When wrestlers Thomas Free, Gary Maynor and Mike Young won their regional titles last year, "It was just like deja vu," Free said.
Though Free was at Edgewood, and Maynor and Young wrestled for Sparrows Point, "It was like we were all back on the Dundalk Hawks again," said Free, referring to their former junior league program.
"We had our pictures taken together like the old days. Maybe this year, we can do even better."
Free (103), a sophomore transfer to Sparrows Point, Maynor (112), a junior, and Young (119), a sophomore, have returned to the same weight classes and are joined by former Hawks teammate Sean Mryncza (125), a senior Curley transfer.
All four were successful junior leaguers. Free was a three-time state champion, Mryncza and Young were two-time winners, and Maynor was twice a runner-up.
And on the high school level, the quadruple threat is highly regarded state-wide. Free is ranked No. 2 in his weight class by the Maryland State Wrestling Association, Maynor is No. 4 and Mryncza No. 5. All three are 12-0 this year. Young (7-0) was ranked No. 5 in the preseason and has a victory over defending county champion Joe Catlin (Eastern Tech).
"Last year we had two good people, but that's not a whole team," said Maynor, a defending county and regional champion. "We've got four solid guys and some other good ones, so we feel like we have something."
Just four years after reviving a dead program at Sparrows Point, coach Jim Pfeiffer hopes at least one of his Pointers can become the school's first state champion.
"Tom's got great practice habits and he's intense in a match, Maynor's quick and has improved his intensity. Watching those two go at it is like watching iron sharpen iron," said Pfeiffer, whose Pointers are 3-1.
"Mike's a technician who needs more strength. But being a sophomore, he has time to grow with the weights. Mryncza's already there with the muscle and his skills."
Mryncza, younger brother of former All-Metro and two-time Maryland Scholastic Association champion Gary Mryncza, was the first to make high school waves.
Two years ago, he became an MSA champion with a 6-4 upset victory over Dunbar's fourth-ranked defending champion Bruce Pendles, now ranked No. 2 at 135.
But last year, while Pendles won his second MSA crown (earning the MSA's Outstanding Wrestler Award), his third Baltimore City crown, a regional title and placed second in the 1A-2A state meet, Mryncza rode the bench as a member of Curley's basketball team.
"I had differences with the coach, but I hated sitting out," said Mryncza, the highest ranked 125-pounder in the 1A-2A. "With help from my teammates, though, I'll make up for it with a great season."
Mryncza, who has pinned all his opponents, has Young as a primary training partner. Young was third in last year's county meet after dropping a 4-3 semifinal decision to Perry Hall's Steve Boothe, now ranked No. 4 at 135.
But the state tournament was somewhat disheartening for Young, who first beat Lackey's Chris Gilligan, 4-2, in overtime before an 18-7 semifinals loss to eventual champion Mike Kusick of Northeast. One win later, however, Gilligan edged Young, 1-0, for third place.
"I was disappointed then, but I'm not worried about it now," said Young. "My abilities are improved because I see three or four different styles in practice."
One is that of Free, whose 19-2 record of last year includes winning the Harford County crown on two pins and a default.
Free pinned his first state meet opponent and later won, 6-3, over West Region champion Billy Baker (Williamsport), now ranked No. 3 at 112. Free led his state title bout 1-0 until Oakland Mills' All-Metro Juri Freeman scored a match-stealing third-period reversal.
"Winning states is my ultimate goal," said Free. "If I give everything I've got, with the help of these other guys, I guess there's no reason I shouldn't win."