HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The first two years as head coach at his alma mater didn’t necessarily go as planned for Kevin Cannon. The accomplished 2004 graduate who won 115 matches in a River Hill wrestling singlet took over the program in 2015 and said it felt like his team was simply out there “surviving” the last two years.
The record reflected as much. The nine-time Howard County champions combined for a 32-23 record over the last two years, including a 12-13 campaign last season, far from the state-championship expectations that surround the program.
“It was tough. We lost a coach [Brandon Lauer] and what I thought were two returning state champs in Matt Sheely and Brady Daniel and I wasn’t in the school,” Cannon said. “I gained confidence getting back into the school last year. It was huge. I’ve got 45 kids out for the team this year. We had to face adversity but we all persevered through it.”
On Tuesday, the Hawks continued their ascent into relevance with two dominant home victories over Howard, 48-16, and Reservoir, 63-18, to improve to 5-1 in Howard County and 10-1 overall.
River Hill won 20 of its 28 matches overall on the night with seven double winners. The Lions knocked off the Gators, 46-23, to finish the day 1-1 and move to 3-3 overall. Reservoir fell to 0-5 in county and 2-9 overall.
“I think we’re starting to buy into the program,” Cannon said. “We’re out there trying to dominate and add up scores and trying to get positive momentum instead of negative momentum.”
The Hawks entered the night expecting a battle with Howard, and after nine bouts it proved to be true. They led by just five, 21-16, after the Lions won five of six matches to cut into an early 15-0 hole, but River Hill’s upper weights stepped up and reclaimed the momentum.
A forfeit to Deandre Thomas (182 pounds), pins from Zach and Alex Wasilewski (195 and 220) and Kai Uecker put the match out of reach and the Hawks up 29 points. Freshman Dylan Muller (106) closed out the match with a 6-2 overtime decision.
“This is my JV team from when they were freshman when I was their JV coach, so we’ve all really grown and matured and evolved into me as a varsity coach and them as varsity wrestlers,” Cannon said. “I thought it was going to be a showdown with Howard but we’ve got pinners, we’ve got winners, so if you don’t get pinned you’re doing your job. ... Sometimes you just need to not give up [a pin].
First-year Howard coach Dan Carr, who was a three-time All-American and finished his collegiate career as the all-time wins leader at UMBC with 132, said conditioning and giving up six falls cost them against the Hawks.
“They got pins and we didn’t get pins for our wins, so that’s always big, and there were a lot of swing matches that didn’t go our way,” he said. “It could’ve been 48-16 us, but tonight wasn’t our night.”
Brad Foote (132), Ryan Keeley (138) and Shayan Kassiri (145) all won both of their matches, as did Ritchie Hall (170). Carr said having Foote, Keeley and Kassiri has helped smooth his transition as coach, and having three guys around the same weight class allows them to constantly improve and work with one another in practice. They are also dedicated leaders of the program, Carr said.
“It’s terrific. I wish our team was those three guys,” he said. “Those three guys bring it every single day and there are a lot of days I don’t have to say anything. They’ll run through the warm-up and run through all the drills. It’s good to have guys like that.”
Reservoir fell behind big against Howard and River Hill and forfeited at least five bouts in each match. Coach Andy McIntyre said it’s a “big time” rebuilding year for the program.
“It’s one of those situations where anything that could’ve gone wrong did, with numbers and injuries and everything, but we’ve got some young kids who are working hard, got a lot of sophomores,” he said. “We’ll be back to being a competitive Howard County team soon enough.”
Even in a down year, a bright spot for Reservoir is senior Todd Del Tufo, who scored 41 points in his two matches at 152 pounds, winning by technical fall and fall. The three-time state qualifier has been working throughout the offseason to improve in the neutral position and score more points in order to finally stand on the podium at the state tournament for the first time.
The former regional champion is 11-0 this season and two wins away from earning No. 100 in his career.
“Todd looks good. He’s really pushing himself on his feet,” McIntyre said. “He’s got some big goals this year. ... He definitely has his sights on The Show Place Arena and finally getting on the podium there.”
