Oakland Mills wrestling coach Brad Howell knew his team would have the success they expected of themselves if they put in the work from March-November.
All that off-season wrestling proved its worth once again as the Scorpions dominated visiting Glenelg, 49-15, to all but clinch the regular season county dual title and remain the only undefeated county team.
If Oakland Mills gets by Marriotts Ridge on Friday, it will clinch its first undefeated county dual season under coach Brad Howell, who has been at the helm since 1998.
"It means another step in the right direction," said Howell. "Our focus is always character, getting better, having fun, so the kids were excited. So we were definitely having fun. ... Perseverance, tough matches, overtime wins, dogfights and coming out on top, coming back from behind and sticking guys. I thought we showed a lot of character out there."
The Scorpions (10-0, 19-2) haven't lost since Dec. 6, the first weekend of the season, and have made it clear it's their time for county dominance.
"The momentum is great, especially on your senior year," said 145-pound senior Matthew Claxton. "We finally beat River Hill, we finally beat Glenelg, and it's like, what's next? We probably just won counties ... It's been great so far to just keep the ball rolling."
Similar to the match against River Hill, Oakland Mills jumped out to a big early lead.
Johnny Rynn set the tone at 113 pounds with several big takedowns, including the final one that put his opponent, Brandon Reece, on his back for the pin.
Dakota Thompson earned a forfeit at 120 pounds, and Julian Capino made the lead 18-0 after he earned a surprising pin at 126 pounds over Collin Silk.
But Glenelg bounced back, earning back-to-back decisions at 132 and 138 pounds from Sam Kraus and Garrett Murray to cut the deficit to 18-6.
Then, at 145 pounds, Claxton faced off with Glenelg's Parker Griffie in what is a potential county championship match.
Claxton and Griffie battled to a 0-0 tie through the first period, and then each rode the other out through the second and third periods to force the rare 0-0 overtime match.
"Overtime, I knew cardio and endurance was going to pay off for me," Claxton said. "In the first period, he took two shots and wasn't able to finish, so I knew he couldn't take me down. So once he got a shot in (in overtime), I grabbed the ankle, turked it and got the takedown and the win.
"I knew it was a big match for me. I really set the ball rolling for the team."
Claxton's victory put the Scorpions on top 21-6, but a forfeit to Glenelg's Mike Budock made the team score 21-12 half way through the meet.
Then, it was Oakland Mills that proved it is one of the deepest teams in the state. The Scorpions won a decision at 160 pounds, then got pins at 182 and 195 pounds to expand the lead to 36-15 with three of its top wrestlers still to go.
With the match already at hand, the crowd got it wanted when state champion Jaron Smith faced off with Glenelg's Austin Twigg at 220 pounds.
Smith, who was giving up nearly 30 pounds to Twigg, jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first period by earning a takedown and three near-fall points. He went on to ride Twigg out in the second period, and scored a reversal and a stalling point in the third to win a 8-0 major decision to remain undefeated on the season.
"Twigg is a quality 220-pounder, he's ranked pretty high in the state," said Howell. "We knew it was going to be a quality matchup. We want to continue to push Jaron and get him some quality looks. ... We kind of looked for that matchup. It's one thing we really wanted from this dual, is to get Jaron on Twigg."
The win put Oakland Mills up 40-15, and in another potential county finals match, Scorpions' Antonio Rozier earned a 3-2 decision over Jamie Cooch.
Freshman Kyle Farace locked up another patented Farace cradle in the final bout of the night, earning a pin and putting a stamp on dual meet.
"They won the tight matches, they got the bonus points. Like I said when we wrestled River Hill, that's what we needed to beat them," said Glenelg coach Matt Bichner. "It was kind of the same thing today, it just didn't go our way. That team's going to go pretty far, so congrats to Brad and those guys."
The defeat was a tough one for the Gladiators (10-1, 20-8). The loss drops them to 12-2 in non-tournament duals, which is the record used for postseason dual qualifications.
The Gladiators will likely be tied with River Hill and South River, and the head-to-head with the Hawks won't be factored in. Instead, it will be based on common opponent and point differential, and Glenelg could be on the outside looking in for the 3A/4A East regional duals.
"Now we got to sit and wait to see if we get in the regional duals. I'm not sure if we're going to make it or not," said Bichner. "If we don't, we'll get ready for the county tournament."
For now, Howell has his sights on the Mustangs, and then will focus on the 1A/2A South regional duals on Feb. 11, which the Scorpions will likely host as the No. 1 seed.
They are expected to battle defending dual champions Kent Island for the regional dual title.
"There's going to be some talented teams there," Howell said. "I know returning state champions Kent Island, they're a quality team. It's going to be tough for us, they have some great individuals and we're going to have to wrestle them as a whole."
