Takedown

"Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw - By the Man Who Did It," by Tsutomu Shimomura with John Markoff. Hyperion. 324 pages. $24.95Kevin Mitnick is no John Dillinger. When FBI agents burst into his Raleigh, N.C., apartment a year ago, Mitnick didn't pull a gun. He threw up.That anticlimax reflected the nature of his crimes - stealing software, tampering with telephone systems, reading other people's electronic mail. Though his scams required skill, they were seedy and sophomoric, never grand or terrifying.

Prosecutors secured indictments against about two dozen suspected heroin dealers in the Mondawmin area of Baltimore and worked with police to carry out 11 searches last week and make 19 arrests, the state's attorney's office said. Among those taken into custody was Aaron Ausby, 22, who prosecutors say they suspect was the supplier to three drug dealing networks in West Baltimore. The three groups operated along a stretch of Reisterstown Road and often collaborated with one another, prosecutors say. Ausby was arrested at the end of July during a search where prosecutors recovered about 500 heroin capsules and nine grams of raw heroin, according to the state's attorney's office.

MILWAUKEE -- Should Milwaukee catcher Jesse Levis ever find a need for another vocation, he could always try professional wrestling. He provided a fine impression of a takedown yesterday, a move that led to Milwaukee's lead run in its 6-4 win over the Orioles.The Brewers had the bases loaded with nobody out in the sixth inning, trailing 4-3, when Levis hit a sharp grounder to Rafael Palmeiro. The Orioles' first baseman turned and threw to second, where shortstop Cal Ripken caught the ball, stepped on the bag and fired back to first.

Jimmy Sheptock defeated Old Dominion's Jack Dechow, 3-2, on Friday night in a hotly contested semifinal to advance to the 184-pound final of the NCAA wrestling championships in Oklahoma City. The now two-time All-American will take on second-seed Ed Ruth of Penn State on Saturday night. The senior will attempt to win Maryland's first national title in wrestling since Gobel Kline took home the title at 152 pounds in 1969. Kline was also the last Terp to advance to a national final.

In a charged atmosphere before a capacity crowd at Hammond, 119-pound Ethan Cohen delivered a soul-satisfying victory for the No. 4-ranked Bears wrestling team last night. The senior captain scored a two-point takedown on River Hill's David Heckman with 12 seconds left and then held on for a 6-4 decision that gave the Bears a 30-27 triumph, their first over No. 5 River Hill since 1999. "This was the biggest match of my career in an incredible atmosphere," said Cohen. "Even though there was a lot of pressure, I was real happy it came down to me. I wouldn't want that pressure on anyone else.

Long after many of his teammates have hit the showers -- that's when the real work begins for Sal Aquia. For that's when the senior plants his back against a matted wall in Archbishop Curley's wrestling room and makes the most progress.He'll execute 100 stand-ups, the standard escape maneuver from the bottom referee's position. He'll execute 200 sprawls, the most common counter to an opponent's double- or single-leg take-down attack.Aquia's muscular 160-pound physique -- he's trimmed 23 pounds off a beefy frame that ballooned to 183 during the summer -- helps him to endure grueling workouts with coaching assistants Dan Lopez, Etienne Mizczak and older brother Tony Aquia, said coach Alan Gebhart.

Seconds fly by in a lifetime and most ticks go unnoticed. But St. Paul's junior Jack Mutchnik will never forget the two seconds he enjoyed on the mat during the National Prep wrestling championships at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., on Saturday. Trailing, 4-3, to nationally ranked Judson Preskitt of Pennsylvania's Wyoming Seminary in the championship match of the 126-pound weight class with those two seconds remaining, Mutchnik scored a sudden takedown to earn a thrilling 5-4 decision.

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.Slutzky trailed 2-0 after Townsend (17-0)

From the tight decisions to pins and everything in between, things went South Carroll's way last night against visiting Glenelg. The No. 8 Cavaliers took the initiative throughout, continually a move ahead of the No. 15 Gladiators and the reward was a convincing 45-18 win. With 119-pounder Mike Horbey getting things started with a 7-6 decision over Dave Brindza on a last-minute takedown, the Cavaliers won the next six matches - including back-to-back pins...

Coming off Tuesday's two-point loss to No. 1 Mount St. Joseph in which it had a 7-6 edge in bouts won, No. 5 Archbishop Curley was a little ticked off as a team.The Friars (9-1 league) took out their frustrations yesterday at No. 10 Boys' Latin (7-3), getting pins from Mike Frey (112), No. 4 Paul Boettcher (135), and a major decision from Greg Dennis (145) to win an interdivisional Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association match, 31-22.However, Mount St. Joseph (13-0, 10-0) clinched the league title with its 48-13 win over Gilman last night.

