Category: McDonogh Wrestling

Above: McDonogh's Cooper Flynn (right) placed second at 106, helping McDonogh finish fourth as a team.

Eagles finish in 4th, St. Joe 5th, St. Paul’s 7th, and Spalding 10th

by Billy Loverocket

With national powerhouses like Blair Academy from New Jersey and Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Seminary and Malvern Prep in the field, winning a team championship at the National Prep tournament at Lehigh University is an improbable task. The top Maryland teams judge their successes on top five finishes, and this year two squads, McDonogh (No. 2 in the latest Maryland State rankings) and No. 1 Mount St. Joseph, landed in the top five. The Eagles finished just a point ahead of the Gaels, 134-133. Blair won the team title over Wyoming Seminary, 345-294.5.

McDonogh pushed two grapplers into the finals but could not bring home a championship. At 106, No. 1 Cooper Flynn followed up last week’s state final win over No. 2 Will Guida with a 4-0 blanking of Guida in the semifinals. The ride came to a halt though when Blair’s Ryan Miller downed Flynn, 3-1, to avenge a 6-4 loss at December’s Beast of the East.

No. 1 PJ Mustipher (285) came into the tournament as the top seed. The senior was fourth at this tournament last year, while his finals opponent, Colin Lawler (Kinkaid, Texas), was fourth at 220lbs last year. The Texan surprised Mustipher in the second period when he picked up the fall for the title, 3:39.

No. 4 Jack Wimmer was fourth at 182lbs. Along the way he beat St. Joe’s No. 3 David Schultz, 6-4. It was Wimmer’s second win in eight meetings with Schultz, and the first this year. No. 6 Garrett Kappes (170) broke his own hex with a St. Joe nemesis, Justin Henry (No. 1). Kappes was 0-6 versus the Gael, but rocked Henry’s world with a 10-2 major-decision in the quarterfinals. Kappes placed fifth.

Alex LaVeck (No. 4) was sixth at 152. At 220lbs, No. 3 Parker Robinson placed seventh.

No. 8 Harrison Trahan (145) continues to improve every time he steps on the mat. The freshman took seventh with a 4-2 win over No. 7 Sammy Toggas (Covenant Life School).

In an odd twist, both Maryland state finalists, Spalding’s Ryan Garretson (No. 3) and Brandon Gallagher (Landon, No. 4), failed to place. Trahan was sixth at the state tournament, while Toggas was fourth. Trahan lost to Garretson, and Toggas lost to Gallagher last week. Trahan beat Gallagher in the round of 16, 7-2, and Toggas beat Gallagher in the blood round, 4-3.

The Gaels didn’t have any wrestlers reach the finals, however, they did have the most place-winners of any team with eight. No. 2 Chris Barnabae (113) and No. 1 Austin Stith (195) were bronze medalists.

Stith came in as the fifth seed and clashed with Blair’s No.4 seed Peyton Craft in the quarter-finals. The senior pinned Craft in 57 seconds, and the two met again in the consolation final where Stith came out ahead 3-2. Craft was third at the Beast of the East this year, while Stith was seventh. The results this weekend show how much Stith has improved throughout the season.

No. 8 Nathan Porter bounced back from a disappointing state tournament showing to place fifth here. He didn’t directly avenge his state tournament loss to Spalding’s Sam Smirnoff (No. 7), but Porter did beat the Hill School’s (PA) Austin Vincent, 1-0, in his fifth-place bout. Vincent defeated Smirnoff, 5-3, in the consolation rounds.

Placing sixth for St. Joe were, Connor Strong (No. 2 at 132) and Schultz. No. 2 Seth Fillers was seventh at 138. Clement Woods (120, No. 10) and Henry were eighth.

