbana's Hawks, earlier winners of a dual meet against North Carroll, advanced defending tourament champs, Adam Krop (112) and Peter Tatanish (130), as well as Travis Lowery (103), Nick Carberry (119), Billy Hering (125), Spencer Strube (135), Lucas Pangburn (140) and Steven Edmands (160).
For Northeast of Anne Arundel County, ranked 18th, only state champion Maurice Fleming (145), Jimmy Claytor (119) and Rob McCauley (189) advanced into the semifinals -- with McCauley having to overcome a huge deficit to do so.
McCauley trailed, 8-1, in his bout with the Friars' muscular Andre Arthur, and appeared nearly ready to be pinned as he was being turned toward his back. Instead, however, McCauley reversed and decked Arthur in 3:23.
Similarly, Urbana's Trey Currey (152) was ahead of Eastern Tech's Dan Gorham when he ran out of blood time and was forced to forfeit the bout.
Eastern Tech is paced by regional champion and fourth-place state finisher Dustin Peddicord (130), who will meet Lemmon in the semifinals.
Fourth-place state finisher Jack Western (112) of Centennial will meet Dufour in the semis.
Team scores after Friday night's action at the Franklin Invitational Tournament
1. Owings Mills 90; 2. North Carroll 89; 3. Archbishop Curley 87; 4. Urbana 81.5; 5. Eastern Tech 49; 6. Perry Hall 40; 7. Northeast 39; 8. Centennial 37; 9. North Harford 34; 10. Franklin 17; 11. Northwestern Dundalk 15; 13. Western Tech 14.5; 14. Towson 4.
Semifinals matchups
103 - Avi Friedman, Owings Mills vs. Robin Paquia, Perry Hall; Travis Lowery, Urbana vs. Brett Przywara, Archbishop Curley
112- Adam Krop, Urbana vs. Angelo Ambridge, Perry Hall; Kevin Dufour, Owings Mills vs. Jack Western, Centennial
119- Jamie Claytor, Northeast vs. Mike Micklos, Archbishop Curley; Mason Goretsas, North Carroll vs. Nick Carberry, Urbana.
125- Tyler Scarinzi, Archbishop Curley vs. Dan Leroy, Centennial; Billy Hering, Urbana vs. Kyle Lemmon, North Carroll.
130- Peter Tatanish, Urbana vs. Brian Kraisser, Centennial; Dustin Peddicord, Eastern Tech vs. Jeremy Seipp, North Carroll
135- Spencer Strube, Urbana vs. Eric Hill, Northwestern; Bubba Corbett, Archbishop Curley vs. Bryan Hoff, North Carroll.
140- Cody Rosen-Stone, Owings Mills vs. Tom Trcka, Franklin; Ali Saadulaev, Archbishop Curley vs. Lucas Pangburn, Urbana
145- Maurice Fleming, Northeast vs. Jesse Swain, Eastern Tech; Ben Smearman, North Carroll vs. Mitch Barker, Owings Mills
152- Chris Stout, North Carroll vs. Hassan Edmondson, Owings Mills; Matt Bruno, North Harford vs. Dan Gorham, Eastern Tech
160- Tony Mack, Owings Mills vs. Jesse Coulby, North Carroll; Joe Foster, Archbishop Curley vs. Steven Edmands, Urbana
171- Orion Stephens, Western Tech vs. Ja'Twan Murdock, Owings Mills; Tim Huber, Perry Hall vs. Tim Wood, Archbishop Curley.
189- Ryan Pittillo, Perry Hall vs. Trent Carr, Owings Mills; Rob McCauley, Northeast vs. Kyle Forbes, North Carroll
215- Jason Thomen, North Carroll vs. Mike Ramos, North Harford; Leo Johnson, Archbishop Curley vs. Zach Ulrich, Eastern Tech.
285- Tony Powell, Archbishop Curley vs. Charles Walker, Eastern Tech; Julio Trujuillo, Owings Mills vs. Nathan Shaffer, North Carroll