C 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 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 state title match by defeating No. 8 South Carroll, 41-28.
For Broadneck (14-3), the combination of the early deficit and missed chances proved too much. Quince Orchard won the first five bouts and came up with three big come-from-behind victories.
"We wanted to win at least one of the first five, and we didn't get any of them," said Broadneck coach John Mayberry. "We had some opportunities, and we didn't take advantage of them."
Insuk Choe (103) and Sam Taylor (125) each scored pins for Quince Orchard, and Rod Garcia (112), David Chee (119) and Kerry Albert (130) all won by decision to give Quince Orchard a 22-0 lead after five bouts.
Taylor's victory over Todd Betz proved important. Betz took a 5-0 lead in the first period, nearly pinning Taylor, and held an 8-3 lead in the second period. But Taylor, a freshman, then threw Betz and pinned him moments later at 2:56.
"That takes a lot of guts for a freshman," said Quince Orchard coach Jeff Marker. "That just set the tone."
Isaac Putnam (135) got the first victory for Broadneck, an 11-1 decision over Anthony DiCataldo. Julian Tai (140) cut the deficit to 22-10 with a pin of Peter Swick at 3:46.
But Justin Elwin-Hight (145) scored a come-from-behind 9-5 victory for Quince Orchard over Joe Yancy, and after Broadneck's Rob Peck (152) pinned Craig Michel, David Carroll (160) rallied for an 11-7 victory over Andy Chambless of %o Broadneck. Carroll trailed, 7-3, at one point.
The Bruins cut the deficit to 28-19 when Aaron Lawson (171) defeated Tim Hart, 10-4. With Quince Orchard planning to forfeit at heavyweight, it all came down to the 189-pound match between Matt Gaertner of Quince Orchard and Mike Toth.
Toth (189) needed either a major decision or a pin to give the Bruins the match. Because they were getting the six points from the forfeit, a major decision would give the Bruins a 29-28 victory, a pin would make it 31-28.
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.
"I think we're all pretty upset," said Toth. "I think we're all pretty happy with the tie instead of losing [outright]. But we really wanted to win."
Mayberry said the opening deficit proved a bit too much for the Bruins.
The Broadneck coaches expected to lose several of the early bouts, but when the deficit continued to grow, it may have taken a toll on the Bruins in other ways.
"I think that psychologically it was a tough thing," said Mayberry. "We did a good job, we wrestled well. [Quince Orchard] was hungry, and they are a very good team."