All-Metro Wrestler of the Year Ryan Davis leaned against the wall of the McDonogh weight room recently and nonchalantly said, "I'm going to be a national champion in Fargo."
His matter-of-fact confidence is perhaps Davis' most impressive trait. It is also what drove him to two final appearances this week at the Cadet and Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D., the world's largest and most prestigious high school wrestling tournament.
Davis became a national champion in freestyle and a runner-up in Greco-Roman.
The upcoming junior's run included victories over Iowa state champion Brandon Mason, Ohio state finalist Steve Luke (3-2), Minnesota state finalist Dustin Dahlblom (5-1), Washington state place winner Tony Dorward (4-3) and Pennsylvania's Kirk Main (5-3).
Mason is ranked No. 1 nationally by Wrestling USA Magazine. Davis edged him on a referee's decision, after a scoreless three-minute overtime.
In the freestyle finals, Davis dismantled Pennsylvania's Keith Garvin with a series of gut-wrenches for a first-period technical fall, 10-0, at 1:59.
Davis lost, 4-1, in the Greco-Roman finals to Oregon's Scott Loescher, a returning double All-American, on an early underhook throw.
Also for Maryland, Jason Jacovsky, who will be a freshman at Owings Mills, placed third in the Cadet freestyle competition at 83.5 pounds. And Vince Cina (River Hill) was fifth in the Junior freestyle division at 98 pounds.
Jacovsky's only freestyle loss was to eventual champion Mike Bizzle (Oklahoma) by 5-1. Cina is a sophomore who bumped up an age division. The only other All-American for Team Maryland was Frederick's Akil Patterson, who placed fourth at 275 pounds in the Junior Greco division.
Patterson claimed the Gorrarian Trophy for most falls with six in four minutes, 20 seconds.
Team Maryland was composed of numerous standouts, including two-time state champion Matt Eveleth (Chesapeake-AA), and state titlists Ryan Herwig (Mt. St. Joseph), Geoff Miller (McDonogh), Danny April (Churchill), Sam Lewnes (Mt. St. Joseph), Mark Frey (Curley), and Petey Stein (Northern-Garrett).
