Owings Mills continued its domination of the Class 1A-2A North tournament with five champions en route to the team title at Pikesville High School yesterday.
Favorites pretty much ruled the day, as nine of the 13 top seeds won, and five of the seven unbeatens, including Owings Mills sophomore Steve Kessler (32-0), undefeated over two years, came through unscathed. Kessler also was one of six returning individual titleholders, all but one of whom made it two in a row.
For the returnees, Kessler, a 14-2 winner over Pikesville's Brad Sopher at 140 pounds, was joined by Thomas Free (103 pounds, 29-0) of Sparrows Point; Gary Maynor (112 pounds, 29-0) of Sparrows Point; Patrick Elliott (145 pounds, 21-4) of Fallston; and Roy Collins (189 pounds, 29-3) of Hereford.
Chad Hipsley of Pikesville (35-2) was the loser, beaten by Willie Broadnax (20-5) of Owings Mills in the 171-pound semifinals, 5-3, in overtime, then returned to place third.
The other Owings Mills champions were Adam Fink (119 pounds, 29-4); Jimmy Hudson (130 pounds, 30-3); Paul Schulman (152 pounds, 28-5); and Willie Broadnax (171 pounds, 20-5).
All were top seeds, and Broadnax likely had one of the most rewarding victories, as he ended the unbeaten run of North Harford's Paul Konschak (26-1) when he got three back points in the third period for a 5-2 decision at 171 pounds.
Completing the roster of champions were Sean Mryncza (125 pounds, 26-2) of Sparrows Point; David Svoboda (135 pounds, 21-11) of Loch Raven; Kit Doran (160 pounds, 29-0) of Aberdeen; and Glen Warner (heavyweight, 30-0) of Hereford.
Owings Mills, with 10 scorers among its 11 entries, finished with 185.5 points, followed by Aberdeen, 107; North Harford and Sparrows Point, tied at 96.5; Hereford, 88; and Overlea, 85 in the 19-school field.
Besides Konschak, the other unbeaten who failed to make it was Mike Young (119 pounds, 22-1) of Sparrows Point. He lost an overtime decision to Corey Pascuzzi of Aberdeen (27-2), 3-1, in the semifinals, then came back to get third.
At 103, Free said he had to do well, because he helped get the team psyched up, and the same was true for Fink. He got Owings Mills' championship parade under way when he handed Pascuzzi, a losing finalist last year, too, only his second loss of the year, 3-0.
The 119-pound match started a string of five straight final-round entries for the defending team champs, who got wins from Fink, Hudson, and Kessler, against losses by Ellin and Ari Dolid, both No. 1 seeds.
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* 1A-2A South: Oakland Mills' Wade Mitchell (26-2) lost to Bruce Pendles (18-0) of Dunbar by default at 125 pounds after an injured right shoulder made it impossible for him to continue in the first period in their regional championship bout at Howard High School.
Pendles was the only winner for Dunbar, which also had one third and two fourths to finish in fifth place.
Hermondez Thompson (152) finished third. Kevin Thomas (103) and Lydell Henry (160) finished fourth for the Poets.
"Henry and Thompson didn't wrestle their best, so we were a little disappointed, but we were happy with our team finish and that we're sending four to states," Dunbar coach Damon Matthews-Bey said.