Catonsville wrestling defeats Dulaney, Franklin

For the third straight year, the Catonsville High wrestling team heads into the Christmas break with a perfect dual-meet record. But the results mean more this season to longtime coach Eric Warm.

Catonsville rallied from 27 points down to beat Calvert Hall two weeks ago, then the Comets knocked off defending Baltimore County champion and host Franklin, 47-32, in a tri-meet Tuesday night to improve to 6-0.

Those wins have given the Comets a big dose of confidence.

“We are wrestling better competition early in the year than past seasons,” said Warm, whose team also beat Dulaney, 45-30, as part of the tri-meet. “We avenged our two losses from Calvert Hall and Franklin. They were our only two losses last year. They guys are happy about that. They fell really good.”

Warm feels good about the way junior 220-pounder Naseef Kareem (12-3) is wrestling.

Kareem clinchéd the matches against both Dulaney and Franklin.

[More Maryland news] How the Jones Falls Expressway's history explains why Baltimore's first highway is so prone to crashes »

He scored an 11-9 overtime decision over Dulaney senior Andy Wall, beating him on a takedown 12 seconds into the extra session.

Kareem, who wrestled most of last year on the Catonville junior varsity, also pinned Franklin’s Luis Belmontes in 4:44.

“He is so calm and level-headed out on the mat,” Warm said. “Whether he knew there was pressure on him or not, he went out and wrestled really hard and tough. We are really proud of them.”

After Franklin’s Brad Kessler (170) won a 15-8 decision over Catonsville’s Brian Taylor to give the Indians a 26-24 advantage — which would be only their second one of the match — the Comets took the next three bouts.

Luke Mercier (182) and Trey Glover (195) recorded first-period pins before Kareem decked Belmontes to make it 41-26 with two matches to go.

The match was mathematically over.

“We are stronger in our lighter weights than our heavyweights,” said Franklin coach Vincent Crocker, whose team has a 5-2 record with its other loss coming to Loyola Blakefield.

The Comets looked like they were going to rout Dulaney.

They built a 36-0 lead thanks to Robert Johnson (106), Eduardo Kelly (113) and Andrew Southwell (126, 12-3) getting forfeits and Kelly Lassister (120), Jarrod Martin (132, 13-2) and Sean Hurd (140, 12-3) registering pins.

[More Maryland news] Here are the winners in Howard Magazine’s 2021 Best Restaurants Contest »

Dulaney, however, received pins from Jessie Beall (145), Tyler Blanton (152), Dan Matthews (160) and defending regional champion Sean Hoffman (170, 14-1) to cut the lead to 36-24.

Three bouts later with the Lions still trailing by 12 points, Kareem clinched the match.

“We had the possibility to tie it up and gave it a valiant effort,” Dulaney coach Desi McNelis said. “But we fell a little bit short.”

Franklin ended the night by beating Dulaney, 43-25, getting pins from Justin Widerman (123), LJ Bell (132), Ouail El-Ghazouani (138) and Kessler.

Catonsville wrestling defeats Dulaney, Franklin

Don't miss our 4th of July sale!
Save big on local news.

SALE ENDS SOON

$1 FOR 12 WEEKS

Don't miss our 4th of July sale!Save big on local news.

SALE ENDS SOON

$1 FOR 12 WEEKS

Don't miss our 4th of July sale!
Save big on local news.