There were no individual champions for No. 2 Curley, but its overall depth out-weighed the five individual titles by top-ranked Calvert Hall in winning the private schools state title, 201.5-188, yesterday at McDonogh.
Top-ranked senior Mike Boettcher (140), second-ranked junior Paul Boettcher (145) and sophomore Antwaun Lide (119) were second for the Friars, who had a 33-point lead over Calvert Hall and a 48-point lead over DeMatha -- both insurmountable -- entering the championship finals.
Third-place finishers were Brian Bricker (112), P.J. Kirhagis (130), Shawn Calhoun (135), Pat Curran (160) and J.D. Mislak (189), with Mike Frey (125) wrestling to fourth.
The Friars had endured a hectic week after losing last weekend's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament to Calvert Hall by a half-point.
"This says a lot about our team that everyone had a loss and we still won," said Mike Boettcher, who lost his bid for a third straight state title to DeMatha's Drew Robertson (47-4). Paul bTC Boettcher (32-4) lost to St. Paul's Keith Helman (33-5) for the second straight week, 7-4, with Helman scoring three takedowns.
Robertson trailed the entire bout before scoring a duck-under takedown with eight seconds left for the win. It was his second straight state title, and dropped Boettcher to 40-1.
"I was trying to go sweep-single but he was leaning to that side, blocking off, so I just went to the other side," said Robertson, a National Preps Tournament runner-up last year who beat Boettcher by a point as a freshman.
Said Mike Boettcher: "I went after him hard the whole way, but he's a great wrestler who beat me around the corner at the end."
For Calvert Hall, Chris Knox (103), Chris Hanlon (125), Tony Russo (130) and Rob Johns (135) added state titles to their respective MIAA crowns of a week earlier. Leonard Monfredo (160) avenged last week's MIAA championship loss, winning 3-2 over Mount St. Joseph's sixth-ranked Mike Schaal (32-5).
Knox (36-2), ranked No. 1 in the state, edged Mount St. Joseph's sixth-ranked Ryan Herwig, 6-2. Knox has won all five career meetings against Herwig. Hanlon (37-2), up from 119 where he's ranked No. 2, handled DeMatha's Billy Valentine, 10-4, after having twice been a state runner-up.
Russo (38-3), ranked No. 3, held off Mount St. Joseph's Brian McDermott (30-7) for his 3-0 victory, improving on last year's runner-up effort. Johns (32-5), ranked No. 1, downed DeMatha's Joe Sargent, 6-1. Johns, the league's first three-time MIAA champ, has 154 career wins, second all-time behind Hanlon (158).
McDonogh's Will Filbert (112, 31-7) evened his record at 2-2 against Mount St. Joseph's Steve Lanciotti, breaking a 4-4 third-period tie for a 7-4 victory that made him the first three-time private schools state champ. Filbert went 38-0 and won the National Preps Tournament last year. Teammate Andy Seal (152) was second.
In another exciting bout, Boys' Latin's top-ranked Jason Leneau (171, 39-0) won his second straight title, 11-9 over DeMatha's No. 2 Wes Cummings on a four-point throw that began with six seconds left. Leneau has beaten Cummings, a two-time state champ, twice this year.
Gilman's No. 2 Damian Davis (189, 37-1) edged Bullis' No. 3 Daegan Smith, 12-7, and second-ranked teammate Mike Faust (43-1, heavyweight), downed Bullis' top-ranked Kareem Licorish, 3-1, in overtime.
Pub Date: 2/22/98