St. Paul’s was seventh with 101 points. No.1 Kurt McHenry, a two-time state and world champion, was seeking one of the few titles that have alluded him when he took the mat with Blair’s Trevor Mastrogiovanni. The two grapplers are the nation’s top two 113lbers, and McHenry was considered the favorite given his 4-3 win over Mastrogiovanni in the Beast of the East finals. The Buccaneer flipped the script in this meeting and gave the Crusader his only loss of the year, 3-1, in overtime.

Guida and No. 2 Jack Parr were third for St. Paul’s. Imran Heard (No.1) was fourth at 138lbs.

Archbishop Spalding rounded out the top 10 with 63 points. Three Cavaliers reached the podium, No. 5 Garrett Fisk (152) was fourth, No. 2 PJ Truntich was sixth at 120, and Smirnoff was eighth.

Fisk beat Archbishop Curley’s state champion, No.1 Josh Laubach, for the second time in three weeks (the first at the MIAA Tournament) in the consolation rounds. Fisk had quite a run through the tournament also picking up his second win in three weeks over McDonogh’s LaVeck and giving the No.1 seed, Blair’s William Kaiser, all he could handle, dropping a 3-2 decision in the quarter-finals.

Laubach went on to place eighth.

St. Mary’s Ryken’s King Sandoval (No.3) avenged his state final loss to Truntich with a 9-6 win in the consolation semifinals. Sandoval brought a bronze back to Maryland.

Washington D.C. had two wrestlers bring home awards, Nathan Thacker (Gonzaga) and Luke Kowalski (St. John’s). Thacker reached the 152lb finals where he came up short losing to Blair’s Kaiser, 3-1. Kowalski was seventh at 106.

Championship Finals
106 Ryan Miller (Blair Academy) DEC Cooper Flynn (Mcdonogh School), 3-1
113 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Blair Academy) DEC Kurt Mchenry (Saint Paul`s School For Boys), 3-1 SV
120 Charles Escalera (Wyoming Seminary) DEC Michael Colaiocco (Blair Academy), 9-6
126 Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary) DEC Chris Cannon (Blair Academy), 7-4
132 Jack Davis (Wyoming Seminary) DEC Travis Mastrogiovanni (Blair Academy), 3-2
138 Carson Manville (Wyoming Seminary) DEC Malcolm Robinson (Blair Academy), 2-1
145 Connor Kievman (Wyoming Seminary) DEC Chase Mccollum (Haverford), 7-5
152 William Kaiser (Blair Academy) DEC Nathan Thacker (Gonzaga), 3-1
160 Andrew Merola (Blair Academy) F Mason Reiniche (Baylor School), 2:42
170 Julian Ramirez (Blair Academy) MD Jackson Turley (St Christophers), 12-3
182 Leonardo Tarantino (Blair Academy) DEC Darrien Roberts (Wyoming Seminary), 3-2
195 Michael Beard (Malvern Prep) F Yaraslau Slavikouski (Northfield Mount Hermon School), 0:53
220 Owen Trephan (Blair Academy) MD Michael Doggett (Wyoming Seminary), 13-4
285 Colin Lawler (Kinkaid School) F Pj Mustipher (Mcdonogh School), 3:39

3RD PLACE
106 Will Guida (Saint Paul`s School For Boys) DEC Chris Kim (Germantown Academy), 4-3
113 Chris Barnabae (Mount Saint Joseph) DEC Nic Botello (Wyoming Seminary), 2-1
120 King Sandoval (St Mary`s Ryken) DEC Sal Jones (Long Island Lutheran H.s.), 6-1
126 Mark Salvatore (Malvern Prep) DEC Alex Whitworth (Mccallie School), 2-1
132 Dalton Harkins (Malvern Prep) DEC Kyle Gorant (Hill School), 5-2
138 Gray Hart (St Christophers) DEC Imran Heard (Saint Paul`s School For Boys), 3-1
145 Bryce Wittman (Montgomery Bell Academy) DQM Pj Crane (Malvern Prep), 3-1 4:14
152 Aurelius Dunbar (Mercersburg Academy) DEC Garrett Fisk (Archbishop Spalding), 4-3 UTB
160 Terrance Parks (St Benedict`s Prep) DEC Jake Stefanowicz (Wyoming Seminary), 5-2
170 Luca Pontone (Belmont Hill School) DEC Nasir Grissom (Phillips Exeter), 5-4
182 Jack Parr (Saint Paul`s School For Boys) DEC Jack Wimmer (Mcdonogh School), 4-0
195 Austin Stith (Mount Saint Joseph) DEC Peyton Craft (Blair Academy), 3-2
220 Jens Ames (St Christophers) DEC Brendan Devine (Malvern Prep), 2-1
285 Francesco Borsellino (Western Reserve Academy) F Calvin Atkeson (Ravenscroft School), 2:21

