Kiler

On March 29, 2003 WILLIS M. KILER, beloved husband of Leona Kiler (nee Reed) beloved father of Kenneth Kiler (wife Rhonda), Patricia A. Ruby, Franklin Kiler (wife Susan), Brenda Perry (husband Robert), R. Dale Kiler (wife Maria), brother of Nancy Wagner, also survived by seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Services at the Eline Funeral Home, Hampstead, 934 South Main St., Hampstead, on Wednesday at 11 A.M. Interment in Hampstead Cemetery. Friends may call Tuesday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. at the funeral home.

On March 29, 2003 WILLIS M. KILER, beloved husband of Leona Kiler (nee Reed) beloved father of Kenneth Kiler (wife Rhonda), Patricia A. Ruby, Franklin Kiler (wife Susan), Brenda Perry (husband Robert), R. Dale Kiler (wife Maria), brother of Nancy Wagner, also survived by seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Services at the Eline Funeral Home, Hampstead, 934 South Main St., Hampstead, on Wednesday at 11 A.M. Interment in Hampstead Cemetery. Friends may call Tuesday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. at the funeral home.

Tommy Kiler started wrestling at the age of 4, but he was not a prodigy."I know I lost most of my matches," Kiler said. "[We] call that part of my career 'The Dark Years.' "The darkness faded, however, in recent years, as Kiler established himself at co-No. 2 North Carroll.The sophomore, tied for second in the state rankings with Randy Owings of Francis Scott Key at 135 pounds, won 45 times in his first 48 high school matches, including a county and region title last year.Kiler began wrestling by hanging around his father's junior-league program.

ART WORKS BY pupils of Shiloh Middle, Hampstead Elementary and Spring Garden Elementary schools are on display at Hampstead Town Hall through March 26. Kelsey McGrew and Whitney Hudson, eighth-grade pupils at Shiloh Middle School taught by art instructor Brian Booz, exhibit bold cartoon designs in the style of Roy Lichtenstein. Laura Abel and Whitney Kiler drew book cover designs in colored pencil. Scratchboard illustrations of animals were created by scratching away black ink covering a white surface with pins or a small blade.

Tommy Kiler of North Carroll smiled broadly when asked about his effort last night. What he did also brought smiles to the rest of the Panthers.Kiler, a 135-pound sophomore, pinned former state champion Tim Novak of Frederick in the first period, leading No. 3 North Carroll to a 43-12 victory over the visiting Cadets in a Central Maryland Conference match.North Carroll (6-0, 2-0) led 14-6 heading into Kiler's match. Novak, a state champion two years ago and currently ranked sixth in the state at 140, appeared to be a tough challenge for Kiler.

Ken Kiler was busy lecturing and demonstrating the half-nelson technique to his Manchester youth wrestling team at practice earlier this week at North Carroll Middle School."

Andy Kiler, the 130-pound wrestler for North Carroll, said he often doesn't wrestle the Panthers' 125-pound competitor in practice because that battle sometimes disintegrates into a fight.In other words, they behave just like any other brothers.Andy Kiler, a senior, is in his second year in the starting lineup for No. 2 North Carroll. Tommy Kiler, a freshman, broke into the starting lineup with a bang this year, and the two helped the Panthers go undefeated in the regular season.Both found plenty of success, combining for a 38-4 record during the regular season.

North Carroll's Tom Kiler and South Carroll's Mike Chenoweth enter the season with a tag no other county wrestlers can claim -- returning state champions.It means a lot of different things.Some opponents come gunning for them, looking to make a mark if they can knock off a state champ. The majority rightly come in worried and overwhelmed, leaving little chance for themselves before the match even starts.And some of the best competition the two could face never gets to the mat with coaches preferring to instead slide them up or down the lineup to get matchups they will benefit more from.

The focus for Carroll County going into this weekend's state wrestling tournament was clearly geared towards the individuals. They didn't disappoint.Moments before the start of last night's finals at Western Maryland College, North Carroll's Tommy Kiler was in the middle of a mat warming up and having some fun with South Carroll's Charlie Conaway and Mike Chenoweth.A little more than an hour later, all three had won state titles. It was Chenoweth's third, Kiler's second and Conaway's first.

There was a little bit for everyone at yesterday's Carroll County tournament at South Carroll. But in the end, the night belonged to the Westminster Owls, who edged runner-up Francis Scott Key, 144-140, to win their first team title in 10 years.The Owls took a slim lead into the finals and were able to maintain it behind county titles from Jimmy Reiter, Bobby Biden and Grant Lindsay."This is the first time in 10 years, it's nice to get the Owl Pride back," said Westminster coach Henry Mohlhenrich.

