The whirlwind of shuffling head coaches in Howard County since last season makes forecasting a clear-cut county favorite all the more difficult.
With four out of eight teams -- including two-time defending county champion Hammond -- experiencing a change, league coaches expect four or five teams to be in the hunt for a county crown as opposed to last year when Hammond dominated, going 6-0 in the county.
At Hammond, Bill Smith is stepping aside for his former coaching partner Jeff Starnes, who guided the Golden Bears as head coach from 1982-1990.
Starnes, who left Howard County in 1991 to pursue business interests in Texas, returned last winter in time to witness Hammond establish a county tournament record for points (244.5) while tying two other marks (nine finalists, seven county champions).
With four county champions returning in senior Chris Williams (160 pounds), senior Mike Chang (119), sophomore Josh Zillmer (130) and senior Jim Weston (171-189), Hammond is the early favorite to three-peat, a feat only Oakland Mills has accomplished (twice) in the past 24 years.
"There's no question it won't be a runaway like it was last year," Starnes said. "There are at least four schools that are going to put out a good lineup in Oakland Mills, Atholton, Howard and Glenelg."
Starnes will be assisted by Smith, who saw his hard work building the Hammond program with Starnes during the 1980s culminate in county titles the past two seasons. Smith, who stepped down to spend more time with his four young daughters, will assist with wrestlers that he coached last season.
Glenelg's wrestling program factors into all the coaching moves. Starnes, who coached football last fall at Glenelg, applied for but did not get the coaching job at Glenelg. Hammond athletic director Bob Maxey later called to inform Starnes about the Bears' opening.
Glenelg will have former coach Jeff Kent back after a year's sabbatical.
"I planned on going into the military service, but I had problems with my knee so the Army sent me home," said Kent, who replaces Doug Campbell.
Kent led the Gladiators to a 6-8-1 county record in his two years. Glenelg returns county tournament champion Jeremy Lignelli (130).
Before Kent arrived at Glenelg three years ago, the head coaching position was occupied by Brian Chadwick, who later moved to Oakland Mills as junior varsity coach. This season, after three years running the Scorpions' junior varsity, Chadwick takes over the varsity from Steve Carnahan.
Chadwick will count on two-time county champion and regional finalist Wade Mitchell (130) to provide senior leadership.
The final link of the Glenelg connection can be found at Howard, where former Glenelg wrestling coach Joe Thomas (1989-1991) filled the opening created by the departure of Freddie Bullock.
Thomas, who preceded Chadwick as the Gladiators' head coach, was a member of the Western Maryland coaching staff for two years after departing Glenelg and has spent the past two winters coaching girls indoor track and field at Howard.
Until the younger wrestlers develop, the Lions will count on All-County senior Eric Paskin, the most improved wrestler from a year ago.
Paskin, wrestling at 145, tallied a 30-1 mark a year ago in winning a county and regional championship as well as finishing third in the states.
Atholton, Centennial, Wilde Lake and Mount Hebron retained last year's head coaches.
Of that group, Centennial is a dark horse to pull off an upset. Coach Todd DeCrispino has only three seniors, but returns 28 wrestlers from last season's 7-6 squad.
"I have so many returning to the same weight classification where they were pretty strong last year," DeCrispino said, including senior Jason Nagle (125).
Atholton, coached by Ron McMillan, returns its only senior Matt Radik (24-12) at 171.
The loss of junior Ricky Trott, who posted a 29-5 record on the way to county and regional titles but has decided not to wrestle, could be compensated if McMillan gains three wrestlers who were academically sidelined before this weekend.
The only change at Wilde Lake is the school site, now at River Hill High for the next two years. It is a change coach Richard Jackson does not mind, even if it means a longer commute.
"We now have a wrestling room and we don't have to worry about rolling wrestling mats onto the cafeteria floor and setting up chairs after practice," Jackson said.
"On top of that, we have right across the hallway the weight room with a glass wall that allows me to watch the kids working at all times."
Jackson has senior heavyweight Carlo Gerstenfeld, a county and regional finalist, leading a roster laden with freshmen and sophomores.
zTCHD: League race lacks a favorite as four teams change coaches
1994-95 HOWARD COUNTY HOGH SCHOOL WRESTLING PREVIEW