Howard (3-2 Howard County, 3-3 overall) — 46, Reservoir (0-5, 2-9)— 23
106: Trey Mitchell (Ho) fft. [6-0]
113: Maxxim Keller (Ho) fft. [12-0]
120: Arjun Kundu (Ho) major dec. Darian Haghighat (Re), 12-2 [16-0]
126: Kaz Okamoto (Re) pinned John Collins (Ho), 3:37 [16-6]
132: Brad Foote (Ho) fft. [22-6]
138: Ryan Keeley (Ho) fft. [28-6]
145: Shayan Kassiri (Ho) pinned Jake Sun (Re), 2:14 [34-6]
152: Todd Del Tufo (Re) tech fall Nathan Gabriel (Ho), 21-5 [34-11]
160: Connor Harvey (Re) dec. Melvin Hipsley (Ho), 5-0 [34-14]
170: Ritchie Hall (Ho) pinned Jacob Rand (Re), 0:52 [40-14]
182: Double forfeit [40-14]
195: Segni Melaku (Re) pinned Spencer Lefever (Ho), 4:48 [40-20]
220: Dylan Altman (Re) dec. Jake Wrisk (Ho), 9-8 [40-23]
285: Ritchy Pierre (Ho) pinned Justin Fargo (Re), 2:27 [46-23]
River Hill (5-1, 10-1) — 48, Howard — 16
113: Eric Robinson (RH) pinned Maxxim Keller (Ho), 1:45 [6-0]
120: Jonah Richardson (RH) dec. Arjun Kundu (Ho), 6-5 [9-0]
126: Michael Crisitello (RH) pinned Christian Allen (Ho), 1:43 [15-0]
132: Brad Foote (Ho) dec. Leo Buscher (RH), 12-6 [15-3]
138: Ryan Keeley (Ho) major dec. Matt Greenlee (RH), 13-1 [15-7]
145: Shayan Kassiri (Ho) dec. Billy Szeliga (RH), 2-0 [15-10]
152: Liam Slade (RH) pinned Nathan Gabriel (Ho), 3:05 [21-10]
160: Melvin Hipsley (Ho) dec. Dan Han (RH), 7-2 [21-13]
170: Ritchie Hall (Ho) dec. Jack Shepard (RH), 8-2 [21-16]
182: Deandre Thomas (RH) fft. [27-16]
195: Zach Wasilewski (RH) pinned Spencer Lefever (Ho), 0:40 [33-16]
220: Alex Wasilewski (RH) pinned Jake Wrisk (Ho), 1:51 [39-16]
285: Kai Uecker (RH) pinned Ritchy Pierre (Ho), 5:50 [45-16]
106: Dylan Muller (RH) dec. Trey Mitchell (Ho), 6-2 (OT) [48-16]
River Hill — 63, Reservoir — 18
120: Jonah Richardson (RH) pinned Darian Haghighat (Re), 5:28 [6-0]
126: Michael Crisitello (RH) pinned Kaz Okamoto (Re), 4:47 [12-0]
132: Leo Buscher (RH) fft. [18-0]
138: Matt Greenlee (RH) fft. [24-0]
145: Billy Szeliga (RH) pinned Jake Sun (Re), 0:49 [30-0]
152: Todd Del Tufo (Re) pinned Liam Slade (RH), 2:31 [30-6]
160: Connor Harvey (Re) pinned Dan Han (RH), 2:26 [30-12]
170: Jack Shepard (RH) fft. [36-12]
182: Zach Wasilewski (RH) fft. [42-12]
195: Alex Wasilewski (RH) fft. [48-12]
220: Kai Uecker (RH) dec. Dylan Altman (Re), 8-3 [51-12]
285: Justin Fargo (Re) pinned Anand Ambrosi (RH), 2:26 [51-18]
106: Dylan Muller (RH) fft. [57-18]
113: Eric Robinson (RH) fft. [63-18]
OTHER SCORES:
Glenelg (5-0, 10-0) — 78, Wilde Lake (0-6, 0-6) — 6
195: Arnone (G) fft. [6-0]
220: Baxter (G) pinned Boti (WL) [12-0]
285: Whitsett (G) pinned Ferdinand (WL) [18-0]
106: Lopez Campos (G) pinned Schmidt (WL) [24-0]
