Last night's wrestling match between host Old Mill and Northeast was billed as Anne Arundel's version of the clash of the titans. Advantage, Patriots.
Old Mill used two wins apiece by Ethan Brown at 189 pounds, Nigel Pierce at 215, Aaron Hawkins at 289, Colin Dupreay at 103, Ben Travers at 112, Ryan Vaughters at 119 and Willie Pumphrey at 125 to defeat the Eagles, 49-6, in a tri-meet at Old Mill. Earlier in the evening, Old Mill handed Chesapeake its first county loss, 44-11.
The wins put No. 10 Old Mill squarely in command of the top spot in the county. The Patriots, who are trying to defend their Class 4A state title, showed why they will be a team to be reckoned with at the states.
Brown, who has a 15-5 record this year and was the Class 4A state champion at 189 last season, says this year's team is starting to jell and crawl out from under the shadow of last year's team.
"We had so many studs last year, but I think this year we are a lot more thorough throughout the lineup," Brown said. "We have a lot fewer holes than last year."
The key to the victory against a surprising 13th-ranked Northeast team was the quick start the Patriots had last night. Old Mill won the first nine matches and ran out to a 34-0 lead before the string was broken by the Eagles' Zach West, who recorded a win over Ryan Saumenig at 130 pounds.
In the opening match against Chesapeake, Old Mill looked just as dominating. The Patriots won 11 of the 14 weight classes while handing Chesapeake (15-9, 5-2) its first county loss of the year. The Cougars lost their second county match of the year later in the evening, 47-16, to Northeast (16-1, 6-1).
Chesapeake had a 7-4 lead in the opening match against Old Mill before the Patriots ran off eight straight victories to put it away.
Boys basketball
No. 3 Randallstown 70, New Town 60 -- The host Rams used quick scoring and a confusing defense to overpower rival New Town. Midway through the first quarter, Randallstown (12-2) used a half-court trap that frustrated the Titans (6-6), forcing long shots and turnovers. Those turnovers led to points in transition. "The goal was not to play at their pace, but to play at our pace," said Rams coach Kim Rivers, whose team led 49-30 going into the fourth quarter. "When they shot the jump shots, we were able to get good rebounds and take off and score a lot in transition tonight." Tione Womack was everywhere for Randallstown, finishing with nine points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and five steals. New Town's Stuart Clark led all scorers with 26 points to go with five assists.
