The Starting Five

Williamsport’s Robbie Mies (215 pounds) and Kemper Baker (119) both won Class 2A-1A state titles last Saturday night at the 40th annual Maryland State Wrestling Tournament at the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House.

My colleagues here in the sports department can tell you that I had predicted Mies would win. But who could have guessed the Wildcats senior would dominate his bracket the way he did with three pins and a 6-0 decision? … Good golly! … In the finals, he pinned Easton’s Cavlin Rookard in the third period. Here’s the video of it. … Mies had a 7-2 lead on Rookard before the pin. Those were the only two points he allowed all weekend. Just total domination.

Then there’s Baker, whom I accurately predicted would place. But I never thought it would be first. I know I wasn’t alone either.

Baker, a sophomore, finished fifth at 112 in the West region last year, failing to qualify for states. Meanwhile, last year at states, River Hill’s Cameron Kirby placed second at 103, Pikesville’s Ben Baker took third at 112 and Landsdowne’s Earl Eppard placed third at 119.

Baker beat all three of those guys, in that order, to win the title. Here’s the video of his 10-9 thriller over Eppard in the finals. … Baker finished the season with a 36-2 record, leading Washington County in victories. His two losses this season were to Glenelg’s Zack Gerber (in the Damascus tourney finals) and Brunswick’s Tyler Bartholomew (in the West region semifinals). While he never got the chance to avenge those losses at states, he did the next best thing by beating Eppard, who beat Bartholomew in the quarterfinals and Gerber in the semis.

The Boonsboro wrestling program certainly has come a long way.

You only need to look at tonight’s Boonsboro-North Hagerstown box score (below) to realize that. (continue reading…)

Most of these are no-brainers:

103 — Monica Hovermale, Smithsburg
112 — Kemper Baker, Williamsport
119 — Nick Dilandro, Smithsburg
125 — Justin Iseminger, Williamsport
130 — De’lon Agee, North Hagerstown
135 — James Reilley, Smithsburg
140 — Peter Smith, Williamsport
145 — Jim Eichelberger, North Hagerstown
152 — Jake Turner, North Hagerstown
160 — Robbie Mies, Williamsport
171 — Dan Mazzei, North Hagerstown
189 — Drew Williams, Williamsport
215 — David Ridenour, Smithsburg
285 — Kyle Malcolm, North Hagerstown

Predicted team finish: 1. Williamsport; 2. North Hagerstown; 3. Smithsburg; 4. South Hagerstown; 5. Boonsboro.

I just copied and pasted the below post from the High School-Statewide Wrestling Forum at pennlive.com. I doubt this guy is a friend of Rick Hare’s.

27310. Hershey Arena/Referees
by BikePete, 2/19/08 7:28 ET
The thing I like most about the Arena at Hershey is that it is too large for the ref’s to figure out who exactly is yelling at them from the stands. It is easy to blend in among the crowd more so than it is in a small gym. I have been kicked out countless times from gyms, the first time was at Manheim in 1957, but I have never been kicked out of the Arena, the Giant Center, Rec Hall, or the Farm Show Arena. This is the time of year when we the fans can let loose a little and not worry as much about these demi-god referees catching us. I am looking forward to hammering a few guys this year- especially that primadona Mike Junkin – I think i will be joined by many others, especially LD fans in hammering him. There are ways to yell at refs in the arena that are better than others. It seems to work best if you do it during the action- not when there is a stop in the match- that way they are less likely to be looking around the stands- except for the worthless mat judges. It is also good to sit in the upper level because the refs have a hard time figuring out where the yelling is coming from up there. The best part about the arena is the walkway around the bottom level. That allows you to yell insults on the move- the old moving target trick- although at my age I don’t do much walking around the arena anymore. So I hope everyone enjoys and makes the most of this opportunity- we have a whole years worth of pent up frustration to let out, and some of these clowns have earned it. Keep it clean, and don’t lose your voices before the quarterfinals.

James Buchanan 171-pounder Derek Straley is certainly on a tear.
Last weekend, the senior went 7-0 with six pins and a tech fall to earn Most Outstanding Wrestler honors at the Rebel Duals at South Hagerstown, while setting a school record for career wins.
Last night, Straley upped his season record to 15-0 (and career record to 93-35) against rival Greencastle-Antrim. He bumped up to 189 to face Blue Devils star Matt Copenhaver (19-3) and — in what might have been the area’s bout of the year so far — came away with a 10-8 overtime decision.

