State Wrestling

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.

Several area wrestlers are still alive after the completion of the first two rounds of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association state wrestling tournament Friday at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House. The tournament, which is being wrestled on eight mats, resumes Saturday morning. The consolation rounds start at 9:30 a.m, and the semifinals begin at 11 a.m. No. 4 Glenelg (42 points) leads the Class 2A-1A team championships after the first day, with a one-point advantage over No. 2 Winters Mill (41)

COLLEGE PARK - Ben Graham of Annapolis had not won in his previous two attempts in the state wrestling finals. The third time, he became a champion. With a 6-4 overtime victory over Bethesda-Chevy Chase's Eric Jeronimo last night at the Class 4A-3A state wrestling tournament at Cole Field House, Graham (140 pounds) nailed down the title that had previously eluded him. "To win a state title on the final match of my high school career, that feels really good," said Graham (32-2 record)

River Hill's heavyweight Jason Johnson looked like a jumping jack as he hopped around the mat at the end of his championship match. The senior was exuberant, punching his hands in the air with both index fingers pointing to the sky. He had just earned a 3-2 victory to win his first Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association title at Cole Field House, and No. 6 River Hill (91 points) had clinched the Class 4A-3A team title for the first time in school history, defeating runner-up Perry Hall (82)

The list of public school state wrestling champions from the city is short. Very short. When Poly's Dennis Scott won the heavyweight title in 1999, he became the first -- and only -- city public school wrestler to capture a state championship. Matthew Oakley of Poly and DeShawn Barrett of Patterson want to give Scott some company. And so far this season, they've shown they're up to the task. Oakley, a defending city and regional champ at 171 pounds, is 13-0 with 11 pins. Barrett, a 215-pounder, has pinned all 17 rivals in the first period.

Matt Slutzky sure knows what to do for an encore. After winning the county, regional and state wrestling titles in his freshman and sophomore years, Slutzky finished off his junior season by sweeping all three once again. First, he pinned all three of his opponents in the county meet to lead the Eagles to their 13th county championship. He took the regional title by technical fall and won the states with a 17-4 victory. With a 32-1 record, Slutzky kept his Maryland State Wrestling Association No. 1 ranking at 135 pounds all season.

Matt Slutzky, Aberdeen's three-time defending Class 2A-1A state wrestling champion and the Maryland State Wrestling Association's top-ranked athlete at 140 pounds, dropped a 5-3 decision last night to Rising Sun sophomore Jason Townsend.The loss, which occurred during No. 6 Aberdeen's 40-16 victory over Cecil County's Rising Sun (10-1), was the senior's first in 17 matches this season and his fifth against a county-record 106 career victories and a tie.

THE QUOTE "I can't believe it. I'm going home with a state medal. I'm going to sleep well tonight." Howard's Mingo Grant after pinning Howard County champion Sean Kendig of Oakland Mills in 4:29 to win the state Class 2A-1A 215-pound championship. Grant was trailing 6-5 and had lost to Kendig in four of their past five meetings. THE NUMBER 10 Howard County Class 3A-2A boys basketball teams eliminated in the regional playoffs by Prince George's County teams. The only one of the county's 11 high schools not eliminated by a P.G. County school was Oakland Mills.

The 4A-3A and 2A-1A public schools' state wrestling tournaments, held for the final time at McDaniel College last weekend, are being relocated, state association director Ned Sparks said last night. "The 19 years at Western Maryland/McDaniel, and they've been absolutely terrific," Sparks said, "but we've lost parking and so forth, and they want to use the facility. "We can't argue with that. We don't know yet where we're going, but we're looking. We don't have in this state a mid-sized arena that is [central to everyone]

The impromptu show of respect and admiration for Dick Bauerlein was impressive last Saturday night at Western Maryland College.Moments after the North Carroll wrestling coach was inducted into the Maryland State Wrestling Hall of Fame, all kinds of people approached him for a handshake and a few kind words.There were no formal speeches in a banquet setting, just a nice little introduction from former state wrestling committee member Frank Treuchet before the state tournament championship finals began.

