A look up and down the row of Francis Scott Key wrestlers told it all as Damascus' Tom Horwat clinched a Class 1A-2A state dual-meet semifinal win for his Hornets yesterday afternoon at South Carroll.
Jason Fogus was at one end, with his head down for most of the second period. Ryan Etzler sat silently, arms folded. At the other end, defending state champions Zac Yinger and Randy Owings, both seniors, sat side by side talking quietly among themselves.
As the final seconds ran off with Horwat coming away with a 7-2 decision over Key's Tim Puckett, Yinger helplessly gazed at the scoreboard.
Two bouts later, it read: Damascus 38, Francis Scott Key 24.
"We were just talking about what a good year it's been and about coming back and winning states," Yinger said.
"It's our last year -- it's real disappointing. They were tough."
Damascus went on to handle Northeast, a winner over Owings Mills in the other semifinal, 34-20, to claim the title.
Against Key, the big swing came at 119 when Sean O'Neill caught Etzler in a cradle and pinned him early in the third period.
A Matt Yinger pin at 112 had given the No. 2 Eagles a 6-4 lead, and Etzler took a 12-2 lead over O'Neill into the final period.
Instead of increasing their lead, the Eagles found themselves down 10-6 and Nick York followed with a second-period pin over Jason Hooper to give Damascus a 16-6 lead.
"We had some matches where as a coach you kind of try to figure them out in your head ahead of time and think you can maybe win them," said Key coach Bill Hyson. "Those were tough matches, [Etzler and Hooper] are both good kids. [Damascus] really stays after you. When they would get in pinning situations, they would really load up and go after it."
"When you come in as a team, you don't want to put too much pressure on any one person."
Steve Lessard (130), Owings (140) and Zac Yinger (152) did all they could to keep Key's hopes alive, but Damascus' strong lineup at the heavier weights was too much.
Lessard came away with a 4-2 overtime decision over Randy Pickett; Owings pinned Joe LeFave midway through the second period and Yinger claimed a 9-3 decision over Danny Wolford to get Key within 24-18.
Key lost the coin flip and had the odd weights, so Hyson had to bring out Owings first at 140, enabling Damascus to use Andy DeVriendt at 145 against J.T. Chiaruttini. DeVriendt came away with a major decision to quickly get four points back for Damascus.
At 160, Rick Stott needed just 1:08 to get past Key's Robert Buntin to increase the Damascus lead to 30-18, setting up Horwat's decision to clinch.
Key heavyweight John Frech closed out the match with a pin of Tim Falls 41 seconds in.