Archbishop Curley?s wrestling team knows that if it wants to compete with McDonogh and Mount St. Joseph for the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title, it needs to be well conditioned and wrestle aggressively on the mat.
Friars coach Greg Kessler said his team isn?t at that point yet, but he likes what he sees so far following Archbishop Curley?s second-place showing in Saturday?s Perry Hall Invitational.
Tyler Scarinzi (119), Mitch Fenton (130), Mike Kulik (160) and Sam Burdych (189) all won individual titles while Andrew Sellers (171) placed second for the Friars, who finished with 223.5 points.
“We have a long way to go, but I?m seeing a lot of great things,” said Kessler, in his first year at the helm. “Our conditioning is good, but we need it to be excellent. We also had a lot of guys restrain themselves under some difficult conditions and just wrestled their match.”
Wall Township (N.J.) won the tournament with 237 points, thanks in part to first-place finishes by Ryan Wilson (125), Blaine Woszczak (140) and Drew Doyle (275). Owings Mills finished third with 156.5 points with North Carroll (140 points) and Loyola (139) rounding out the top five of the 21-teamfield.
“Coach Kessler has already shown us a lot of new techniques and moves that a lot of us are already using this season,” Scarinzi said.
Owings Mills? Tony Mack (145) captured the Eagles? lone title after knocking off Atholton?s Ryan Conroy, 7-4. While Owings Mills had three finalists and 12 wrestlers finish in the top six, Mack and the rest of the Eagles expect more of themselves.
“We know we can be better,” said Mack, the tournament?s Outstanding Middleweight Wrestler.
Loyola?s Colin Schuster (135), North Carroll?s Chris Stout (152), Boys? Latin?s Grady Gamble (171) and Wilde Lake?s Zach Brown (215) ? the tournament?s Outstanding Heavyweight Wrestler ? were the event?s other winners from local schools.
“There is a lot of strong competition here and should help us get ready for a very difficult schedule to come,” said North Carroll coach David Dodson, whose team won the Carroll County championship last year.
