Hampe

The latest Maryland State Wrestling Association rankings show North Carroll and Old Mill tied for No. 1. They'll square off tomorrow night (7:30) in the featured attraction of a tri-meet with Glen Burnie."

You can't walk out on a Wavie Gibson-coached wrestlin team, then return a few days later expecting an open-armed reception.Ask Walbrook's 140-pound Mark Hollingsworth."

Only a few area or state wrestling teams can seriously challenge Old Mill's three-time Class 4A-3A state champion Patriots in a dual-meet match.South River coach Chilly Orme discovered in last night's 46-16 Anne Arundel County league loss to the top-ranked Patriots (6-0), that his No. 10 Seahawks (6-1) was among those few -- briefly, at least.After five bouts and decisions by Seahawks' Travis Murdock (103, a 14-4 record), No. 4-ranked Bill Whitcher (125, 15-0) and Greg Nida (130, 13-3), the match was tied at 10-10.

PollNo. Team...... ...... ...... Points1. Old Mill (2-0).... ...... 1002. Mount St. Joseph (1-0).... 903. Broadneck (3-0)..... ..... 794. North Carroll (3-1)....... 635. Aberdeen (2-1)..... ...... 556. Annapolis (2-1).... ...... 527. Perry Hall (4-0)... ...... 278. Owings Mills (3-1)........ 229. Oakland Mills (0-1)....... 1710. Hammond (3-0)..... ...... 13* Other teams receiving votes, with records in parentheses: Chesapeake-AA (3-0, 11), Overlea (4-0, 10), Randallstown (1-1, 8), Loyola (1-1, 2)

As the old saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.But the proverbial weak links on Old Mill's wrestling team -- its inexperienced lower weights -- are in many cases as strong as the veterans on other squads.That was the case in Tuesday night's 41-21 victory over Annapolis when the Patriots' lower-weight wrestlers were the glue that kept the team's 33-match winning streak going."Their lightweights were the juice tonight," said Annapolis's Pat Flynn, who wrestled at 152 even though he is ranked No. 1 at 145 by the Maryland State Wrestling Association.

In case you hadn't noticed, Severna Park's Jamie Kuch (112, 17-5) is a contender for a 4A-3A state title.The muscular wrestler was coming off of a 14-4, dual-meet victory over Old Mill's Jason Bryant before building a 5-0 lead on Northeast's No. 2-ranked Marty Kusick (112, 23-0) en route to a 13-5 loss in the title bout of Saturday's Broadneck Invitational.He pinned Richard Montgomery's Noe Diaz (18-2) in the semifinals and also took a 7-2 decision over Riverdale Baptist's Phil Meenan, who was a county runner-up and regional champion at Arundel last year.

Coach Mike Hampe's Old Mill Patriots have emerged as an obvious favorite to win their second consecutive county dual-meet title, county tournament and possibly a third Class 4A/3A state tournament title.The Patriots, after all, blew away the state tournament field last year and brought a 26-match unbeaten dual-meet streak into yesterday's season-opening battle at Baltimore's Gilman School.What may not be as obvious to the casual observer is just how tough it's going to be for the Patriots to maintain their incredible streak -- including six titles in county and regional tournaments and four runner-up finishes in the state tournament.

Last night's match between No. 10 ranked Old Mill and visiting North Carroll was only halfway through when a young Old Mill supporter yelled: "Where's the competition?"North Carroll coach Bryan Wetzel glared in the direction of the inquiring fan momentarily, then went back to staring at the floor.It was that kind of night for the Panthers.Old Mill scored nearly every way possible -- pins, forfeits, major decisions and a technical fall -- en route to a 60-9 victory over North Carroll."It was a rough night," said Wetzel, after watching his team fall to 4-2 in dual-meet competition.

Vern Hines loves to coach. Unfortunately, wrestling won't be one of those passions. After three seasons as Old Mill's wrestling coach, Hines announced his resignation yesterday. Hines, who is also the school's girls lacrosse coach and recently was promoted to head coach of the girls soccer team next fall, said the additional responsibility of the wrestling team proved too taxing. "They overlap one another," said Hines, who has been involved in all three sports for the past four years.

Entering last night's match at No. 3 Old Mill, 15 seasons had passed since Northeast's 23rd-year coach Al Kohlhafer was victorious over a Patriots squad.And after his fifth-ranked Eagles lost, 37-13, before a screaming, capacity crowd at Old Mill, Kohlhafer has to wait a little longer for another chance.Coach Mike Hampe said his Patriots (12-1) could secure the Eagles' (12-1) first loss with 'eight wins.'The Patriots, who have a 6-2 series lead over Northeast, won nine matches, including pins by Ken Seavey (140, 23-6)