Oakland Mills 49, Glenelg 15
113: Johnny Rynn (OM) pinned Brandon Reece (G) 4:30; (6-0)
120: Dakota Thompson (OM) fft; (12-0)
126: Julian Capino (OM) pinned Collin Silk (G) 2:32; (18-0)
132: Sam Kraus (G) dec. Justin Gatewood (OM) 9-4; (18-3)
138: Garrett Murray (G) dec. Keanu Gibson (OM) 5-0; (18-6)
145: Matthew Claxton (OM) dec. Parker Griffie (OM) 2-0 OT; (21-6)
152: Mike Budock (G) fft; (21-12)
160: Alex Asifo (OM) dec. Jason Mitchell (G) 9-6; (24-12)
170: Max Sotka (G) dec. Sidique Furet (OM) 4-2 OT; (24-15)
182: Jamore Tinsley (OM) pinned Robbie Baxter (G) 3:07; (30-15)
195: Zach Vincent (OM) pinned Nick Palaganas (G) 1:36; (36-15)
220: Jaron Smith (OM) major dec. Austin Twigg (G) 8-0; (40-15)
285: Antonio Rozier (OM) dec. Jamie Cooch (G) 3-2; (43-15)
106: Kyle Farace (OM) pinned Logan Gwin (G) :57; (49-15)
Other scores:
Reservoir 45, Howard 22
285: Andrew Maleta (Re) fft; (6-0)
106: Reese Kilcarr (Re) fft; (12-0)
113: Dalton Kleinhen (Re) pinned Foote (Ho) 2:59; (18-0)
120: Darian Kassiri (Ho) dec. Connor Tayman (Re) 8-2; (18-3)
126: Nicholas Williams (Ho) major dec. Hayoung Park (Re) 9-0; (18-7)
132: Troy Kilcarr (Re) pinned Kohen (Ho) 3:26; (24-7)
138: Todd Del Tuffo (Re) dec. Matthew (Ho) 5-2; (27-7)
145: Brian Crumback (Ho) dec. Trent Kilcarr (Re) 7-5 OT; (27-10)
152: Joe Keagle (Ho) dec. Max Reed (Re) 10-3; (27-13)
160: Lee (Ho) dec. Matt Gonzales (Re) 6-5 OT; (27-16)
170: Stephen Sims (Re) pinned Massey (Ho) 1:26; (33-16)
182: Massey (Ho) fft; (33-22)
195: Tyler Ecker (Re) fft; (39-22)
220: Shawn Hamilton (Re) pinned Soup (Ho) 5:25; (45-22)
River Hill 61, Hammond 12
106: Gabe Vinyard (RH) fft; (6-0)
113: Swafta Vaja (RH) pinned John Lian (Ha) 3:32; (12-0)
120: 126: Alex Potts (RH) fft; (18-0)
132: Andrew Mahoney (RH) fft; (24-0)
138: Nathan Dustin (RH) pinned (Ha) 2:18; (30-0)
145: Tyler Bond (RH) major dec. John Hendrick (Ha) 16-2; (34-0)
152: Ryan Erskine (RH) pinned Chris Kuffour (Ha) 1:07; (40-0)
160: Clinton Azagba (Ha) pinned Ryan Benedek (RH) 2:27; (40-6)
170: Sean Guthier (RH) fft; (46-6)
182: Brady Daniel (RH) pinned Derrick Lee (Ha) 5:14; (52-6)
195: Bebe Kum (RH) fft; (58-6)
220: Justin Nelson (Ha) pinned Brett Schwab (RH) 3:07; (58-12)
285: Brian Kirby (RH) dec. Jeremy Nelson (Ha) 5-4; (61-12)
Marriotts Ridge 54, Centennial 21
106: Jacob Blyukher (C) pinned Jacob Hejeebu (MR) 3:19; (0-6)
113: Chris Spano (MR) fft; (6-6)
120: Kyle Wiggins (MR) pinned Cameron Neilon (C) 2:48; (12-6)
126: Romtin Habibi (MR) pinned Savya Konkalmatt (C) 3:11; (18-6)
132: Will Parks (MR) dec. Ammar Narmouq (C) 10-3; (21-6)
138: Zack Moody (MR) dec. Amr Narmouq (C) 8-5; (24-6)
145: Thomas Olson (MR) fft; (30-6)
152: Austin Kraisser (C) pinned Sam Deitemyer (MR) 3:10; (30-12)
160: Omar Delen (MR) pinned Mark Horton (C) 1:09; (36-12)
170: Michael Hurd (MR) fft; (42-12)
182: Ben Switlick (MR) pinned Niall Musonda (C) 3:20; (48-12)
195: Steven Wysocki (C) pinned Ben Williams (MR) 1:15; (48-18)
220: Mark Thurmond (C) dec. Joe Naidu (MR) 6-2; (48-21)
285: Cully Desautelle (MR) pinned Lucas Shapiro (C) 1:07; (54-21)
Mt. Hebron 63, Long Reach 12
138: Johnson (MH) pinned Lancaster (LR) 2:40; (6-0)
145: Flores (MH) fft; (12-0)
152: Jake Norton (MH) dec. Bowman (LR) 4-3; (15-0)
160: Gilbert (LR) pinned Ahmad (MH); (15-6)
170: Murphy (MH) pinned Benera (LR) 2:51; (21-6)
182: O'Neal (MH) fft; (27-6)
195: Milsap (LR) dec. Wes Norton (MH) 3-1; (27-9)
220: Day (MH) pinned Walters (LR) 1:39; (33-9)
285: Suri (MH) fft; (39-9)
106: Lemus (MH) fft; (45-9)
113: Scherr (MH) fft; (51-9)
120: Epstein (LR) dec. Nguyen (MH) 5-0; (51-12)
126: Jimmy Hayden (MH) pinned Cooper (LR) 1:14; (57-12)
132: Jeff Hayden (MH) pinned Chang (LR) 3:04; (63-12)