Wrestler

Charlie Lynch Archbishop Spalding, senior, 145 Usually when you ask a senior who has had the good fortune to become a national champion if he ever dreamed about it as a freshman, the answer will be no. But in Lynch's case dreaming about a national title was exactly what he did. "From the minute I stepped on the mat as a freshman I said I was going to be the national champ," said Lynch, who claimed the MIAA, Maryland Independent School...

North County wrestler Lorenzo Maddox, competing in the 285-pound weight class, won the Middle Atlantic States Wrestling Association (MAWA) High School Elite Division of the Eastern National Wrestling Championships. He is the first North County wrestler to win the tournament, only the third Maryland high school heavyweight to win the tournament and the fourth Anne Arundel County wrestler to win the tournament in any of the 14 weight classes, according to information released by the school.

Nathan Bachman Fallston, 152 pounds The junior is the first Cougar to have won the triple crown: county, region and state titles. Bruce Dulski Mount St. Joseph, 112 The second-team All-Metro junior went 36-6, winning his second straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association title and finishing runner-up at private school states. Jerome Featherstone Boys' Latin, 160 The All-Metro wrestler finished second at the MIAA championships, private schools states and National Preps.

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.

Maryland senior Hudson Taylor lost a 1-0 semifinal decision to second-seeded Craig Brester of Nebraska in the final minute Friday night at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Omaha, Neb. Taylor had already clinched All-America status and is the Terps' first three-time All-American. Taylor would finish third at the NCAAs for the third straight years by winning both of his matches today. He faces Wisconsin's Trevor Brandvold in his first match this morning. Maryland's Steven Bell won his first match of the evening session and also clinched All-America status, while Josh Asper fell short.

The voice of Liberty wrestling coach Jeff Hash often faltered and was unusually soft."I was hurting [over the weekend]," said Hash. "I was hurting bad."The death of Liberty wrestler Anthony Omelio in an early Saturday car crash caused the pain for Hash and much of the Liberty family. The 17-year-old had been class president for three years and was runner-up at 103 pounds in last winter's Carroll County wrestling tournament.Omelio was buried yesterday, and a memorial fund is going to be set up at the school.

Starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei. Directed by Darren Aronofsky. Released by Fox Searchlight; $29.95, Blu-ray, $39.95. **** (4 STARS) Getting a broken-down actor, savaged by time and broken almost beyond repair by his own miscalculations, to play a broken-down wrestler, savaged by time and broken almost beyond repair by his own miscalculations, was only part of the genius behind The Wrestler. The rest was not letting that be the only reason to recommend the movie. Make no mistake: Getting Mickey Rourke, his body and reputation ravaged by years of physical and emotional self-abuse, to play Randy "The Ram" Robinson, was an incredible gamble (financing was tough to come by, given Rourke's track record)

Hammond High wrestler Chris Williams lost another match in court Monday when Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Hilary Kaplan refused to issue an injunction that would have allowed Williams to wrestle this season.In denying the request, the third by Williams, Kaplan said, "There was insufficient evidence to support an interlocutory injunction."The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, which governs high school sports, said that Williams had forfeited his eligibility for this season by competing in two all-star meets after last season, despite discovering only after those events that he would not graduate.

Hammond High wrestler Chris Williams lost another match in court yesterday when Judge Hilary Kaplan, of the Circuit Court of Baltimore City, denied Williams an injunction that would have allowed him to wrestle this season.In denying the request, the third by Williams, Kaplan said "there was insufficient evidence to support an interlocutory injunction."The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, which governs high school sports, declared Williams had forfeited his eligibility for this season by competing in two all-star meets after last season, despite discovering only after those events that he would not graduate.

Four years of high school wrestling have not changed Nathan Kraisser's basic reason for pursuing the sport: "It's still fun just to roll around on the mat and wrestle," he said. It hasn't been so much fun for his opponents. The senior became only the fifth wrestler ever to win four Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association state titles over a career. In his final season he went 36-3, winning his fourth Howard County, East regional and Class 4A-3A state titles. He finished 152-6 overall for his career and is ranked 11th in his weight class nationally by Intermat.

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.

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association wrestling tournament last weekend turned up one four-time champion (Nathan Kraisser of Centennial at 126) and four, two-time champs  -- La Plata's Josh Llopez (152), Chesapeake-AA's Alex Rice (145), Winston Churchill's Hunter Sutton (138) and Arundel's Tyler Goodwin (132). But some of the most excited competitors were those winning titles for the first time. The surrounding area produced 10 of those. North County Brandon Ballard (195)

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.

Five years ago Carver A&T's wrestling program was hanging on, but just barely. Coach Everett Elliott had just arrived and there were all of three wrestlers in the program. Wednesday night, at the school's winter sports ceremony, Elliott read off a page full of accomplishments about his team -- all firsts in the school's wrestling history. Four wrestlers had 20-win seasons - Karran Costley, Kendell Costley, Sebastian Ayala, and Robert Foster. Two had 30-win seasons - Sam Pellerito and Malachi Burden -- and they also both placed in the county tournament.

Bel Air High's William Holder-Moore turned in an impressive performance in winning the 170-pound title at Saturday's 3A/4A East regional tournament held at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia. Holder-Moore won a 7-3 decision of Meade's Isiah Alston to take the title and notch the only first place finish among Harford County wrestlers who competed in what is generally considered the toughest regional meet in the state. Wrestling in the 132-pound championship, Bel Air's Jason Taylor lost by technical fall to Tyler Goodwin of Arundel, but the runner-up position still assured Taylor of a berth in the state championship meet.

Maryland schools sent 21 wrestlers into Saturday's semifinals at the National Prep Wrestling Tournament in Lehigh, Pa. St Paul's led the way with five - Ryan Friedman (103), Jack Mutchnik (120), Eric Friedman (126), Peter Galli (152) and Brad Mutchnik (160) - followed by McDonogh with four - Jack Clark (145), Myles Martin (152), Toby Hague (160) and Roman Braglio (285). Also in the semis are: Steven Simpson (103) DeMatha; Chris Halkos (113), St Vincent Pallotti; Michael Still (113)

A confrontation at Saturday's Anne Arundel County wrestling tournament resulted in Broadneck wrestler Collin Harrell being kicked out of host North County High School, and it has led to the senior's being left out of the Class 4A-3A East Region tournament, which begins Friday. The situation has caused an eruption of outrage from wrestling fans, devastated a family long involved in the sport and "inundated" Anne Arundel County coordinator of athletics Greg LeGrand's inbox with email in support of the Harrells.