Maryland wrestler Jimmy Sheptock moved on to the quarterfinal round with two wins on the opening day of the NCAA wrestling championships at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Thursday. Five Terps started the day and four will continue on to today's action. Christian Boley and Shyheim Brown rebounded from first-round losses with wins in their wrestlebacks while Spencer Myers won in the opening round and dropped his second match. Sheptock, the top seed at 184 pounds, began his day against unseeded Ben Stroh of Wyoming and used a takedown and 2-point near fall in the third period to seal a 10-3 decision victory.

Seconds fly by in a lifetime and most ticks go unnoticed. But St. Paul's junior Jack Mutchnik will never forget the two seconds he enjoyed on the mat during the National Prep wrestling championships at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., on Saturday. Trailing, 4-3, to nationally ranked Judson Preskitt of Pennsylvania's Wyoming Seminary in the championship match of the 126-pound weight class with those two seconds remaining, Mutchnik scored a sudden takedown to earn a thrilling 5-4 decision.

In the main event at UFC 148, middleweight champion Anderson Silva (32-4, 15-0 UFC) once again solidified himself in history as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters ever. Silva scored an impressive technical knockout over Chael Sonnen (28-11-1, 7-4 UFC) at 1:55 of the second round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Before the fight Sonnen said, “I will do anything to be the world champion for one night.” Tonight just didn't happen to be that night. The first round was clearly won by Sonnen.

When Jake Smith first saw former wrestler Jerome Featherstone Jr. working out six months ago at the Baltimore Boxing Club, the veteran trainer and promoter spotted his talent immediately. "The way he trained was unbelievable," Smith said. "I saw him and I was like, 'Holy hell, this kid's got something.'" The two began working together, and three months ago Featherstone won his debut amateur fight. In his second bout, on the March 23 "Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh" card at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, the Boys' Latin alumnus won the East Coast Championship middleweight belt, nearly scoring a third-round knockout.

Seventh-seeded Josh Asper (Hereford) picked up three victories at 165 pounds to advance to Friday's quarterfinals at the 2012 NCAA championships at the Scottrade Center on Thursday. Asper is one win away from securing All-America status for the second consecutive season. The Terps are in 31st place after the first day with Penn State in first with 38.5 points. Asper earned a 5-0 decision over Buffalo's Mark Lewandowski in the 165-pound pigtail match to open the tournament. Approximately 90 minutes later, Asper picked up a 6-4 decision over Virginia's Nicholas Sulzer.

There is no media process more fascinating to watch this week than the one unfolding around Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the newest GOP presidential candidate. The process involves network news and cable channels trying to take the candidate down a peg -- telling him essentially, "Hey, hot dog, this isn't the Texas League any more, this is the big show, so settle down. " Perry hit the Upper Midwest Bus and Corndog Tour that has claimed many of the very people who should now be in Washington trying to find ways to create jobs instead of barnstorming through small towns in full campaign mode talking about jobs.

There wasn't much separating eighth-ranked Perry Hall and host and No. 12 Owings Mills in yesterday's long-awaited clash of Baltimore County's powerhouses.One second, to be exact.That's how close Eagles 171-pounder Willie Broadnax came to scoring the match-clinching pin against Joe Farinetti when the buzzer sounded to end the second period. The Perry Hall wrestler then tied the match and went on to win it in overtime, helping the Gators to a 35-30 come-from-behind win as part of a tri-match with Franklin.

Still a bit banged up and tired from the Mount Mat Madness Tournament over the weekend, the Boys' Latin wrestling team didn't get any sympathy from visiting McDonogh last night. Instead, No. 5 McDonogh took full advantage of favorable matchups and didn't let up for a second in an unexpectedly easy time over No. 10 Boys' Latin. Heavyweight Luis Gimenez, Joe Breen (119 pounds), Ricky Tippett (140) and Jesse Sataloff (160) scored pins, but it was the effort of Luke Rebertus (145) that best summed up the Eagles' 54-18 victory.

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation. National  • The power of Matt Drudge: Drudge drives more traffic than Facebook or Twitter. (PBS)  • The people who are criticizing this obviously don't get hip hop: Common coming to the White House . (Daily Caller)  • This feud is getting uglier by the day: U.S. accuses Pakistan of outing CIA agent . (Washington Post)

It appeared to be business as usual for three-time state wrestling champion Josh Asper in his season-opening match last week. When the 171-pound senior standout from Hereford came away with a first-period pin over Catonsville's Eric Swaboda on Dec. 11, he extended his undefeated streak to 51 matches to help lead the No. 7 Bulls to a win. When he left the mat, however, Asper was a little more tired than usual. "I could definitely tell I was breathing heavier than I should have been for the first period.