5TH PLACE
106 Timothy Levine (Wyoming Seminary) DEC Blair Orr (Episcopal Academy), 3-2
113 Cody Craig (Hill School) FOR Dayton Delviscio (Malvern Prep)
120 Brandon Seidman (Germantown Academy) FOR Paul Truntich (Archbishop Spalding)
126 Nathan Porter (Mount Saint Joseph) DEC Austin Vincent (Hill School), 1-0
132 David Berkovich (Poly Prep) DEC Connor Strong (Mount Saint Joseph), 2-1
138 Henry Hague (Malvern Prep) DEC Andrew Pace (Baylor School), 2-0
145 Michael Madara (Blair Academy) F Ibraheim Mendheim (St Benedict`s Prep), 4:42
152 Chris Hisey (Malvern Prep) DEC Alex Laveck (Mcdonogh School), 4-0
160 Hunter Balk (Trinity Christian Academy) FOR Phillip Conigliaro (Belmont Hill School)
170 Garrett Kappes (Mcdonogh School) DEC Thomas Sell (Mccallie School), 8-1
182 Carter Davis (St Christophers) DEC David Schultz (Mount Saint Joseph), 3-2
195 Brad Basham (Buckingham Browne And Nichols School) FOR Austin Cooley (Wyoming Seminary)
220 Isaiah Jones (Benedictine College Preparatory) F Henry Lagasse (Phillips Exeter), 3:49
285 Nick Martino (Wyoming Seminary) DEC Zachary Minch (Loomis Chaffee School), 4-3

7TH PLACE
106 Luke Kowalski (St Johns College Hs) MD Christian Morris (Mccallie School), 11-1
113 Chris Perry (Brunswick School) MD Emory Taylor (Mccallie School), 9-0
120 Griffin Seyfried (Greens Farms Academy) MD Clement Woods (Mount Saint Joseph), 12-3
126 Tyler Morris (Phillips Exeter) DEC Sam Smirnoff (Archbishop Spalding), 8-3
132 Connor Alexander (St Christophers) DEC Brett Rezendes (Northfield Mount Hermon School), 2-0
138 Seth Fillers (Mount Saint Joseph) DEC Tucker Ribman (St Mark`s School Of Texas), 8-2
145 Harrison Trahan (Mcdonogh School) DEC Sammy Toggas (Covenant Life School), 4-2
152 Benny Baker (Wyoming Seminary) DEC Joshua Laubach (Archbishop Curley), 6-2
160 Christos Avgeros (Benedictine College Preparatory) FOR Noah Chan (Kinkaid School)
170 Nicholas Florschutz (Malvern Prep) DEC Justin Henry (Mount Saint Joseph), 3-0
182 Victor Marzano (Poly Prep) F Bailey Coates (Benedictine College Preparatory), 1:39
195 Tommy Brackett (Christian Brothers) DEC Patrick Salmon (Germantown Academy), 5-3
220 Parker Robinson (Mcdonogh School) DEC Grayson Walthall (Christian Brothers), 5-4 UTB
285 Rick Weaver (Covenant School) DEC Bim Gecaj (Trinity-pawling School), 3-0