by Lem Satterfield
(See Videos below)
In boxing, the heavyweights usually get top billing, not necessarily because they're more skillful fighters, but because they're big.
Period.
In wrestling, the heavyweights might be good wrestlers, but the
better ones -- and those most often overlooked -- are the lightweights.
That may be the case this year, particularly with a 112-pound class that is deeper and more talented than I've ever seen in the more than 20 years I've been covering wrestling in high school.
I've always been intrigued by lower-weight wrestlers, who, most often boast the most diverse skills, the more wide-ranging in range in styles and abilities, and who, more often than not, are equipped with boundless amounts of energy.
Among the premiere 112-pounders who come to mind are Marty and Mike Kusick of Northeast; Matt and Jeff Eveleth of Chesapeake-AA; Brandon Lauer of River Hill; Gary Baker of Old Mill; Nick Alley of Southern-Anne Arundel; Greg Knox of Calvert Hall; Sean Miller of Broadneck; Craig Middledorf of Paint Branch; David Land of Laurel; Andy Brown of Wilde Lake.
Lately, there have been Old Mill's Greg Saumenig and Hammond's Devon Gillett.
Some, such as Land, Alley, Brown, Middledorf and Miller were a blend of calculated power and strength.
Others, such as Lauer, the Kusicks and Saumenig were blurred, attacking dominance.
And still others, such as Knox and Gillett, were more likely to methodically break down or wear down their rivals, out-scoring them or otherwise finishing them with signature moves.
This year's 112-pounders are a mixture of all of the above. And the nice thing is, there are a lot of them.
On the Class 4A-3A side, there are returning third-place state finishers Danny Lethbridge of Paint Branch and Adam Krop of Urbana.
On the Class 2A-1A side, you have state champ Scott Mantua of River Hill as well as stellar freshman Lex Ozias of Southern Garrett and Ben Baker of Pikesville, with Ozias and Baker being the lone unbeaten wrestlers in the entire class, respectively, at 36-0, and, 21-0.
What makes the category even more intriguing are the many battles that have taken place among the wrestlers, and the cross-references that can be made to validate certain individuals' rights to be considered among the favorites and contenders of the weight class.
Take for example, Hammond sophomore Dylan Gillett, who, just last week, was beaten, 9-6, by Mantua in the Class 2A-1A South Region final.
Gillett has a win over Blake's 103-pound Montgomery County and Class 4A-3A champion, Rasheim Smith, who has beaten Lethbridge.
Lethbridge has split bouts with Magruder's Class 4A-3A Helen Maroulis, who has lost to Class 4A-3A Alex Hakspiel of Sherwood, who has lost to Class 4A-3A Broadneck's Houston Zemanski, who has lost to Old Mill's upstart freshman, Ron Vaughters.
Or how about Seneca Valley's Brian Hines, a fourth-place finisher in last weekend's Class 4A-3A West Region, respectively, behind Lethbridge, Maroulis and Haskpiel -- all of whom he has beaten this year.
The point is that these little guys -- and, one girl, in Maroulis -- have, for the most part, mixed it up.
Among the most battle-tested of the group are Lethbridge and Hakspiel.
Lethbridge has lost to Hakspiel, Maroulis, Hines, Smith and Mantua. Over the past two weeks, however, Lethbridge has twice beaten Maroulis and Hakspiel, and once defeated Hines -- all on the way to defending his Montgomery County and Class 4A-3A West Region crowns.
Hakspiel has split with Lethbridge and Hines, beaten Maroulis and Middledown's Class 2A-1A state runner-up Chad Strube, and lost nailbiters to Zemanski and Krop.
On the first day of Friday's Class 4A-3A states, Hakspiel will rematch Zemanski, who was unbeaten at 32-0 before running into Vaughters.
Vaughters defeated Zemanski over the past two weeks for the Anne Arundel County and Class 4A-3A East Region titles.
Mantua has lost to Krop, and beaten Lethbridge.
So deep is the 112-pound weight class, for example, that at least one quality wrestler -- Centennial's Jack Western -- failed to emerge from his Class 4A-3A East Region.
This after Western, last year, was a regional runner-up, having handed Mantua his lone defeat of last season.
At last year's states, Western pinned Northwest's Michael Henning, beat Northern Calvert's Quinten Leadbetter, and finished fourth at states in the 103-pound class -- ahead of fifth-place C.J. Savage of Frederick County's Tuscarora and sixth-place Leadbetter.
This year, Leadbetter is at states as a repeat Class 4A-3A South Region champ, as are Savage and Henning as runners-up in the 4A-3A North and 4A-3A South regionals, respectively, at 112- and 119-pounds.
Western didn't make the cut.
But that's just how tough 112 pounds is this year.
Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Tournament(Click here for general info, tourney brackets)
What: Class 4A-3A and Class 2A-1A state tournaments.
Where: University of Maryland's Cole Field House
When:Friday, March 7 --2:30 p.m. Prelims
6:30 Quarterfinals
8:30 Consolation prelims, quarterfinals
Saturday, March 8 -- 9:30 Consolation first-round
11 a.m. Championship semifinals
11 a.m. Consolation quarterfinals
1:15 p.m. Consolation semifinals
3 p.m. Consolatin finals for 5th-6th; 3rd-4th
5:30 p.m. Championship finals
Admission: Two-day
pass -- $25; One-day pass -- $15; Friday after 8 p.m. -- $8.00;
Saturday after 5 p.m. -- $8.00; Children under 7-- no charge.
