In recent years, championships have come in bunches for the Owings Mills wrestling team. And after the Golden Eagles claimed their third Baltimore County title in five years yesterday at Dulaney High School, some are beginning to talk dynasty.
"We had a good run in the '80s, and it looks like they're starting the same kind of thing," said Eastern Technical coach Joe Gast, whose team won five straight county titles between 1984 and 1988.
"They remind me of the teams I coached," said former Overlea coach Ron Belinko, whose teams captured five county crowns in six years during the mid '70s. "When one wins they're all happy, and that's what makes a championship team."
The Eagles were doing plenty of smiling yesterday.
After sending eight into the semifinal round, Owings Mills came away with two championships en route to a dominating team victory.
The Eagles won with 201.5 points, followed by Hereford (111.5), Dulaney (108), Perry Hall (98), Sparrows Point (93) and Eastern Tech (85).
"It went well," said Owings Mills coach Guy Pritzker, who coached Jimmy Hudson (135 pounds) and Steve Kessler (140) to individual titles. "We placed 10 guys out of 13. I was hoping for that, but this is a tough tournament and you just have to hope."
Other champions were Tom Free (103) and Gary Maynor (112), both of Sparrows Point, Dan Simancek of Dundalk (119), Steve Boothe (125) and Rich Hanzevack (145) of Perry Hall, Alex Leanos (130) and Damon Holmes (160) of Dulaney, Mykol Thomas of Woodlawn (152), Chad Hipsley of Pikesville (171), Greg Forbes of Milford Mill (189) and Glenn Warner of Hereford (HWT).
Kessler, who scored a 9-2 final-round victory over No. 2 seed Sean Groszkowski of Franklin, improved to 27-0 while extending his winning streak to 63.
He said that last year's young Eagles team -- which finished third in the county -- has quickly matured into a squad that will likely continue the recent winning tradition at Owings Mills.
"First it was my brother and [three-time champion] Grant [Johnson]. Now, we have a great team of our own," said Kessler, whose brother Gregg was a three-time county champion in the early '90s. "Everybody has come into their own, and they're all doing a lot better than last year. We just keep building on the past."
The best match of the finals came in the 125-pound class, where Boothe pulled out a last-second victory over top-seed Sean Mryncza of Sparrows Point.
After conceding an escape to begin the third period, Boothe -- who had finished second in the county the past three years -- trailed, 1-0, with time winding down.
With four seconds left, however, he caught his opponent for a takedown to score a 2-1 win.
"I was tired of coming in second," said Boothe (21-3). "My whole game is on my feet. I knew I wasn't going to turn him so I had to take him down."
Milford Mill's Forbes won in similar fashion, scoring a takedown against Hereford's Roy Collins with one second remaining to pull out a 3-1 win.