With only one more championship round to wrestle, the No. 1 Archbishop Spalding Cavaliers have all but scored their first MIAA Tournament victory with a solid showing in the MIAA Tournament semifinals.
Advancing 11 wrestlers into the semis, the Cavs pulled out seven wins to hold the most finalists in the tournaments last round than anyone else, with the closest coming by St. Paul’s (5).
Each of the top seven teams holds at least one wrestler in the finals, with Loyola, coming in an number seven, being represented by 103-pounder David Mohler, and five other teams holding three possible champs.
McDonogh trails Spalding by more than 40 points heading into the tournament’s final round, and still has Jack Clark (130), Kevin marvel (189) and Roman Braglio (285) in the hunt for tournament championships, just ahead of John Carroll’s Scott Strappelli (119), George Weber (130) and Mathew Miler (171).
St. Pauls holds the second highest number of finalists with five wrestlers, seeing Jack Mutchnik (103), Eric Friedman (119), Peter Galli (140), Brad Mutchnik (152)and Mike Green (215) all making their way into the finals, looking to surpass the one-point deficit they hold behind the Patriots in fourth place.
Curley, now in fifth place, was bumped up by a huge Brett Przywara win at 135, beating Mount St. Joe’s Kevin Johnson with a 2-0 decision to lead teammates Chuckie Blankenship (152) and Brett Brigman (160) into the final round.
Mt. St. Joe did have three wrestler qualify for a top two finish in the tournament, Brady Massaro (152), Tyler Rill (160) and Tyler Tippett (215) have all advanced to the finals.
Massaro will be going head-to-head with Spalding’s Charlie Lynch, whose latest battle with Massaro ended in a 1-0 decision just a week ago.
The finals are set to kick-off at 1 p.m., and the tournament can be followed at www.kapwrestling.net. Check back later tonight for MIAA finals results at www.varsitysportsnetwork.com.
Top 10 Team Scores after Semifinals
1 Spalding 212.5
2 McDonogh 167
3 St. Pauls 138
4 John Carroll 132
5 Curley 126.5
6 Pallotti 123.5
7 Mt St Joe 116
8 Loyola 67
9 AACS 53.5
10 Boys Latin 47
2011 MIAA Semifinal Match-ups
103– David Mohler (LOY) fal 1:21 Artie Millner (JC)
Jack Mutchnick (SP) dec 4-2 Mike Still (AS)
112– Cole Gallagher (AS) fall 3:32 Stanley Proctor (MSJ)
Chris Halkos (SVP) dec 8-4 Walter Johnson (LOY)
119– Eric Friedman (SP) dec 7-3 Matt Pente (AS)
Scott Strappelli (JC) dec 2-0 Xavi Ramos (McD)
125– John Chenault (SVP) fall 1:48 Jordan Brigman (AC)
Logan Breitenbach (AS) dec 2-0 Bobby Twigg (McD)
130– Jack Clark (McD) fall 2:45 Michael Floccare (BL)
George Weber (JC) fall 1:36 Cole Graves (AS)
135– Brett Przywara (AC) dec 2-0 Kevin Johnson (MSJ)
Brady Gaynor (AS) dec 7-3 Mitch Bode (McD)
140– Pete Galli (SP) dec 8-3 Toby Hague (McD)
Will Switzer (AS) fall 4:34 Mike Zito (LOY)
145– Charlie Lynch (AS) fall 2:54 Cal Riorda (GIL)
Brady Massaro (MSJ) maj dec 11-1 Nick Skudrna (SP)
152– Brad Mutchnik (SP) dec 3-1 Bryce Pappas (STM)
Chuckie Blankenship (AC) dec 1-0 Tyler Patrick (McD)
160– Tyler Rill (MSJ) maj dec 9-0 Alpha Jalloh (AACS)
Brett Brigman (AC) dec 4-0 Max Sataloff (McD)
171– Mathew Miller (JC) fall 1:30 Purnell Summers (AC)
DJ Smith (AS) dec 8-6 Forrest Rutledge (CH)
189– KK Smith (AS) fall 4:57 Matt Lucas (MSJ)
Kevin Marvel (McD) dec 8-5 Mike Green (SP)
215– Matt Green (SP) dec 4-2 Avery Williams (AC)
Tyler Tippett (MSJ) dec 5-1 Greg Jewet (SVP)
285– Roman Braglio (McD) fall 3:52 Malik Johnson (AS)
Derek Pittman (SVP) fall 4:33 Keith Waddell (MSJ)
