From the North, there was Hanover, Pa.
From the South -- DeMatha.
For nearly everyone else in between at yesterday's Raymond B. Oliver Invitational Wrestling Tournament at McDonogh School, there was nowhere to run.
The two wrestling giants dominated, together winning nine of 13 individual championships and sending a plethora of top local competitors home empty-handed.
The Nighthawks, ranked No. 4 in Pennsylvania, won the tournament with 229 points, followed by the Stags -- ranked third in Maryland -- with 173.
But for first-year North Carroll coach Bryan Wetzel -- whose team finished third with 142 points, well ahead of any other local team -- the day wasn't just about winning and losing.
It presented a rare chance to pit his wrestlers against some of the best competition on the East Coast.
"We don't get that competition often, and that's the difference between our kids and theirs," said Wetzel, who this year took over for longtime coach Dick Bauerlein.
"I think the kids have the ability to compete and beat teams such as that. It's just that if they're going to do it they have to have the best possible match they can wrestle. These are the kinds of wrestlers that you see in the state finals, and I think it will definitely help us when it comes time for states."
North Carroll -- ranked fourth in the state -- sent wrestlers to the finals in five weight classes, with 119-pound Dameon Davis coming away with the only victory in one of the day's most exciting matches.
Trailing Gilman's Arman Taghizadeh, 5-4, Davis scored an escape in the third period to force overtime. Then, after well over a minute of back-and-forth maneuvering, he won the match on a takedown with five seconds left.
"I knew him from when my brother [Eddie] wrestled him last year," said the first-year varsity wrestler, now 10-0.
"I used the overtime to try and set him up, then I just went for it. I gave it all I had because I had nothing to lose."
But for other Panther wrestlers, the day ended on a losing note.
Top-seeds Corey Rill (130) and Tom Kiler (135) each lost to Hanover wrestlers in the finals, while No. 2 seeds Erik Hott (145) ++ and Bill Beltz (Hwt) also finished runners-up.
Kiler, who lost 7-5 in overtime to Josh Conover of Hanover, came within one second of forcing another overtime.
"The first thing that I thought was that I didn't want to go to the coin flip [to determine who would start the period in what position]," said Conover, a champion last year at 130 pounds, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler.
"I knew that whoever got bottom would be the winner. Either one of us could've escaped."
Other local champions were 171-pound Martius Harding of McDonogh, by forfeit, and Joon Kim of Centennial at 189 pounds, and heavyweight J. R. Plienis of McDonogh, both by pin.
For Kim, who handled DeMatha's Josh Bender in just 59 seconds, it marked the second time in three tournament matches that he's pinned the D.C.-area wrestler.
Plienis, a junior who next year will attempt to become the first wrestler in tournament history to win four straight titles, said there was a sense of pride in being one of a handful of local competitors to fare well against the Pennsylvania and Washington-area powers.
"It's definitely a good feeling, especially since I go here [to McDonogh]," said Plienis. "The competition was tough."