The Archbishop Spalding wrestling team has steamrolled nearly every team in its path this season. The Cavaliers added Archbishop Curley to that list Wednesday night.
Top-ranked Spalding jumped to a 24-point lead, registered seven pins and had little trouble en route to a 54-16 rout of No. 9 Curley in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference match.
Spalding (3-0, 3-0) entered the match at Curley having won three tournaments this season. The Cavaliers also took second in another tournament and then crushed Calvert Hall (69-6) and Gilman (72-0) in MIAA matches.
They kept on rolling against the Friars, getting pins from Mike Still (103 pounds), Matt Pente (119), Cole Graves (130), Will Switzer (140), Charlie Lynch (145), D.J. Smith (171) and K.K. Smith (215). Spalding took a 24-0 lead after four matches and clinched its first victory ever over Curley with four bouts remaining.
"It means a lot," said Spalding coach Mike Laidley, whose team lost by six to the Friars last year. "They're solid; Curley is always in the top three in the conference. I have a lot of depth, which is good. That's a big plus."
Graves began the match with his pin of Fred Johnson at 3 minutes, 35 seconds. Brady Gaynor (135) then got a forfeit before Switzer pinned Erik Meyer (3:45) and Lynch pinned Sean Bieschke (1:08) for the 24-0 edge.
Still pinned Kyle Masemore (2:59) and Pente did the same thing against Phil Robinson (5:04). D.J. Smith got his pin against Anthony Williams at the 4:30 mark, and K.K. Smith earned his against Avery Williams at 2:47.
D.J. Smith's pin of Anthony Williams is a good example of how the Cavaliers have improved this season.
Williams defeated Smith three times last year, but the Spalding junior fared much better this time around. He was in charge before registering his pin.
"I was being real cautious," Smith said. "I didn't want to try something, make a mistake and get pinned."
Curley (5-4, 0-1) forfeited two matches and couldn't make up the big early deficit. Coach Gregg Kessler was impressed by Spalding.
"They're very good," Kessler said. "If they do what they're doing, they'll be hot for a long time."
