Broadneck's balance, especially among its lower weights, is going to be trouble for a lot of teams this year. Just ask No. 14 Arundel's Isaac Haertel.
"We thought we'd get a win at some point before I got out there," said Haertel, a 152-pound sophomore, after a 43-18 loss to Broadneck. "But the way their little guys came out really surprised us. They're a handful."
Few expected the sixth-ranked Bruins (3-0), who beat Annapolis (1-2), 56-12, in last night's other match, to soundly thrash Arundel (2-1). But they opened with a takedown in each of the first nine bouts, winning the first eight for a 31-0 lead that put the match out of reach.
Mike Schardt (145) clinched it with a 16-8 major decision over Arundel's Pat McGrath.
"We felt this would be a challenge, and I had no clue how important my match was. I just wanted to win," Schardt said.
Broadneck, with just five seniors, also got pins by sophomore Ben Helbig (103) and Todd Betz (125) over Justin Beeler and Chad Webber, respectively.
"We were hoping to get about seven wins in the whole match," said Betz, a junior. "But during practice, coach [John Mayberry] was trying to figure out which seven matches those would be. We expected tough matches at 103 and 112."
And 112 was indeed difficult for Matt Ormsby, who trailed 3-2 entering the third period after yielding an early second-period reversal to Arundel's Brian Schroeder. But Ormsby's reversal with 10 seconds left secured a 4-3 decision.
James Donner (119), the only senior among Broadneck's first six winners, decisioned Casey Harrington, 8-3. Julian Tai (130) downed Graham Harris 7-3, Lonnie Donner (135), James' younger brother, beat Tim Kelly, 8-3, and Isaac Putnam (140) blanked Byron Patrick, 7-0.
The results were even better against Annapolis, with Ormsby, Betz, Tai and Lonnie Donner getting pins, James Donner a technical fall, Helbig and Putnam taking forfeits, and Schardt a decision.
Arundel, a 54-18 winner over Annapolis last night, got its first wins against Broadneck on consecutive pins by Haertel (5-0) and top-ranked 3A-4A defending state champ Mark Chesla (160, 5-0). But the Bruins' Aaron Lawson (171) responded by overcoming a 5-1 deficit against Vince Fauntleroy with a pin in 2:39.
The Wildcats got another first-period pin from Brandon Sands (189) to trail, 37-18, but Billy Collier (Hwt) had to default to Broadneck's 265-pound Arto Vartanian (7-1, six pins) after injuring his ankle.
First-period pins by Haertel and Chesla led the Wildcats' eight-pin rout of Annapolis, whose only double-winners -- Rich Parshley (171) and Ed Catterton (189) -- each pinned twice.
"It was a solid effort by my lightweights, they really came through," said Mayberry. "The kids had their best wrestling effort of the year. They wanted it real bad and came out and did a good job."