You could say the Oakland Mills wrestling team has Howard County's number.

The Scorpions became the county's strongest program under longtime coach Steve Carnahan. And they have yet to miss a beat under Coach Dan Ricker, who enters his fourth year with a perfect 21-0 county record and three league championships.

The Scorpions anticipate another normal year by their standards. They are loaded with talent -- four defending county champs are back -- and experience. They are rich in winning tradition. They fully expect to make it four consecutive undefeated seasons and four county titles in a row with Ricker.

But Ricker doesn't sound as certain about his chances as he has in years past. Ricker still may be in the driver's seat, but he's taking some long looks in the rearview mirror.

"Hammond and Wilde Lake have tough teams. I think Hammond may be the best team," says Ricker. "I have better wrestlers, but they have every single position covered. They have a strong lineup that won't give up six points (pins)."

Hammond and Wilde Lake are coming off strong seasons, having placed a strong second and third in last year's county tournament. The Bears and Wildecats are the only schools capable of offering resistance to Oakland Mills' domination.

Here is a look at each team:

Atholton

The Raiders have seven freshmen, two sophomores and only three returnees. Fourteen of the team's 18 members are first-year wrestlers.

All of which probably spells a long season as far as team victories are concerned.

"We'll be battling just to stay out of the cellar," Coach Ron McMillan said.

The returnees feature senior Tony Zancan (140), Andy Lewis (189) and junior Jason Sturm (119). Zancan finished third in the county and second in the region last year. Lewis won the region.

The Raiders also have apromising transfer from DeMatha, senior heavyweight Rodney Baxter.

Atholton, which has lost meets to South Carroll and Centennial and finished 10th among 12 teams at the recent Chopticon tournament, is temporarily forfeiting four weight classes.

"They will eventually all be filled, but I don't want to throw the freshmen to the wolves. Iwant to bring them along slowly," McMillan said. "We'll get beat up in December, put things together by January and be respectable by February. We're building for the future."

Centennial

The Eagles expect significant improvement over last season, when they won only five meets.

Coach Todd DeCrispino returns eight wrestlers, including standouts Ken Tortolani (152), Paul Badawi (135), Shamus Gillen (171)and Bill Augustin (189). Badawi and Gillen finished second in lastyear's county meet. Augustin went 26-2 and finished third in the countytournament.

In addition, freshman Jason Nagle (103) looks like a big winner in the near future.

The Eagles have no heavyweight, butDeCrispino is optimistic about his team.

"We have good wrestlers who will win if they want to," said DeCrispino, whose Eagles are off to a 1-1 start. "The majority of the team is seniors, so we look good."

Glenelg

The Gladiators have nowhere to go but up. Last season they were 0-14.

With 14 returnees, first-year coach Jeff Kent isoptimistic that his team could go from doormat to doorkeeper. Anyonehoping to wina county title, he says, will have to get by the Gladiators.

"We could even be a challenger," Kent said.

So far Glenelg is off to a 1-2 start, having beaten C. Milton Wright (Harford County) before losing to Hammond and South Carroll in a tri-meet.

Joe Neville (125), Paul Brosenne (171), Jamie Arnsmeyer (112) and Jeremy Rutter (145) are all unbeaten at 3-0. Neville and Brosenne have threepins apiece.

"We have a lot of skill in the lower weight classes and strength in the higher weights," Kent said. "We look aggressive."

Hammond

The Bears expect to battle Oakland Mills and Wilde Lake for the county title this season.

They've already won the Frederick Douglass Tournament, despite not winning an individual title. Allbut one teammate scored.

And the Bears have beaten three other opponents handily -- South Carroll (66-5), McDonogh (56-16) and Glenelg(43-25).

Hammond returns 11 wrestlers, led by Chris Mercurio (135), who was 25-10 last year, Brian Magill (14-3) and Pat Brennan (24-15). Brennan had 17 pins and finished fourth in the state meet at 189 pounds. He's 7-1 already this season.

Newcomer Erin Woodward (125)is also off to a 7-1 start.

"We'll be a good tournament team," Coach Bill Smith said.

