A 31-second fall by state champion Justin Kozera (285) was his 24th pin, raising his mark to 30-0, and pacing his Winters Mill Falcons to Saturday’s 40-29 Class 2A-1A state dual meet semifinal victory over 11-time state champion, Owings Mills, at Linganore High in Frederick County.
The Falcons led, 40-17, before forfeiting two of the final three bouts for the margin of victory.
Also pinning for the Falcons were Chase Cullison (152), Marshall Chang (189) and Brandon Borndley (215), with decisions from Wes Cook (135) and Cody Sharkey (140) as the Falcons reached the finals for the first time in school history by defeating the Eagles (22-1).
Pinning for the Eagles were Taran Carr (145) and Mohammad Ali (171), with a major decision by Jason Escobar (103), and decisions by Adrian Hazel (125) and Demetrius Johnson (130), and forfeits to Warren Mack (112) and Zach Shapiro (119).
In a controversial 160-pound bout, Owings Mills Larry Johnson led, 10-1, when he was disqualified for slamming Allen Corbin to the mat with 56 seconds left.
Falcons coach John Lowe was unsure if Corbin, having suffered rib damage, would be able to wrestle his finals bout against South Region winner, Glenelg of Howard County, which defeated Rising Sun of Cecil County, 50-20.
West Region Champion Winters Mill 40, North Region Champion Owings Mills 29
125- Adrian Hazel (O) d. Gunner Cullison, 9-4
130- Demetrius Johnson (O) d. Keith Stine, 3-0
135- Wes Cook (W) d. Brandon Hoffman, 8-4
140- Cody Sharkey (W) d. ZaZa Tauruashvili, 9-2
145- Taran Carr (O) p. Dylyan Perry, 3:12
152- Chase Cullison (W) p. Chris Seip, 4:30
160- Allen Corbin (W) by disqualification over Larry Johnson*
171- Mohammad Ali (O) p. Zach Lefko, 1:17
189- Marshall Chang (W) p. Kenny Nunez, 3:14
215- Brandon Borndley (W) p. Russel Barnes, 2:16
285- Justin Kozera (W) p. Darius Carroll, 0:31
103- Jason Escobar (O) mj. Flavio Valdez-Cortez, 12-3
112- Warren Mack (O) by forfeit
119- Zach Shapiro (O) by forfeit
*Team Point deducted from Owings Mills
