Dan Patterson

St. Mary's wrestler Scott Thompson captured the 171-pound tournament title at Friends School Saturday, signaling the completion of his journey from the heavyweight ranks.Thompson (21-3, nine pins) began the year wrestling against 275-pounders, losing to Riverdale Baptist's fourth-ranked Blaine Gasch and placing third at the season-opening Curley tournament.At the Annapolis tournament a week later, Thompson took third as a 189-pounder, losing 11-3 to Bullis' second-best wrestler, Will Currier.

Several of the state's best wrestlers will take to the mat this weekend in the Class 4A-3A North Region tournament at Dundalk High. The regional, a qualifier for next weekend's state tournament at Western Maryland College, features 21 teams from Baltimore, Harford, Carroll and Howard counties, including fourth-ranked defending region champ River Hill, the two-time Howard County champ. Also contending is third-ranked South Carroll and Baltmore County champ Eastern Tech, ranked fifth. No. 7 Franklin, No. 13 Fallston and No. 14 North Carroll also will be there.

Top-ranked Arundel was on display for the first time this season in the Meade Invitational Wrestling Tournament this weekend.The Wildcats, last year's Class 3A-4A dual meet state champs, ** looked as impressive as advertised.What separated them from the rest of an impressive field yesterday was a simple case of numbers. They sent seven wrestlers to the final round and finished with three champions to pull away from surprise runner-up Severna Park for a 196.5-167.5 victory. South Carroll finished third with 144 points.

The 13th-ranked Fallston wrestling team has won nine consecutive dual matches to start the season, and the biggest sign of where the program is heading came last night. Fallston won six bouts by fall to earn a 39-23 victory over Westminster in the second match of a tri-meet at Howard High. The Cougars then defeated the host Lions, 57-13, in the final match of the evening. Earlier, Westminster downed Howard, 57-15. "Westminster has been on our schedule for four or five years in a row, and we had not beaten them until today," Fallston coach Andy Amasia said.

McDonogh Last season: 21-1, ranked No. 3 Skinny: Sophomore state champion Ryan Davis and loaded young team take shot at tougher schedule. Archbishop Curley Last season: 12-3, No. 4 Skinny: Underclassmen John Barbour and Tom Boettcher, both league champions, or senior runner-up Brian Kirhagis must emerge as leader. Franklin Last season: 12-1, No. 7 Skinny: Defending county champion has firepower but must fill holes to win second state title and first since 1999. Mount St. Joseph Last season: 21-1, No. 1 Skinny: Alumnus and first-year coach Jay Braunstein was architectural assistant of Old Mill's six straight state titles.

Curley's Tom Boettcher (145) beat South Carroll's state champion, Bryan Hamper, 12-3, in the semifinals and led, 8-0, before North Carroll's two-time state champion, Fran Jackson defaulted with a knee injury at 2:51 of their title bout of last night's 17-team, Anne Arundel Christmas Tournament. Boettcher led the No. 2-ranked Friars past runner-up River Hill, 268.5-208.5, and also kept alive a family tradition of winning at the Arundel tournament. Brother Mike Boettcher, 20, won three titles at Arundel, and Paul Boettcher, 19, won four titles.

Curley's Darian Kess scored his school-record 320th career takedown in overtime yesterday to edge River Hill's Ryan Green, 4-2, in the 21st annual Arundel Holiday Invitational Tournament.Kess's win moved his record to 18-1, helping No. 2 Curley to its fourth Arundel title in five seasons, 213-201, over No. 10 South Carroll (second) and No. 3 River Hill (168, third).A state champ and National Preps runner-up at 103 last season, the junior admitted having trouble with Green, a sophomore who returned to 119."

Mike Muller's 100th career victory was the first of three successive first-period pins that sent visiting South Carroll winging past North Carroll, 44-18, yesterday afternoon.The triumph pushed No. 5 South Carroll to 13-0, a school record for single-season wins, erasing the previous standard of 12-1. North Carroll, which had lost earlier to Bel Air and Old Mill, dropped to 8-3, ending its three-match winning streak.The victory also set up Thursday's regular-season finale of South Carroll (3-0)

Mount St. Joseph's Brian McDermott edged DeMatha's Kevin Gabrielson, 5-2, for the second time this season, to win the 135-pound title of yesterday's fourth annual Hammond Invitational.Gabrielson's had dominated Hammond' state champ Vaymond Dennis, 12-5, in their semifinal bout of a 21-team affair featuring Delaware State champ St. Mark's and locals from Anne Arundel, Howard, Carroll, Montgomery, Prince George's, Charles and Cecil counties, along with Baltimore city and county."I knew coming in I'd have one of the toughest matches of the season," said the top-ranked McDermott, one of 28 state-ranked wrestlers in an event that included eight individual state champs.

The cavalry came too late for Francis Scott Key. Despite a spirited charge by the visiting Eagles in the upper weights, fifth-ranked South Carroll swept the first eight weight classes and cruised to a 50-21 victory in Winfield last night. Francis Scott Key won four of the last five bouts, but could not overcome the Cavaliers' lead. "Our inexperience showed," said Eagles coach Bill Hyson, who started three freshmen and two sophomores in the first six weight classes. "South Carroll has a lot of experience, and that came through for them."