113: L. Gwin (G) fft. [30-0]
120: Hansberger (G) fft. [36-0]
126: Kraemer (G) fft. [42-0]
132: Ubbens (WL) pinned Kingsbury (G) [42-6]
138: Thomas (G) pinned England (WL) [48-6]
145: Yang (G) pinned Smith (WL) [54-6]
152: D. Sotka (G) pinned Ordonez (WL) [60-6]
160: Durkin (G) pinned Hartley (WL) [66-6]
170: Jones (G) pinned Jones (WL) [72-6]
182: M. Sotka (G) punned Unuigbe (WL) [78-6]
Glenelg — 66 Long Reach (1-4, 1-5) — 9
285: Whitsett (G) fft. [6-0]
106: Lopez Campos (G) fft. [12-0]
113: L. Gwin (G) pinned Cioffi (LR) [18-0]
120: Hansberger (G) pinned Levine (LR) [24-0]
126: Kraemer (G) dec. Lorena (LR) [27-0]
132: Kingsbury (G) dec. Tong (LR) [30-0]
138: Thomas (G) pinned Rad (LR) [36-0]
145: Rivera (LR) pinned Yang (G) [36-6]
152: Saffer (LR) dec. Durkin (G) [36-9]
160: D. Sotka (G) pinned Achoronye (LR) [42-9]
170: Jones (G) pinned Love (LR) [48-9]
182: M. Sotka (G) fft. [54-9]
195: Arnone (G) fft. [60-9]
220: Baxter (G) fft. [66-9]
Long Reach — 72, Wilde Lake — 12
Oakland Mils (3-2, 4-6) — 48, Centennial (1-4, 2-4) — 27
106: Christopher Lee (C) pinned Myles Williams (OM), 5:29
113: Elijah Ruiz-Lebron (C) pinned Ian Santiago (OM), 1:51
120: Jalen Cornelius (OM) pinned Noah Paik (C), 1:17
126: Zaid Narmouq (C) pinned Joseomar Alfaro Hernandez (OM), 2:41
132: Quantonio Dunscomb (OM) pinned Peter Gruys (C), 2:44
138: Kyle Farace (OM) dec. Jacob Blyukher (C), 6-3
145: Benjamin Goldfein (OM) pinned Tristan Kneas (C), 0:46
152: Jason Kraisser (C) pinned Jonald Semprit (OM), 2:39
160: Dylan Watt (OM) pinned Zachary Grossman (C), 2:45
170: Anthony Morales (OM) pinned Wadeed Morcos (C), 4:11
182: Mulbah Kamara (OM) pinned Matthew Ritchie (C), 3:48
195: Aaron Smith (OM) pinned Lucas Shapiro (C), 0:27
220: Parker Subasic (C) dec. Arthur Mouafo (OM), 3-1
285: Dante Hooker (OM) over Nicholas Yee (C), 5-0
Mt. Hebron (5-0, 11-0) — 54, Centennial — 15
106: Cassandra Lopez (MH) dec. Christopher Lee (C), 9-8
113: Ryan McClure (MH) pinned Elijah Ruiz-Lebron (C), 1:58
120: Unknown (MH) fft.
126: Khiem Doan (MH) dec. Zaid Narmouq (C), 1-0
132: Peter Gruys (C) dec. Justin Ordowski (MH), 13-11
138: Jacob Blyukher (C) pinned Adam Stadd (MH), 3:23
145: Bryce Kampert (MH) pinned Tristan Kneas (C), 3:21
152: Jason Kraisser (C) pinned Jamison Hulbert (MH), 3:30
160: Ali Pender (MH) pinned Zachary Grossman (C), 0:32
170: Marcus Suri (MH) fft.
182: Joe Gonzalez (MH) dec. Matthew Ritchie (C), 7-2
195: Zachary Wilhelm (MH) pinned Lucas Shapiro (C), 4:54
220: Isa Pender (MH) dec. Parker Subasic (C), 5-2
Latest Howard County Sports
285: Nick Nordhausen (MH) pinned Nicholas Yee (C), 1:35