Matches do not come much closer than yesterday's between Quince Orchard-Broadneck in a Class 3A-4A dual-meet state semifinal at South Carroll.
Despite an early 22-point deficit, No. 4 Broadneck rallied to win six of 3A-4A the final eight bouts and pull into a 28-28 tie.
But the overall victory went to Quince Orchard by the first tiebreaker criterion, as the Cougars won more bouts (7-6).
Quince Orchard (13-4) then lost to Northern of Calvert, 46-21, in the state title match last night. Northern (16-2) had advanced to the match by defeating No. 8 South Carroll, 41-28.
Against Broadneck, Quince Orchard planned to forfeit at heavyweight, so it all came down to the 189-pound match between Matt Gaertner of Quince Orchard and Mike Toth.
Toth (189) needed a major decision or a pin to give the Bruins the win.
Toth worked hard, eventually pulling ahead by 9-3 with 39 seconds left in the bout. Gaertner then was penalized two points for stalling with 27 seconds left, making it 11-3.
That would have been enough for the major decision, but the referee penalized Toth one point for stalling with only four seconds left. The bout then ended 11-4, which pulled the teams into a tie -- but gave the Cougars the victory.