MILLERSVILLE, MD — With only five weight classes to go in Wednesday night's 3A/4A East regional wrestling duals, Glenelg and Old Mill were tied, 16-16.
The conclusion, however, was not nearly as dramatic as the first half of the match may have indicated.
After a major decision by Patriots 170-pounder Mo Mills put Old Mill ahead 20-16, back-to-back pins by Alex Mina (182) and Nate Hammond (195) put the match out of reach, allowing the home team to forfeit to Gladiators heavy-hitters Austin Twigg (220) and Jamie Cooch (285) for a final score of 32-28.
"We knew that from 160 to 170 and up was where they were strong," Glenelg coach Matt Bichner said. "We were trying to get as many points down low as we could, but they had better guys than I thought they did."
Despite having several experienced wrestlers sprinkled through the lower half of the weight spectrum, the Gladiators came away from the first five bouts with only one win, a 5-3 decision at 113 by Brandon Reese.
Old Mill's Casey Payne (106), Robby Fleming (120), Chase Pinnell (126) and Anthony Littlefield (132) all won early decisions to stake the Patriots to an early 13-3 lead.
"I was glad that we didn't give up bonus points, but I was hoping for a little bit better," Bichner said. "I was real proud of (Reese) ... He went out there and wrestled real tough."
With the Gladiators down by 10, Glenelg sophomore Garrett Murray came out at 138 and scored a pin with 28 seconds left on the clock to swing the momentum in the Gladiators' favor. Murray's pin was followed by wins by Parker Griffie (145) and Jason Mitchell (152) to give Glenelg its only lead of the match, at 16-13.
Griffie led, 7-2, late in the third period, but worked hard to turn his Old Mills opponent to his back in the final moments to score the three nearfall points needed for a 10-2 major decision.
The featured bout of the match came at 160, when Old Mill's Cody Hertz and Glenelg's Mike Budock faced off in a showdown between two potential state medalists.
Hertz got the first takedown, but Budock quickly escaped, then broke free again in the second period to fight to a 2-2 tie heading into the third period. Hertz escaped early in the third, then scored another takedown to claim a commanding 5-2 lead. Budock hit a reversal with less than a minute left, but couldn't turn Hertz onto his back for the winning nearfall points.
"(Hertz) is pretty good, and Budock was giving up a little bit of weight," Bichner said. "I thought we had a shot at hanging with them and we did pretty well, just not quite well enough."
Although Mills won a 9-1 major decision at 170, Glenelg freshman Max Sotka impressed his coaches and teammates for fighting off of his back for more than 90 seconds in the third period to avoid a pin.
"He should be like a 152-pounder ... he's been drinking water just to be over 152 to be able to wrestle 170," Bichner said "That kid Mills is pretty solid. He's every bit of 170. It's hard giving up that weight but Max is a fighter. He's a really good listener and a really good kid, so I think he'll have a good future in a couple of years."
With the win, Old Mill advanced to the 4A/3A East regional finals, where it defeated Bel Air, 36-32, to advance to this weekend's state duals at North Point High School.
The Gladiators, meanwhile, will begin preparing for the county tournament, Feb. 21 and 22 at River Hill.
"We'll get ready for counties next weekend and hopefully we'll have some county champs, region champs and state champs," Bichner said.
Old Mill 32, Glenelg 28
106: Casey Payne (OM) dec. Logan Gwin (G), 4-2. [3-0]
113: Brandon Reese (G) dec. Ray Duenas (OM), 5-3. [3-3]
120: Robby Fleming (OM) dec. Collin Silk (G), 11-4. [6-3]
126: Chase Pinnell (OM) dec. Sam Kraus (G), 7-3. [9-3]
132: Anthony Littlefield (OM) maj. Griffin Peterman (G), 14-3. [13-3]
138:
Garrett Murray (G) pin Collin Welborn (OM), 5:32. [13-9]
145: Parker Griffie (G) maj. Kevin Bilzer (OM), 10-2. [13-13]
152: Jason Mitchell (G) dec. Kyree Adams (OM), 7-3. [13-16]
160: Cody Hertz (OM) dec. Michael Budock (G), 5-4. [16-16]
170: Mo Mills (OM) maj. Max Sotka (G), 9-1. [20-16]
182: Alex Mina (OM) pin Shawn Witschen, :36. [26-16]
195: Nate Hammond (OM) pin Nick Palaganas (G), :58. [32-16]
220: Austin Twigg (G) wbf. [32-22]
285:
Jamie Cooch (G) wbf. [32-28]