State Champion

For three days, McDonogh's National Preps champion Bryn Holmes was bedridden with a viral infection. "He wasn't in school all week until Thursday," said his mother, Erin. "We told him if he didn't go Thursday, he'd have to stay home." But there was no way that the competitor inside of the two-time state champion 152-pounder was going to let him miss yesterday's 24-team Mount Mat Madness Invitational -- not with a final chance to face St. Mark's Andrew Bradley, who had beaten him twice in one day earlier this year.

COLLEGE PARK - The C. Milton Wright girls swimming team's nearly two-year unbeaten streak came to an end Saturday, as the defending class Class 3A-2A-1A champs came up short at the state finals, finishing second to Poolesville. The Mustangs finished the meet at the University of Maryland's Eppley Swimming Center with 221 points. Poolesville earned 273.5 points, and third-place Oakdale scored 178. Fallston's boys took third place with 122 points. Poolesville (287) also won the boys meet, and Damascus took second with 132 points.

A couple of weeks after becoming a two-time state champion, Hereford's Josh Asper was beaten by the opponent he might face again if he reaches the 160-pound, Class 2A-1A state final in March. "Tyler Mullen beat me in an offseason tournament right after states, but I was able to come back and beat him later on in the summer," said Asper, who had faced the South Carroll junior before they reached high school. "I think that was the first time I had beaten him, and he's always kind of been ahead of me. In eighth grade, Tyler beat me once.

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, a state champion wrestler in the 189-pound weight class at Kathleen High in Lakeland, Fla., will headline the 2012 class of inductees for the Maryland chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Lewis is one of two men being honored with the Hall of Fame's Outstanding American award at the Oct. 28 ceremony at 2 p.m. at the Loews Annapolis Hotel. Joe Galli, a former wrestler and successful businessman, is the other recipient of that honor. He was an ACC champion, team captain and four-year starter at North Carolina, and his son, Peter, recently won two championships for St. Paul's.

WE'RE HARDLY out of the car in a blighted block of southern Baltimore when faces appear at windows and doorways. Three strangers, one scribbling notes, heading for a back alley - something's up. The truth is stranger than the neighbors might believe. Marion Bedingfield, a city forester and big-tree guru of Baltimore, has brought us here to appreciate the full and glorious potential of a weed. When you're responsible for about a half-million trees, it's hard to have one favorite, "but I can tell you we're all proud of this bad boy," Bedingfield says, pushing through junk and mattresses that clog the alleyway.

Joon Kim, Centennial's 189-pound state champion, says he wants to wrestle in college and then the Olympics."I saw Olympic wrestling on television when I was in the eighth grade, and that inspired me to begin wrestling my freshman year," he said.Like most novices, Kim, now a senior, struggled that first year. "I didn't know anything," he said. "It was pretty hard to learn. I had a lot of illegal moves, like locking hands on full nelsons."Making the Olympics may sound like a teen-ager's fantasy, but not many people would have bet three years ago that Kim would become a state champion.

Anne Arundel County's wrestling tournament quickly has become a battle between No. 2 Old Mill, going for its 10th county crown, and No. 4 Northeast, last year's 1A-2A state champion.Old Mill, a five-time 3A-4A state champion, leads, 83.5-78, with each team having advanced eight wrestlers into tomorrow's 4 p.m. semifinal round.The event, sandwiched around today's dual-meet regionals, features no bouts between the teams.But in a key quarterfinal bout, Old Mill's sixth seed, Paul Hultgren (125 pounds, 14-3)

Some of the county's premier track and field athletes will be competing in the National Scholastic Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend at Syracuse University in New York.Chesapeake's statechampion shot-putter Mattie Cymek and North County's state champion sprinter Adrienne McCray are the county's lone two females attending the meet, which will be conducted at the Carrier Dome.In addition to McCray, North County will send sprinters Anthony Walker, Sam Lomax and Reggie Dukes, while Meade will be represented bysenior high jumper Derrick Barr.

After finishing third last year, the 4A-3A squad recaptured top status by winning its fourth crown in last night's sixth annual Senior All-Star Classic at Johns Hopkins.The 4A-3A squad captured six gold medals and defeated the MSA-Independents, 33-20, and the 2A-1A squad, 30-24. The 2A-1A squad also lost, 31-21, to the MSA-Independents.Randallstown's two-time defending Class 4A-3A state champion Mike Jenson (171, 35-0) took just 1:57 to defeat Mardela's two-time defending Class 2A-1A state champion Ismael Smith, who entered the bout with a 29-0 record.

