The 232-pound defending Howard County and Class 2A-1A South Region titlist doesn't mind going the distance for the first time this season.

by Lem Satterfield

Brunswick's 130-pound Mike Minch was in search of answers entering Thursday's Jeff Yingling Memorial tournament at Francis Scott Key.

The senior wondered if he could win his first title in the event following three straight runner-up finishes -- including last year's to eventual state titlist Alex Grassi of Century.

And having nailed down pins in all of his previous 11 wins without a loss entering Thursday night's title bout against the host school's unbeaten Nolan Rinker, Minch, internally, questioned whether "I had the gas to go three full periods" against a quality opponent.

And perhaps most importantly, Minch sought proof that he and the Railroaders of Fredrick County were as good as their unbeaten, 9-0 record.

And within a nine-team field that featured defending Baltimore County champion, Hereford, a team ranked No. 9 in the DigitalSports-Maryland State Wrestling Association, the tournament offered the Railroaders a chance to prove themselves ready to compete with Maryland's elite.

Minch  hit the trifecta -- emphatically -- as the Railroaders turned in a solid effort in a come-from-behind, 159.5-to-144, victory over the Bulls for the overall team title.

While failing to nail down another fall, Minch, was dominant, nevertheless, as he scored five nearfall points during an 11-0 major decision over Rinker, who slipped to 12-1.

"I've probably got 15 losses against my 107 career wins, and probably 10 of those were to Grassi, who I got beat by it seemed like every time," said Minch, a defending county champion who was a regional runner-up to Grassi.

"This felt really good to finally get the win, and, to prove to myself that I could go hard all three periods," said Minch, a fifth-place finisher who was joined on the victory podium by Zach Morris (125) and Luke Dearing (140). "I wanted the pin, but I couldn't turn him. Instead, I found out that I was in pretty good shape."

Morris (12-0) scored five takedowns and 11 nearfall points before nailing his eighth pin of the year against Century's Kurt Buckingham with 20 seconds left. Dearing rose to 11-1 with a 4-2 decision over North Hagerstown's Joe Breehl.

Trailing Hereford by three points with the consolation and title rounds left to be wrestled, the Railroaders, led, 144.5-to-136 after third place finishes from David Leveille (152), Jarrod Droneburg (160) and Joey Fisher (171). Droneburg came up with a pin in 1:32.

 "We definitely wrestled well as a team -- probably better than a lot of people realized that we could," said Minch, who was fifth at Class 2A-1A states last season. "I think we we definitely surprised a lot of people, and we wanted some respect. This is a huge win, and I think that after this tournament, other teams will start noticing us."

Hereford's three-time state champion Josh Asper (171), who is headed for the University of Maryland, rose to 7-0 on the year with his 57th consecutive victory, 17-5, over North Hagerstown's previously unbeaten Dan Mazzei (12-1).

Asper, who is attempting to become only the state's third three-time public school titlist, earned his 121st career victory against only seven losses -- with his last defeat having comduring his junior year, 8-7, against Hammond's three-time state champion Vince Taweel at 140 pounds.

"This is a little bit of a different situation for us as a team. Last year, and the year before, we were always the team trying to prove ourselves, but now, everyone kind of looks at us as the team they want to use to try and show everyone what their made of," said Asper, who pinned his previous opponent in 38 seconds and was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler.

"I think we did okay, but a lot of our guys have only had like four or five matches coming into this tournament," said Asper, who was the No. 1 tackler on the Bulls' Class 3A state runner-up football team this past fall.

"A lot of our competition has close to 14, 15 matches in already," Asper said. "Hopefully, we'll get some more matches in, and then, we'll be ready to peak at the right time near the end of the season."

Also winning for Hereford was Matt Swiger (103),  who overcame an early 4-0 first-period deficit for a 9-8 victory over Steve Smith (9-2) of Francis Scott Key.

Winning for the host Eagles was Shawn Eyler (112), who rose to 11-2 with his 12-4 victory over Hereford's Max Rosen.

St. Mary's Green brothers, freshman Kenneth (119) and senior Fred (145), improved to 15-2, and, 17-0, respectively with their title-winning efforts.

Kenneth scored a 12-2 major decision over Brunswick's previously unbeaten Tyler Bartholomew (11-1), having pinned his previous two opponents. Fred, a returning private schools state titlist, also majored his previously unbeaten Brunswick opponent, Brian Orye (11-1), winning his match, 13-5.

Kennth Green avenged one of his two losses with a 45-second pin over Calvert Hall senior Nick Gialamas in the title bout of the Ed Peery Invitational earlier this month.

But in a subsequent bout, Kenneth was beaten, 6-4, by longtime junior league rival Graceson Pastirik of Mount St. Joseph, to whom he had never lost previously.