Individual returning state champions: (11 total).
Class 2A-1A --
Scott Mantua, River Hill (112); George Scheffel, Southern Garrett
(125); Lester Andrews, Mardela (130); Matt Jackson, Rising Sun (145,
2X); Tony Mack, Owings Mills (160); Jordan Walsh, Walkersville (189);
Class 4A-3A
-- Maurice Fleming, Northeast (140); Bubby Graham, Annapolis (160, 2X);
Josh Asper, Hereford (171, 3X); Ethan
Brown, Old Mill (189), Danny Miller, Stephen Decatur (189).
Former state runners-up: (17 total).
Class 2A-1A --
Chad Strube, Middletown (112); Tyler Strube, Middletown (125, 2X);
Brian Marcoux, Glenelg (125); Nathan White, River Hill (130); Danny
Bichner, Glenelg (135, 2X); Stephen Whetstone, Mountain Ridge (140);
Chris Stinnett, Glenelg (140); Brandon Johnson, Middletown (171), Tyler
Mullen, South Carroll (171, 2X); Sean Sisler, Southern Garrett (285).
Class 4A-3A
--Daniel Justice, Huntingtown (119); Jake Shilling, LaPlata (119); Sean
McCarty, Northwest (130); Tanner Shaffer, LaPlata (145); Steven Gamble,
Sherwood (152, 2X); Ian Graham, South River (189); Billy Nichols,
Severna Park (215); Jason Thomen, North Carroll (215).
Defending team champions: Class 2A-1A --Rising Sun of Cecil County; Class 4A-3A -- Old Mill of Anne Arundel County.
Milestones
Josh Asper: The
University of Maryland-bound senior is attempting to join Aberdeen's
Matt Slutzky and Owings Mill's Steve Kessler by becoming Maryland's
third wrestler to win four state titles. Asper has won crowns at 135,
145 and 160 pounds.
Key winning streaks: Asper has won 83 consecutive bouts, and Annapolis' Bubby Graham (160), 96 straight matches.
Pinning power: Northwest's 130-pound Sean McCarty has 95 career falls.
Deepest weight class: 112 pounds.
Class 4A-3A players at 112--Adam Krop, Urbana; Kevin Lethbridge, Paint Branch; C.J. Savage, Tuscarora; Helen Maroulis, Magruder; Alex Hakspiel, Sherwood; Houston Zemanski, Broadneck; Ron Vaughters, Old Mill; Quentin Leadbetter, Northern-Calvert; Brian Hines, Seneca Valley; Mike Garrow, LaPlata.
First-round matchups -- Vaughters vs. Hines; Hakspiel vs. Zemanski.
Likely quarterfinal matchups -- Lethbridge vs. Savage;
Vaughters-Hines winner vs. Garrow; Hakspiel -Zemanski winner vs. Leadbetter;
Krop vs. Maroulis.
Class 2A-1A players at 112-- Scott Mantua, River Hill; Ben Baker, Pikesville; Lex Ozias, Southern Garrett; Chad Strube, Middletown; Dylan Gillett, Hammond; Kevin Dufour, Owings Mills; Ethan Ulrich, Rising Sun.
Likely quarterfinal matchups -Ozias vs. Dufour; Gillett vs. Ulrich; Strube vs. Baker.
Michael's mission: Michael
Spriggs, a 189-pounder from C.H. Flowers, placed fifth in Prince
George's County's Tournament aand qualified for the Class 4A-3A states
by finishing fourth in last weekend's Class 4A-3A South Regional
Tournament. Spriggs is blind, having lost his eyesight just prior to
his freshman year of high school.
"I
really had to work hard to get here. In the first round of regionals,
as the seventh seed, I had to beat the No. 2 seed in overtime," said
Sprggs, who has a record of 23-15. "Then, just to get into the third
and fourth place match, I had to beat a guy from Largo who I hadn't
beaten in the previous two years. I was hoping before my career ended
that I would get to states. Now that I'm here, I'm pretty excited."
Let's hear it for the girls: For
the fourth straight year, two girls have qualifed for states. This
year, they are Class 4A-3A Magruder junior Helen Maroulis (112), who,
in 2006, became the first female state placewinner by finishing sixth
in Class 4A-3A; and Class 2A-1A Smithsburg's sophomore Monica Hovermale
(103), who is only the second female to qualify in Class 2A-1A.
In
2005, Arundel's Nicole Woody and Western Tech's Jade Hendricks became
the state's first female qualifiers, going 0-2 at 103 pounds in Class
4A-3A and Class 2A-1A, respectively. In 2006, Maroulis placed sixth at
112 pounds, and Woody did not place, although she became the first girl
to pin a boy at states.
Last
year, Woody and Maroulis qualified, yet again, with Woody becoming a
state runner-up -- the first female to reach state finals. Maroulis
(33-4), this year, became the first female finalist in Montgomery
County's Tournament, as well as the first girl to reach the Class 4A-3A
West Region final.
Hovermale
(24-3), whose two-year record includes 44 wins and 35 pins, won her
second straight Washington County crown, and pinned her way to a third
place finish in Class 2A-1A West.
