Alan Gebhart's Curley squad, including just four seniors, already had lost a dual meet, 42-21, to Mount St. Joseph.
His starting 103-pounder didn't make weight for yesterday's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association dual-meet championship.
His best strategy -- moving one of his better wrestlers, Ben Verner, from 145 up to 152 -- backfired when Ron Cooper pinned Verner in 3:56 for a 35-13 lead with four bouts left. Considering the circumstances, yesterday's 44-22 Curley loss to Mount St. Joseph was nothing short of predictable.
Curley's fate was sealed, 38-13, after top-ranked Danny DeVivo (160), wrestling despite an intestinal virus, scored a 7-2 decision over Mickey Glendon to cap a four-year, 47-0 dual-match winning streak.
"We've had five kids miss a day of practice recently with illness, and my 112-pounder wrestled with a shoulder injury," said Gebhart, whose No. 14 Friars (9-3) were 1-11 three years ago and barely above .500 the last two seasons.
"I really think the program's turned around, and some of these kids have great futures. I'm happy with our finish."
The top-ranked Gaels (12-0), winners of last weekend's inaugural MIAA tournament, trailed for the only time, 9-6, after three bouts, including a pin by Curley's Ken Willson (119). The Gaels had gotten a pin from Jon Pitonzo (103) before Curley's Bob Lader (112) overcame a 5-2 third-period deficit for a 7-5 overtime decision over Marc Hoffman.
Mount St. Joseph regained momentum and a 29-13 lead after Jake Lissau (125) and Danny Mattson (130) nailed consecutive first-period pins, David Inkman (140) scored a technical fall, and Tyran Dungee (145) received a forfeit.
In between was a major decision by Curley's Bill Curran (135), who later watched teammate Anthony Zakrewski (171) score a pin and Tim Stock (189) a decision.
Gaels heavyweight Kenny Hunter, coming off last weekend's 6-5 victory over McDonogh's top-ranked J.R. Plienis, capped the win with a 28-second pin.
"I was disappointed in a couple of matches, but we've got a few bouts with the flu that I hope clears up," said Gaels coach Paul Triplett, who goes for his second straight national prep title this weekend at Lehigh.
"Hopefully, we'll have the same results and the same guys placing next year."