"It's nice that Graceson got that chance to win and have that glory for that one night. He wrestled a good match, but that just drove me to win more," said Kenneth Green. "I came back with a pin against Mike Zito of Loyola, and that felt really good."

When Kenneth wins, said Fred Green, "I feel like I have to do the same thing."

"There's sort of a sibling rivalry," said Fred Green, who was named Outstanding Wrestler at last year's private schools state tournament. "There's some pressure, I guess, for sure. And hopefully, [Kenneth] sort of looks up to me. So it's sor of like, I don't want to let him see me lose."

Oakland Mills' crowned Thomas Consiglio (135) and county and region champion Mike Santiago (285), with the latter rising to 14-0 with 13 pins.

Consigilo improved to 13-1 with a 12-11 victory over North Hagerstown's previously unbeaten Del'on Agee (11-1), after which the 232-pound Santiago simply took his time, patiently edging his much larger rival, Greencastle's Anthony Derigo, 6-3.

"Most of the heavyweights outweigh me by a lot, but I'm a lot quicker. I feel like my advantage is on my feet with those guys, so I try to stick and move up top as much as I can," said Santiago, who won 33 bouts last season.

"In that instance, I had been watching him a little bit during the tournament, and I knew that he had a fat-boy roll when you're on top," Santiago said of Derigo, who had pinned his two previous opponents in the first period, and whose coaches complained about his being poked in the eyes whenever Santiago tapped his head to set up takedowns.

"I'm a physical wrestler, and I don't think you can come into a match hoping that the referee is going to win the match for you. I  wasn't trying to force anything, I just let it come to me," Santiago said.

"I know that I'm putting forth the effort in the room, and that I could go the full six minutes if I had to," Santiago said. "I felt like I could let him up and take him down. If I got the pin, then I got the pin. But I'm just taking it one match at a time."

North Hagerstown crowned Jimmy Eichelberger (152) and Demetrius Myers (215).

Eichelberger rose to 13-0 with his 7-3 victory over Oakland Mills' Jovan Saunders (12-2), and Century's Alan Kratz (160) ground out a 4-2 victory over Tod Dewalt (11-3) of Greencastle of Pennsylvania. Myers edged Hereford's Taylor Gload (5-2) by 13-8 for his crown.


Jeff Yingling Memorial Christmas Tournament at Francis Scott Key.

Team scores: 1. Brunswick 159.5; 2. Hereford 144; 3. Oakland Mills 137; 4. North Hagerstown 119; 5. Century 107; 6. Francis Scott Key 106; 7. Greencastle 91.5; 8. St. Mary's 86; 9. Boonsboro 20.


Championship finals

103- Matt Swiger (H) d. Steve Smith (F), 9-8
112- Shawn Eyler (F) mj. Max Rosen (H), 12-4
119- Kenneth Green (STM) mj. Tyler Batholomew (BR), 12-2
125- Zach Morris (BR) p. Kurt Buckingham (C), 5:40
130- Mike Minch (BR) mj. Nolan Rinker (F), 11-0
135- Thomas Consiglio (O) d. Del'on Agee (NH), 12-11
140- Luke Dearing (BR) d. Joe Breehl (NH), 4-2
145- Fred Green (STM) mj. Brian Orye (BR), 13-5
152- Jim Eichelberger (NH) d. Jovan Saunders (O), 7-3
160- Alan Kratz (C) d. Todd Dewalt (G), 4-2
171- Josh Asper (H) mj. Dan Mazzei (NH), 17-5
189- Matt Copenhaver (G) tf. Ben Henry (STM0, 16-1
215- Demetrius Myers (NH) d. Taylor Gload (H), 13-8
285- Mike Santiago (O) d. Anthony Derigo (G), 6-3

Consolation finals

103- Allen Wilson (C) p. Nathaniel Proce (BO), 0:57
112- Sam Vaughters (STM) p. Ivan Gutierrez (O), 4:44
119- Chris Antrobus (C) d. Sean Gunn (HR), 5-2
125- Will Linscomb (F) d. Jon Volz (H), 11-9
130-Kahlil Norris (O) by forfeit
135- Justin Parks (H) d. Tyler Brey (F), 6-4
140-Pat Morris (C) p. Peter Petties (O), 2:27
145-Jake Turner (N) d. Jeremy Keil (H), 10-6
152-David Leveille (BR) d. Seth Shindle (G), 7-2
160-Jarrod Droneburg (BR) p. Chris Ealey (O), 1:32
171-Joey Fisher (BR) d. Caleb Andrew (C), 12-8
189- Matt Widstrom (O) d. Chris Aghazarian (H), 8-7
215-Michael Daniels (O) d. Kyle Hansen (G), 8-1
285- Andy Eyler (F) d. Andrew Tilles (BR), 3-1