All- Metro Wrestling

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR

Avi Friedman

Owings Mills

Friedman went undefeated for the second consecutive season, going 34-0 to improve his record the past two seasons to 72-0. The 112-pound senior is 109-4 in his varsity career.

"His life is dedicated to wrestling," River Hill coach Brandon Lauer said after watching Friedman pin two-time state champ Scott Mantua of River Hill in the Class 2A-1A state final. It was the first time in Mantua's four-year varsity career that he had been pinned.

Friedman, who won the junior national title at 103 last summer, also won the Big 20 Invitational at Perry Hall, the Franklin Invitational (where he defeated 2008 state champ Brett Przywara), his third 2A-1A North regional title and his second state championship. He won at 103 last year.

"He wrestles on a college-type level," Owings Mills coach Guy Pritzker said. "He knows every move by instinct and knows the countermove to everything he sees."

COACH OF THE YEAR

Dan Youngblood

Old Mill

Old Mill entered this season with eight state tournament titles, and this year it won both the state dual meet and tournament titles in Class 4A-3A for the first time. It was particularly pleasing to Youngblood, 42, who was in his second full season as a head coach after being an assistant for the previous 14 years.

Under Youngblood, a 125-pound state champ at Old Mill in 1985, the Patriots went 24-1 this season, losing only to an out-of-state team at the Border Wars Tournament in Skyline, Va. His coaching record is 42-4.

Youngblood, who teaches aggressive, physical tactics, brushed aside his own contributions and gave credit his wrestlers.

"This was a special season," he said. "The guys on this team have been friends for a long time. They were friends and teammates, and they banded together and trusted each other in a way you rarely see."

FIRST TEAM

Pat Downey

Loch Raven

The sophomore won Baltimore County, North regional and state titles at 160 pounds. Using his strong takedowns and throws to his advantage, he finished with a 35-0 record.

Eric Filipowicz

McDonogh

He has 116 career wins, but this season was his most impressive. Filipowicz, a 140-pound senior, went 46-7 and won his first MIAA and Maryland Independent Schools state titles. He ended his high school career at the Senior All-Star Classic by beating 4A-4A champ Lance McCoy and being named Outstanding Lower-Weight Wrestler of the event.