Howard

The Lions lost county champion George Proctor (103) and finalist John Finney (140) to graduation and return only five wrestlers.

One of them, 189-pound senior Dominique Pierre-Toussaint, won a county title and placed third in the regionalsto highlight a 23-8 season. The other, senior 152-pounder Adam Eldridge, went 19-7 last year.

From there, the Lions will rely mainly on seven underclassmen up from the junior varsity. Sophomore Seth Eldridge was the junior varsity county champ last year, while sophomore Brian Elphage (112) and junior Jason Shefrin (140) each finished second.

"The kids are really team-oriented," said third-year coach FredBullock, who saw the combined varsity and junior varsity roster increase from 23 to 34. Inexperience figures to hurt the Lions during what promises to be a rebuilding year.

"We're sort of testing the waters right now," added Bullock, who is working with a handful of wrestlers in trying to fill the 160, 171, and heavyweight classes. "We don't have outstanding individuals, but we've got scrappy, determined kids."

Mount Hebron

The Vikings are concentrating on rebuilding astagnant program that produced just three victories last year. The signs are encouraging.

They've increased their roster (junior varsity and varsity combined) from 25 to 40, meaning the Vikings will filleach weight class instead of forfeiting three matches at every meet like last year.

Second-year coach Harry Reese is also counting on an influx of new wrestlers to make up for inexperience with solid conditioning and strength accrued from other sports.

Football playerslike Wes Garrison (152), Steve Cugle (171) and Brian Machiran (189) are expected to make Hebron more competitive. "Cugle and Machiran arestrong. . . . They do things wrong and still do well," Reese said. "If they pick up some things and get some consistency going, they'll be a surprise."

The Vikings will depend heavily on their lightweights. Scott Cooper (112), Steve Colder (119) and Steve Boswell (135) are the team's backbone. Cooper went 17-4 last year and finished secondin the 103-pound class at the county tournament. Colder is a third-year wrestler, and Boswell is off to a 3-0 start with three pins.

Oakland Mills

The Scorpions may face a stiff challenge as they pursue their fourth consecutive county title under fourth-year coach Dan Ricker. But Oakland Mills, despite some glaring holes -- inexperiencein the lower and higher weight classes -- will be tough to beat.

Four county champions return, including the dominating duo of junior Adam Seidman (135) and heavyweight Monte Spencer. Seidman, a two-timedefending league champ, went 34-3 last year, won a regional title and wound up third in the state. Spencer was even better, winning 36 of37 matches, then winning a regional and state title.

"Nobody in this county should beat them (Seidman and Spencer)," Ricker said. "If they come to wrestle, there's no way it will happen."

Seniors MikeMaughan (130) and Joe Salinas (140) also return to defend their county titles. And the Scorpions should get consistent production from seniors Marcus Myles (145), Brian DuVall (152), Jason Merrero (119) andjunior Geoff Henderson (160). Myles placed second in the county, Henderson and DuVall each placed third, and Merrero won the junior varsity championship before going 7-2 for the varsity last year.

Among the newcomers, sophomore Urie Freeman (103), junior Derrick Brooks (189) and senior Kevans Hall (125) look promising. Ricker thinks inexperience could hurt the Scorpions.

"I have lots of good kids, maybe six who will definitely get into the finals (in the county tournament)," he said. "That's not enough. We need to get more guys in there."

Wilde Lake

Like Hammond, the Wildecats figure to give Oakland Mills a run for its money.

"I'll stay optimistic until they prove me wrong," said 21-year coach Rich Jackson. "They'll be tough. They'reshowing me more and more that they're not going to get pinned. If they lose, they're going to make it close."

The Wildecats return 10 wrestlers, including two defending county champions -- juniors Bobby Farace (140) and Nathan Casella (171) -- and two certain title contenders in sophomores Antoine Harris (125) and Chris Turner (130).

Farace went 21-6-1, while Casella went 26-8-2. Harris came on strong inthe second half to go 6-1 in the county, finish 14-10 overall and finish second in the regionals. Juniors Tony Crawford (135), Nick Yoon (119), Robert McGrain (152) and sophomore Michael Green (160) should provide depth.

