Danny DeVivo, the Mount St. Joseph 171-pounder who is ranked No. 1 in Maryland and was The Baltimore Sun's 1993-94 All-Metro Wrestler of the Year, was listed among the Super 25 seniors by USA Today last week.
A two-time All-Metro, DeVivo won last year's National Prep Tournament at Lehigh. With last weekend's 10-0 victory over Bullis' fifth-ranked Eugene Brodetski in the title bout of the Annapolis Tournament, DeVivo improved his career record to 115-12.
Brodetski, who was fourth in last year's National Prep Tournament, had lost only 12-7 to DeVivo in last year's National Prep quarterfinals.
DeVivo has a 61-match winning streak against Maryland opponents dating to his 5-1 freshman season victory over Andy Smith of Loyola for third place in the Maryland Scholastic Association Tournament.
He has two MSA titles, including last year's 35-3 season in which he had 16 pins and five technical falls.
His streak includes victories over state champs Marc Proccacini (Old Mill), Al Grunder (Northeast) and Chris Brown (McDonough-Charles County). DeVivo pinned Grunder and scored a technical-fall win over Brown in last year's Annapolis Tournament title bout.
Bair ready for bear
Calvert Hall left-hander and 1994 Baltimore Sun All-Metro Player of the Year Andy Bair, who recently comfortably passed his Scholastic Assessment Test, can start preparing for the recruiters who will soon come his way.
"It's only been about eight to 10 days since his situation was discovered, but this is definitely going to change things since coaches will know about it and things will be stepped up even more," said Calvert Hall coach Joe Bender.
In the fall of 1992, another Calvert Hall left-hander and former Baltimore Sun Player of the Year, Brian Matz, signed early with Clemson before graduating in 1993. But Bair, having not yet satisfied the NCAA's freshman eligibility requirements, missed last month's seven-day early signing period.
"He's looking now to make visits to No. 1-ranked Clemson, Miami and Tulane, but he hasn't made commitments as far as exact dates," Bender said. "But we've talked about the recruiting process and his mom and dad are actively taking part, which is great."
Last year, Bair (6 feet 5, 220 pounds) led the Cardinals (27-3) to their second straight MSA crown -- and sixth in seven years -- a No. 1 area ranking and a No. 19 national ranking.
Bair used his back-breaking curve, blazing fastball and nasty changeup to end the year 11-0 with a 0.82 ERA, and 123 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings.
Over the summer, he was chosen a member of the Junior Olympic Team.
"The tryouts took place at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and the games were played in the SkyDome in Toronto," Bender said. "It was a three- or four-week ordeal and a great experience for him. They treated Andy and the others very well."
Bender said he now expects the pressure to build heading into the spring season.
"It wouldn't surprise me if we're nationally ranked somewhere before the season starts," Bender said. "We just have to be careful as a team that we not get distracted by all of the attention and that we're always prepared properly."