If there were such a thing as a Herald-Mail High School Wrestling Tournament, and if it were happening tomorrow, these would be my picks to win:

103 — Monica Hovermale, Smithsburg
112 — Matt Nel, Waynesboro
119 — Jimmy Hughes, Chambersburg
125 — Josh Connor, Berkeley Springs
130 — De’lon Agee, North Hagerstown
135 — Garrick Skubon, Mercersburg
140 — James Reilley, Smithsburg
145 — Cody Barrick, Mercersburg
152 — Jim Eichelberger, North Hagerstown
160 — Joey Wilmot, Chambersburg
171 — Derek Straley, James Buchanan
189 — Cody Reed, Berkeley Springs
215 — Evan Reed, Waynesboro
285 — A.J. Firestone, Mercersburg

Jimmy Hughes voted Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tourney by area coaches.

Too bad for Smithsburg senior Justin Hovermale that the Maryland state wrestling tournament wasn’t this past Thursday night.
After going 2-2 and not placing at states, Hovermale more than filled a void at 152 pounds for the Class 2A-1A team at the Maryland Senior All-Star Classic.
Against 4A-3A, Hovermale decked state bronze medalist Shayne Delph of Westlake in 1:22. And against the private-school team, he turned in the night’s biggest upset, scoring a 10-5 win over Progressive Christian’s Mike Bressler, a state champ and prep all-American.
With nothing to lose, Hovermale was unbeatable.

“Big surprise, another article on McGill.”
I received more than one e-mail saying that, or something very similar to it, right about this time two years ago.
People seemingly were jealous of all the attention Williamsport then-senior Mike McGill was getting by me and our newspaper, as if he didn’t deserve it or something.
McGill won his second straight Maryland Class 2A-1A state wrestling title that year, a week after becoming the first wrestler in 2A-1A West history to win four straight region titles.
But in some people’s minds, Smithsburg’s Jeff Sprecher placing fourth at states, for instance, was a bigger story. And maybe if I wrote for the Leopard Gazette, it would have been.
Of course, it seems pointless and silly to be addressing this issue now.
McGill’s high school accomplishments, however, seem even bigger to me now than they did then.
On Saturday, for the second straight year, I left the state tournament in College Park before the championship finals even began. That’s because, for the second straight year, no Washington County wrestlers were in them.
A week earlier, the county failed to win a single title at the region tourney.
Where was McGill when we needed him? Actually, I know the answer to that. He was wrestling for Maryland at the ACC Tournament.
One of the e-mails I received two years ago was so irrational that I printed it out and saved it.
“Mr. Mason, you might as well run a by-line that says, ‘First place wins … everyone else is a loser,’” was one of the lines in it.
While it’s impossible to argue the truth in that, there are varying degrees of losing. I’ve never heard anyone call a state placewinner — or even a state qualifier — a “loser.”
The top two county wrestlers this year placed fifth and sixth at states — and they received McGill-like attention in the newspaper.
Honestly, writing about champions is more fun. But, hey, whatever. It really doesn’t matter to me. I’m just there to report the news — and the area’s very best performers are nearly always the most newsworthy.
“Big surprise, another blog on McGill.”
Hopefully, though, no one will be able to say that to me in a few years.

If I had to rank a No. 1 at each weight class today:

103 — Matt Nel, Waynesboro (tough call over Berkeley Springs’ Derek Hovermale)
112 — Colton Gustines, Jefferson
119 — De’lon Agee, North Hagerstown (has that 7-6 Hub Cup win over Williamsport’s Earl Neville)
125 — Billy Barrett, Musselman
130 — James Reilley, Smithsburg (he lost 1-0 to Walkersville’s Ty White, who was a 10-4 winner over Jefferson’s Garrick Skubon, who beat Mercersburg’s Tyler Mort 15-1)
135 — Dustin Haislip, Musselman
140 — Alex Buterbaugh, James Buchanan (he has a 7-6 win over Mercersburg’s Bobby Wolford)
145 — Cody Barrick, Mercersburg
152 — Justin Hovermale, Smithsburg (too bad Chambersburg’s Joey Wilmot won’t get a chance to wrestle him)
160 — Tyson Bennett, Berkeley Springs
171 — Jimmy Sutch, St. James (North Hagerstown’s Josh Borland won’t get his chance either)
189 — Cody Reed, Berkeley Springs
215 — Jordan Heckman, Chambersburg
285 — Adam Barnette, Mercersburg