The Wildecats lack experience in the heavyweight, 103- and 189-pound classes. Forfeits at 103 and 189 cost the Wildecatsearly season dual meets against Aberdeen (Harford County) and Northeast (Anne Arundel County).

1991 WRESTLING SCHEDULE

Dec. 18 Howard at Edgewood 7 p.m.

Glenelg at Bel Air 6 p.m.

Dec. 19 South Carroll at Wilde Lake 7 p.m.

Dec. 20 Centennial at McDonogh Tourn. TBA

Liberty/T. Johnson at Glenelg 4:30 p.m.

Hammond at Lackey Tourn. TBA

Atholton at Friends Tourn. 4 p.m.

Oakland Mills at Lackey TBA p.m.

Dec. 21 Centennial at McDonogh Tourn. TBA

Atholton at Friends Tourn. 9 a.m.

Hammond at Lackey Tourn. TBA

Oakland Mills at Lackey TBA

Dec. 27 Glenelg at FSK Tourn. TBA

Wilde Lake at Arundel Tourn. TBA

Dec. 28 Wilde Lake at Arundel Tourn. TBA

Mount Hebron at Smithsburg Tourn. TBA

Jan. 2 F. Scott Key at Oakland Mills 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 3 Centennial at North County 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 7 Wilde Lake at Westminster 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 8 Hammond at Edgewood 5 p.m.

Centennial/Hammond at Edgewood 5 p.m.

Aberdeen at Oakland Mills 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 10 Dundalk at Atholton 7:30 p.m.

Oakland Mills at Arundel 4 p.m.

Jan. 11 Chopticon at Hammond 11 a.m.

Centennial at Boys Latin Tourn. TBA

Oakland Mills at Arundel TBA

Glenelg at Boys Latin Tourn. TBA

Jan. 14 Oakland Mills at Atholton 6:45 p.m.

Wilde Lake at Howard 6:45 p.m.

Glenelg at MountHebron 6:45 p.m.

Centennial at Hammond 6:45 p.m.

Jan. 15 MountHebron at Chesapeake 3:30 p.m.

Jan. 17 Howard at Southern Tourn. TBA

Atholton at Southern Tourn. TBA

Hammond at Southern Tourn. TBA

Jan. 18 Howard at Southern Tourn. TBA

Atholton at Southern Tourn. TBA

Hammond at Southern Tourn. TBA

Oakland Mills at Bullis Prep 11 a.m.

Jan. 21 Glenelg at Atholton 6:45 p.m.

Centennial at Howard 6:45 p.m.

Hammond at Oakland Mills 6:45 p.m.

Mount Hebron at Wilde Lake 6:45 p.m.

Jan. 23 Centennial/Catonsville at Mount Hebron 5 p.m.

Jan. 28 Atholton at Hammond 6:45 p.m.

Mount Hebron at Centennial 6:45 p.m.

Wilde Lake at Glenelg 6:45 p.m.

Oakland Mills at Howard 6:45 p.m.

Jan. 30 Centennial at Atholton 6:45 p.m.

Hammond at Glenelg 6:45 p.m.

Howard at Mount Hebron 6:45 p.m.

Wilde Lake at Oakland Mills 6:45 p.m.

Feb. 4 Atholton at Mount Hebron 6:45 p.m.

Hammond at Wilde Lake 6:45 p.m.

Oakland Mills at Centennial 6:45 p.m.

Howard at Glenelg 6:45 p.m.

Feb. 6 Atholton at Howard 6:45 p.m.

Glenelg at Oakland Mills 6:45 p.m.

Centennial at Wilde Lake 6:45 p.m.

Hammond at Mount Hebron 6:45 p.m.

Feb. 11 Atholton at Wilde Lake 6:45 p.m.

Mount Hebron at Oakland Mills 6:45 p.m.

Howard at Hammond 6:45 p.m.

Glenelg at Centennial 6:45 p.m.

Feb. 21-22 County at Atholton

Feb. 28-29Regionals at Hammond (1A and 2A)

Regionals at Meade (3A)

Mar. 6-7 States at Western Maryland College