Broadneck's Shawn Miller returned from last weekend's trip to Duquesne (Pa.) University looking and feeling as if he had been mugged."I'm so beat up. I've got two black eyes and I hurt all over," said Miller late Sunday night, after capturing fourth place at 112 pounds in the third annual National High School Wrestling Championships.The two-day tournament featured over 300 past and present state champions from across the nation. Miller, who won this year's 119-pound Class 4A-3A state title, and Old Mill's 160-pound Brian Layman, whoplaced fifth nationally, were the highest-placed winners out of 11 Maryland competitors.

Paul A. Dorf, a former state senator and Baltimore City circuit judge who championed the use of arbitration and mediation as alternatives to an overcrowded court system, died of renal cancer Thursday at his home in Harbor Court. He was 86. "Paul brought a very strong spirit of collegiality, high ethical standards, energy and enthusiasm to the practice of law," said Oren D. Saltzman, managing partner of the law firm of Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf & Hendler, LLC, which Judge Dorf joined in 1983 after retiring from the bench.

When comparing the top private schools with the public ones in boys lacrosse, across-the-board depth is often considered the biggest difference. As Friday night's season opener between defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference champion Gilman and four-time defending Class 3A-2A state champ Hereford wore on, that became more and more apparent. The No. 2 Greyhounds simply had more quantity and quality throughout the 48 minutes, pulling away in the second half for a 10-3 win at No. 8 Hereford.

Archbishop Curley senior Avery Williams didn't waste time accepting an invitation to the Haswell Franklin Maryland State Wrestling Association Senior All-Star Meet. He said he couldn't refuse the offer and made the best of the event which was held at McDaniel College on Tuesday. Williams walked away as the meet's outstanding heavy weight wrestler. "I had a lot of fun," Williams said. Williams pinned both of his opponents Tuesday to increase his pin count for the season to 37. "I use the Avery Special," said Williams, who pinned his opponents in 2 minutes and 41 seconds and 0:14.

The Reservoir girls soccer team had to battle through an uneven regular season that featured more losses than wins, but one fact remains: The Gators are the defending Class 3A state champions. They certainly looked the part Tuesday when visiting Howard County rival and No. 7 Centennial in the second round of the Class 3A East regional playoffs. Their state playoff experience coming to the front, the Gators, controlled play throughout, got a goal from senior midfielder Michelle Viegas in the 54th minute and showed poise in protecting the advantage to advance with a 1-0 win over the Eagles.

FREDERICK - After watching one of her crosses go through the goal area harmlessly in the first half of Saturday's game against C. Milton Wright in the Tournament of Champions at Tuscarora High, River Hill freshman forward Alexandria Hamer made a point to talk with fellow forward Sheridan Street at halftime. It was an example of what the early season is all about. When Hamer sent another ball across in the opening minutes of the second half, Street, a sophomore, made no mistake, burying the chance in front.

A two-time former state high school wrestling champion is scheduled to go on trial Monday in Baltimore on two assault cases from 2009 and 2010. Depending on the outcome, Patrick Downey III, an 18-year-old from Linthicum Heights, could resurrect his promising athletic career on the college level — or go to jail. Downey's attorney, Warren Brown, said last week that he hopes to clear his client of the first- and second-degree charges and that Downey will not accept a plea deal. If convicted, Downey could receive up to 25 years in prison for first-degree assault and up to 10 years for second-degree assault.

Six county students have been selected to compete in the semifinal round of the state finals of the National Geography Bee, sponsored by National Geographic World magazine, Amtrack and Kudos snacks.The state champion will compete in the national contest to take place in May in Washington, D.C.County semifinalists are: Jeffery Cole from MacArthur Middle; Timothy Fegan From Central Middle; Rebecca Adamarczyk from Chesapeake Bay Middle; Ian Dowling from Annapolis Elementary; Stacey Krammer from St. Jane Frances School; and Stephen McClurkin from Old Mill Middle-South.

TODAY IN ANNE ARUNDEL -- When he was 7, Greg Saumenig didn't want to start wrestling. Now, the 119-pound Old Mill senior is a state champion. TODAY IN HOWARD --River Hill team mom Kim Wharton is excited her Hawks have reached the state football final. So is her husband, Jim, who films the games. Perhaps the most amazing part of their devotion is that they don't have a son on the team.

Frank D. Boston Jr., a three-term delegate to the Maryland General Assembly from his native West Baltimore who lost a controversial state Senate bid in 1998, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at Sinai Hospital. He was 72. A popular legislator known for his attention to education issues, Mr. Boston went against the advice of many fellow city legislators when he challenged incumbent seven-term incumbent Clarence W. Blount for the 41st District Senate seat in 1998. The race between the erstwhile General Assembly colleagues was bitter, especially after Mr. Boston accused Mr. Blount of living in Pikesville and using his Northwest Baltimore apartment only as a mail drop.