La Plata’s Owen Butler, right, won the 2A-1A South Region’s 152-pound title to earn a top seed in this weekend’s Class 2A-1A state tournament at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro.
North Point’s Kielin Huff, pictured wrestling at the SMAC tournament on Feb. 16, is the top seed from the 4A-3A East Region at this weekend’s Class 4A-3A state wrestling tournament.
La Plata’s Owen Butler, right, won the 2A-1A South Region’s 152-pound title to earn a top seed in this weekend’s Class 2A-1A state tournament at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro.
Photo by Darnell Marbury
North Point’s Kielin Huff, pictured wrestling at the SMAC tournament on Feb. 16, is the top seed from the 4A-3A East Region at this weekend’s Class 4A-3A state wrestling tournament.
Reflecting on his team’s performance at the Class 2A-1A South Region tournament last weekend, Lackey head wrestling coach Justin Lansley was relatively enthusiastic about what his wrestlers were able to accomplish.
“The five qualifiers we have going all stepped up big,” Lansley said, referencing his wrestlers who qualified for this weekend’s state tournament. “Jeremy McBain (113 pounds) and Jacob Ham (160) both had to beat kids they lost to the week before at SMAC and did, then followed it up with getting in the top four. Cameron Stuart has wrestled well all year and although he lost his third-place match 15-14, he battled all day and punched his ticket. Jaxson Vayro at heavyweight showed guts losing his first match and wrestled back to third which made us proud.”
Five qualifiers marked a solid number for the Chargers, a Southern Maryland Athletic Conference team that has shown considerable growth over the past couple of seasons. Only four SMAC schools qualified more for this weekend’s gathering, with a grand total of 49 wrestlers from the conference qualified to compete at this year’s state tournament, which is scheduled to be contested today and tomorrow at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro.
Huntingtown, which took all 14 of its wrestlers to the state tournament a year ago, boasts the largest qualifying contingent from a SMAC program this year with nine wrestlers making the trip to compete in the 4A-3A state tournament after placing top four in the 4A-3A South Region.
As one of the Hurricanes’ four regional champions, Josh Stokes is a top seed in the 152-pound class. Stokes, a state runner-up a season ago, will be looking for a return to the championship round. Joining Stokes as regional champions were teammates Dakota Cram (182), Joe Murray (195) and Joe Bannister-Pesce (220).
“Now finally our attention turns to the kids’ final goal, making the podium or winning the title at states,” Huntingtown head coach Jeff Fowler said of his group. “We have a great group of nine Canes that will be battling in Upper Marlboro this weekend and I can’t wait to see all their hard work and sacrifice pay off.”
Also qualifying through the 4A-3A South tournament, Northern will have seven wrestlers competing this weekend, while Chopticon and Great Mills will both bring six. Of Northern’s group, three were regional champions — Fynn Yankanich (126), Kaleb Dolina (145) and Rex Fleming (170). Chopticon boasted a pair of regional champs, as well, with Trey Kratko (113) and Greg Griffith (160) doing the honors.
Leonardtown, the SMAC tournament champions which competed in the 4A-3A East Region, qualified five for this weekend, with a pair of past state champions among its group. Sean Vosburgh (120), the 4A-3A 106-pound champion as a freshman two years ago, and John Podsednik (170), the 152-pound champion a year ago, headline the group of Raiders looking to make noise at this year’s tournament.
Vosburgh and Trevor Crowley (160) both earned top seeds by virtue of their regional crowns, while Podsednik suffered his first loss of the season in the regional final.
Also at the 4A-3A East tournament a week ago, North Point’s Kielin Huff won the 106-pound bracket to earn a top seed this weekend to lead a group of four Eagles who qualified for the state tournament. Notah McCabe, this season’s SMAC heavyweight champion, finished second at the regional tournament.
Returning 2A-1A state champion Alex Blake leads a group of five from La Plata and is a top seed in the 2A-1A 145-pound class, having finished atop the podium at the 2A-1A South Region tournament last Saturday, as did Warriors’ teammate Owen Butler at 152.
Calvert’s Matt Davis, the SMAC champion at 138 and the runner-up at the regional tournament, and Patuxent’s Ashton Stuckey, the SMAC runner-up at 132 who placed third at regionals, round out the SMAC’s 2A-1A contingent along with Lackey’s group of five.
“Overall, it’s been encouraging to see the growth and consistency the team has had this season and I look forward to seeing them compete this weekend at the state tournament,” Lansley said of his group. “They are all fired up and ready.”