Amid chaos that has dashed preseason state wrestling title hopes, Ross Bell and Tyler Graham have emerged as bright spots for North Carroll. Before this season, both had hoped for the Panthers to earn a bid to the dual-meet regionals. But the preseason suspension of five key wrestlers and the loss of four other varsity starters to injuries and personal conflicts have crippled a team thought to be contending for a Class 3A-4A state crown. "With everything falling apart around them, they still don't let that affect them when it comes to wrestling out there on the mat," said North Carroll coach Bryan Wetzel.

Carroll County will be well represented in this weekend's state wrestling tournament at Western Maryland College.The county's five public schools qualified 29 wrestlers in all, with Francis Scott Key advancing a county-high 10 and Westminster sending nine. North Carroll has five entries, followed by Liberty with three and South Carroll's two.Last year, 20 wrestlers from the county reached with four coming away with state titles. South Carroll's Mike Chenoweth (31-0 at 171) and Charlie Conaway (31-0 at 160)

The focus for Carroll County going into this weekend's state wrestling tournament was clearly geared towards the individuals. They didn't disappoint.Moments before the start of last night's finals at Western Maryland College, North Carroll's Tommy Kiler was in the middle of a mat warming up and having some fun with South Carroll's Charlie Conaway and Mike Chenoweth.A little more than an hour later, all three had won state titles. It was Chenoweth's third, Kiler's second and Conaway's first.

Owings Mills (142.5 points), ranked No. 1 in the state, obliterated the 1A-2A record for total points, and Steve Kessler (145) improved to a state-record 109-0 as the Eagles won their second straight state title, their fourth overall, yesterday at Western Maryland College.Kessler, a junior, used two technical falls, a 9-0 semifinal decision of Northeast's region champ T. R. Fleming, and a 12-4 title-bout rout of Southern-Garrett's No. 6 Nathan Rickman (34-2) to help the Eagles (18-1) eclipse the scoring record (125)

Tommy Kiler grew up in a wrestling family. He started when he was 4 or 5 and remembers going to practice and not paying much attention at first.Mike Chenoweth was already playing basketball when he first gave wrestling a try in middle school. He liked basketball a lot more back then.Charlie Conaway first hit the mat at 9, wrestling for a Winfield Warriors "B" team. He took his lumps in that first year, taking a year off from the sport after that.And they all were there last Saturday, taking their turns atop the podium at South Carroll High, accepting their medals for winning county titles.

There was a little bit for everyone at yesterday's Carroll County tournament at South Carroll. But in the end, the night belonged to the Westminster Owls, who edged runner-up Francis Scott Key, 144-140, to win their first team title in 10 years.The Owls took a slim lead into the finals and were able to maintain it behind county titles from Jimmy Reiter, Bobby Biden and Grant Lindsay."This is the first time in 10 years, it's nice to get the Owl Pride back," said Westminster coach Henry Mohlhenrich.

Tommy Kiler grew up in a wrestling family. He started when he was 4 or 5 and remembers going to practice and not paying much attention at first.Mike Chenoweth was already playing basketball when he first gave wrestling a try in middle school. He liked basketball a lot more back then.Charlie Conaway first hit the mat at 9, wrestling for a Winfield Warriors "B" team. He took his lumps in that first year, taking a year off from the sport after that.And they all were there last Saturday, taking their turns atop the podium at South Carroll High, accepting their medals for winning county titles.

Moments after third-ranked North Carroll shredded South Carroll, 53-6, last night in Hampstead, Cavaliers wrestling coach Pete Olson summed up his team's defeat."

State champ Mike DiLeonardi, state runners-up Mike Hines and Nick Basta, and Basta's brother Dave, four former wrestlers who helped Old Mill win a state-record six championships, could hardly stomach seeing their former teammates lose twice in a night.They saw the No. 14 Patriots (4-3, 4-1) get bounced, 39-20, by unranked North Carroll (5-1), and routed, 43-15, by No. 12 Arundel (6-2, 5-1) -- the latter being the Wildcats' first win over the Patriots since 1988.Old Mill's only double winners were Chris Combs (103, 16-2)

For the third time in as many visits to the Ray Oliver Invitational, Hanover -- Pennsylvania's No. 1 dual-meet team -- dominated McDonogh's 23rd annual affair.It placed all 13 of its wrestlers in the top four with seven champs to outscore runner-up Gilman, 237.5 to 161.But the night's best bout featured two locals, as Gilman's No. 3 Greg Plitt (189 pounds, 9-0, five pins) edged Centennial's No. 2-ranked defending 3A-4A state champ Joon Kim, 2-0.After a scoreless first period, Plitt's tough riding produced a stalling point against Kim for a 1-0 second-period lead.