Class 4A-3A Championship Round 106 - Salvo (PEH) md Smith (THS), 8-0 113 - Leadbeter (NOC) d Savage (TUS), 5-4 120 - Harrell (BDN) d Colbert (NHG), 3-2 126 - Kraisser (CTN) md Alley (SRI), 14-4 132 - T. Goodwin (ARU) d Taylor (BAR), 9-4 138 - Sutton (WCH) d Reddick (DUV), 10-6 145 - Rice (CHA) md J. Goodwin (HAM), 13-4   152 - Llopez (LAP) tf Wax (TUS), 19-3 160 - Wenzlaff (TUS) md Taylor (WWH), 12-2 170 - Lineberger (THS)

COLLEGE PARK - The first day of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association state wrestling tournament had its share of surprises, but mostly it was the expected that ruled. No. 2 ranked Winters Mill (54 points) led No. 8 Owings Mills (40), Oakland Mills (37.5) and Middletown (37.5) in the Class 2A-1A field at the end of the first day at Cole Field House, and No. 6 River Hill (48 points) held the advantage in the 4A-3A competition, ahead of Urbana (34). Tuscarora (31.5)

Following are the team scores after the first of two days of competition at the Maryland Independent Schools State Wrestling Tournament. For full results in each weight class, visit TrackWrestling.com .   A 1. Georgetown Prep 128.0 2. McDonogh School 128.0 3. Archbishop Spalding 125.5 4. Saint Paul's 97.0 5. Archbishop Curley...

No. 3 Winters Mill was feeling something special Saturday at the Class2A-1A state dual championships. The Falcons ran off six pins against No. 8 Owings Mills and had the match won with seven bouts to go. The 66-4 victory at North Point High School in Waldorf gave Winters Mill its first state dual title and only the second ever by a Carroll County school (North Carroll in 1994). "I knew how badly our kids wanted this," Winters Mill coach John Lowe said. "We were driven after last year's loss in the finals.

Owings Mills has won the Class 2A-1A state championship seven times under coach Guy Pritzker. But the Eagles last captured the title six years ago. No. 6 Owings Mills took the first step toward bringing home another trophy by wrestling well in the opening rounds of the state tournament Friday at Maryland's Cole Field House. The Eagles have four wrestlers in the semifinals and sat in first place in Class 2A-1A. The semifinals and finals take place Saturday. Owings Mills, which last won a state title in 2005, has 56.5 points, ahead of No. 5 Winters Mill (49.5)

Before the season, there were some questions surrounding the Mount St. Joseph wrestling program after its coach decided to step down and three key wrestlers transferred. However, Paul Triplett, who previously won 10 consecutive Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference titles as the Gaels' coach, returned, and Mount St. Joseph proceeded to dominate opponents. The top-ranked Gaels continued their reign Saturday by winning their second consecutive Maryland Independent Schools State Wrestling Tournament at McDonogh, finishing with 256 points, ahead of Georgetown Prep (205)

Let me make one thing clear: Nicole Woody, who failed to become the first girl to win a state wrestling championship last Saturday, lost going for the victory. For those of us who think the term "March Madness" refers to any wrestling tournament, high school or college, that occurs anywhere during that month, we couldn't ask for anything more than that. Woody is the perky 103-pounder who has wrestled for Arundel High School for three years. Among women, she's a world junior champion. Her high school opponents have been boys, most of whom have found themselves staring up at the wrong end of a Nicole Woody smackdown.

Pressure is the last thing Aberdeen wrestling coach Dick Slutzky wants to contend with.Last year, the Eagles became the first state team ever to win three consecutive titles (all in Class 1A/2A). but Slutzky is not pressing for a fourth. "We don't even think about it." said Slutzky, who begins his 19th year as Aberdeen's head coach. "We're so young. This is a different team than we've had the last year or two."This is a rebuilding year for the Eagles, who were 15-1 last year. But Aberdeen wrestling teams don't rebuild so much as they reload.

A little over a week ago, Old Mill's Ron Vaughters claimed his first state wrestling title, defeating Urbana's Peter Tatanish at Cole Field House. It was a match the sophomore won't soon forget, but also one he hasn't had much time to savor. In a matter of hours, Vaughters traded in his singlet for a pair of cleats and a stick, and is now in his second season with the school's junior varsity lacrosse team. It's on the mat, however, where he is most likely to leave his mark. Known as a scrappy, physical wrestler, the 135-pound Vaughters racked up a 42-3 record this season, leading the Patriots to county, regional and state dual-meet and tournament titles.