No. 5 Francis Scott Key got pins from three of its seven champions last night to dethrone No. 2 Old Mill, 212-186.5, in Key's 27th annual eight-team Christmas tournament.
The visiting Patriots, who led 180.5-177 entering the championship round, lost all four of their title bouts to the Eagles' Matt Yinger (112 pounds, 8-3), three-time winner Steve Lessard (135, 10-1), defending state champ Zac Yinger (152, 9-0) and Robert Buntin (171, 8-1).
Matt Yinger pinned Jarod Marquardt in 1:03, Lessard outmuscled Old Mill's Paul Hultgren, 7-4; Zac Yinger pinned Old Mill's Mike Hines (11-2) for his third Key tournament championship, and Buntin (171) held off Old Mill's Eric Donoway (7-2), 7-5.
The Eagles also crowned Ryan Etzler (119, 6-0), who pinned two opponents to win for the second straight year, three-time champ Randy Owings (145, 10-1) and Jason Hooper (125, 9-2).
The Bright spot for Old Mill came when Don Patterson (189, 13-1) defeated Catoctin's two-time tournament champ Shane Tiffany (9-1) in just 1:37. Tiffany, a state runner-up who was 28-1 last year, trailed, 10-1, before being pinned.
"I just wanted to slow him down because I knew he would come right at me," said Patterson, who won the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler trophy. "My original thought was to take him to the third period, but I caught him twice early, and the second time I knew that was it."
A year ago, Patterson's pin secured the Patriots' 183-178.5 victory over the Eagles. This year, however, the Patriots battled the flu as well as powerful Key.
Owings won the toughest weight class, 9-2, over Glenelg sophomore Jeremy Lignelli (13-1), who pinned twice to reach the title bout, including Old Mill's defending regional champ Mike DiLeonardi in 3:10.
DiLeonardi, who last week beat Arundel's defending state champ, Mark Chesla at 152, finished fourth after losing, 6-2, to Catoctin's Wendrick Goff. DiLeonardi had beaten Goff twice before.
"He came right at me but I took control and set the tempo," said Owings, a two-time state champ who had four takedowns against Lignelli. "I like to wrestle kids who come at me. That's when things really go my way."
Bel Air's Matt Birth (130, 8-1) won his third straight title, 17-7, over Woodlawn's Damon Dennis (10-2), and teammate Bryan Stewart (140, 8-1) built a 5-0 lead over Old Mill's defending state runner-up Nick Basta before Basta was injured and could not continue.
And Woodlawn's fifth-ranked Mykol Thomas (160, 11-1) won his second straight tournament championship the same way he did last year -- with a pin over Catoctin's David Whipp, this time after building a 10-1 lead.
"This was sweet. We got some momentum where we expected to do well, and their success became contagious," said Key coach Bill Hyson.
"Right now, we'll file this away. It's a learning process, but this gives us confidence to continue stepping forward."
Trailing 172-167.5 entering the consolation finals, Old Mill got critical pins from third-place finishers David Bryant (125) and Tim Patterson (130) and Mike Ruth (160). Patterson's win came over Francis Scott Key's Mike Putman, who had earlier lost a see-saw battle to Patterson, 9-7, and Ruth edged the Eagles' Tim Puckett to give Old Mill a 180.5 to 172 lead.
A pin by the Eagles' Bobby Bollinger (189) made it 180.5-177 in favor of Old Mill as the title round got under way.