Sparrows Point wrestler Tom Free, formerly of Edgewood, was incorrectly identified in this photo, which appeared in Last Sunday's editions. County champion Aberdeen and third-place finisher Fallston will present sharply different types of teams when they compete the Class 1A-2A North Region wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday at Pikesville High School.
Aberdeen, runner-up to Owings Mills a year ago, will send out a strong team, headed by five county champions. Fallston, on the other hand, without a county titlist, will count on depth to improve on a 10th-place finish of a year ago.
Other Harford County schools involved, and their champions, are: North Harford, with Zach Rose (135 pounds), Paul Konschak (171) and Tom Staab (189); Havre de Grace, with Jeff Brochu (112); Joppatowne, with Travis Volmar (145); and Edgewood, with Rob Mister (152).
Bel Air, with Matt Birth (130) and Bryan Stewart (140), and C. Milton Wright (no champions, but three runners-up) will compete in the Class 3A-4A North Region tournament at Perry Hall.
Aberdeen is led by senior 160-pounder Kit Doran (26-0), a three-time county champion. Last season, he lost to Overlea's Jimmy Fields, 6-1, in the region and went 2-2 in the state tournament.
Last week, Doran said he had more pressure this year than in the past, when he knew he had another year or two left. His high school career (86-19) is down to two tournaments -- regional and state.
Doran has met the challenge so far. He has not been taken down, and not had a reversal or back points scored against him.
Fallston is led by senior Patrick Elliott, who will be looking to duplicate a performance of a year ago where he advanced to the county tournament final at 135, then won a regional crown. Last week, he dropped a final-round decision to Joppatowne's Travis Volmar, then missed his team's dual meet with Pikesville because of illness.
"I'm pleased, because we worked hard and got great efforts," Fallston coach Andy Amasia said of the Cougars' county tournament. "Any one of three matches could easily have gone the other way and we would have been second.
"We lost six seniors [from last year], but we had returnees in
every weight class. We came along as a unit, too, and this group has more heart than any I've had here. There is no quit -- they're in every match."
Along the way, Fallston stunned a favored North Harford in a dual match and was close with unbeaten Rising Sun. It carried its match with Pikesville in the dual-meet tournament to the last bout before losing.
Among the key wrestlers for the Cougars, in addition to Elliott, are Joe Ercolano (130, 16-6), John Dodd (135, 20-4), David Sindall (145, 16-8), C.J. Lauer (171, 15-9) and Robert Spurgeon (heavyweight, 14-10).
At Aberdeen, besides Doran, the other senior champions on the team are Corey Pascuzzi (119), Wayne Cook (125) and 225-pound Eric Morgan (heavyweight). The Eagles' other titlist is 103-pounder Kevin Carter, a junior.
Pascuzzi (25-1) is in his first year at Aberdeen after finishing second in the region last year as a Havre de Grace junior. Cook (16-9) has had an up-and-down season.
"I wasn't as positive as in the past and lost a lot of close matches, but I finally won a tough one [4-3 in the county final]," he said. Cited as the team's "wrestler of the meet," his first such honor, he is now thinking about placing in the regional and going to the state tournament -- "a definite goal."
Morgan (23-4) is another who put pressure on himself after last year's third-place county finish behind two seniors. "I knew I was expected to win this time," he said, "so I worked harder in the off-season. I think I'm faster and quicker, and don't wear out in the third period. Actually, I've done better than I expected."
Another senior who is still learning is DeWayne Whitley, a final-round county loser to Edgewood's Rob Mister at 152 pounds.
"I know how to think better, though," the third-year wrestler said, "and I take it a point at a time. In the final, I got in a situation where I didn't know what to do. Still, I've never been beaten by the same move twice. Right now, I'm working harder, but the weight class is harder, too."