Hereford's wrestling team went with youth this winter, promoting eight wrestlers who won junior varsity county championships last year. The transition has been smooth for sophomore Jimmy Cavin and junior Nick Blake and tougher for some of the Bulls' other wrestlers.
"It's a great group of young men who are working awfully hard to catch up and get the experience to help them be successful in the future," Hereford coach Ron Causey said. "While they have tried their hearts out, there is no substitute for experience. But they get to develop faster because it's been trial by fire."
Assistant coach Brett Baier said the team's youth had the Bulls' coaching staff trying to get them more dual-meet seasoning. Hereford added the Bauerlein duals at North Carroll High and the Iron Horse duals at C. Milton Wright. The Bulls' dual-meet record suffered as a result.
They're 18-11 overall and 13-1 against Baltimore County opponents.
"We had to take some lumps, but it was good tough experience for our kids," Baier said. "It was a year where the guys needed to get experience quick. One of the reasons we do the dual-meet tournaments is because you get seven or eight matches in a weekend. Our regular-season matchups aren't real difficult for the 1A-2A schools in Baltimore County."
Hereford's goals haven't changed. The Bulls are eager to get back the Baltimore County championship they won in 2013.
But Baier said the Bulls, who are led by seniors Patrick Meadowcroft (132 pounds, 26-8), Russell Carter (126, 24-9) and Craig Worpell (152, 23-8) and junior Colin McNicholas (120, 25-6) and sophomore Kahlil Rich (113, 23-4), aren't favored to win the title.
"If we wrestle to our potential, I think we could win a county championship," Baier said. "We definitely want to take care of business there. I think Perry Hall, Sparrows Point and Owings Mills are probably the front-runners for that, though."
Baier didn't see the result he wanted in the regional duals on Feb. 11 at Sparrows Point. The Bulls lost to Dunbar, 43-27.
Hereford will continue to focus on the postseason with the county, regional and state tournaments ahead.
McNicholas had the best late-season results last year. He won a regional championship and placed third in the county at 106 while going 35-9. He placed second in the Franklin Invitational this season.
Baier said McNicholas has made a smooth transition to bumping up two weight classes to 120. .
"He is a better wrestler this year, but the competition is better," Baier said. "The kids at 120 are stronger and more experienced. But he worked really hard in the offseason to be one of our studs this year."
Worpell is in the same class as McNicholas. He finished as regional runner-up last year and won 26 matches.
Meadowcroft has put together a strong season as well.
"He is a kid who started wrestling in ninth grade," Causey said. "He's learned a great deal and has gotten to be quite good. He can wrestle with anybody."
Hereford's starting lineup also features Cavin, Rich, Carter, freshman Beau Batema (182), sophomores Ryan Godfrey (20-10, 138) and Joe Kelbaugh (195), juniors Tyson Fava (145) and David Serra (170) and Zach Wisner (220).
"I think we have four or five guys that finish in the top six in the state," Causey said.