For the third time this season, Calvert Hall's first-year coach Henry Franklin had a ranked team on the ropes, only to watch his squad get knocked out.
His unranked Cardinals (3-3, 0-1) entered yesterday's Maryland Interscholastic Association A Division match against No. 9 Boys' Latin having lost two close matches to Perry Hall and Gilman, then ranked Nos. 8 and 15, respectively, before last week's 33-30 upset victory over then-No. 12 Loyola.
Yesterday, the Cardinals raced out to a 21-0 lead after four bouts and 27-3 after six, but couldn't hold on. The Lakers (2-0, 1-0) rebounded to win, 36-33, with John Logan (189) pinning Calvert Hall's Ed Chung in 2:22 to clinch it, 36-27. Colby Cox was pinned in 3:49 of his heavyweight bout with the Cardinals' Tom LeRoux after leading 5-0 -- but it wasn't enough for Calvert Hall.
The Lakers lost the first four bouts, including a forfeit to Chris Hanlon (103, 17-3).
The Cardinals' Robbie Johns (112, 13-2) scored a first-period pin, and third-ranked Gino Amasia (119, 18-2), a two-time league champ, built an 11-1 lead before decking Brian Berger with his third cradle-pinning maneuver of the match at 2:48.
Then Pete Angelone (125) overcame a 4-0 deficit early in the first period and wore down Todd Ulrich for a 10-5 decision.
"Todd only weighs 116, so he was wrestling up," said defending league champ Erik Fitez, who received a forfeit at 171 pounds. "We just had to go from there, not knowing what to expect but knowing that our upper weights had to come through -- and fortunately they did."
Boys' Latin's first victory came as Josh Silverman (130) downed Pete's older brother, Anthony, 9-2.
But after the Lakers forfeited to No. 2-ranked league champ Brian Kapp (135, 12-1), they trailed, 27-3.
The Lakers won the next five bouts to go ahead, 30-27, beginning with Tim Berger (140, 8-1), who scored an 18-1 technical fall over Barry George.
Barry's twin, Brian (145), was then beaten, 16-2, by Jason Leneau (145), and Noel Spector (152) and Lev Galitzen (160, 8-2) scored consecutive pins.