Wrestler of the Year
Chris Knox, Calvert Hall, Sr., 112 (46-2): Ranked No. 1 in the state, Knox has not been beaten in Maryland over the past two seasons, which included two straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and state private schools titles, a third-place finish at National Preps last season and a National Preps title this season. Knox, who was 42-3 last season and is the Cardinals' first two-time private schools champ, pinned 17 of 26 opponents in the first period and scored 137 takedowns to only seven for his opponents. A B-average student with a 1,030 SAT score, Knox "did not give up a single takedown against anyone in Maryland," said coach Henry Franklin. Knox, who is considering West Virginia, Franklin & Marshall, North Carolina, Michigan State or The Hill School in Pottstown, Pa., is ranked No. 2 nationally in the February edition of USA Wrestling behind two-time state champ Jason Powell of Oklahoma. An All-Metro pick last season, Knox also won the prestigious "Beast of the East" tournament in Delaware. At National Preps, Knox defeated The Hill School's Will Filbert, a former three-time All-Metro pick from McDonogh who previously had placed first and second at National Preps.
Coaches of the Year
Scott Delpo, Franklin: Franklin edged Northern of Garrett County for the program's first Class 1A-2A state tournament title with a squad that had only three seniors. Three wrestlers -- Matt Schuster, Drew Outten and Luke Mays -- won the county titles their fathers could not at Franklin. A former Montgomery County runner-up and third-place regional finisher at 167 pounds before graduating from Rockville in 1987, Delpo is an example of an average wrestler who is a standout coach. Mid-season dual meet victories over Westminster (the team's first since the early 1980s) and Owings Mills (the first by a county team since '94) were cathartic for the Indians. "We went 13-3 last year, losing twice to Owings Mills and once to Westminster -- that's why those matches were important," Delpo said. "First year, we were .500, then 10-5, qualifying for state duals. We improved last year, then we went 14-2 this season." Delpo, who is assisted by George Wagner and Joe Tartle, and who credits Dave Trudil of the Reisterstown Recreation program, said, "It's a community effort. The parents of the kids put their own time into the sport and support them by attending matches."
Bruce Malinowski, Overlea: Only two of his wrestlers had junior-league experience, and one of his state place-winners had only three years of experience. "If you remove the two Laubach cousins [James and Jason], we average two years of experience," said Malinowski, who has a knack for getting the most out of his wrestlers. That's how the former two-time state champ and Kenwood graduate guided his Falcons to a 4-0 record in the Class 1A-2A state duals tournament -- good for Baltimore County's first state duals title, over Northern of Garrett County. "I don't believe there was any one match or tournament that made the difference in the team's success," said Malinowski. "Even though we lost to Franklin and Owings Mills during the regular season, the kids still thought we could win due to the fact that against Franklin, we won five of the eight bouts that were wrestled." Malinowski, chosen Maryland's Coach of the Year by The National Wrestling Coaches' Association, said, "It's great to be respected by your peers," but that, "I still don't think the kids realized what they've accomplished."
First team at a glance
Brian Bricker, Curley, Sr., 130 (42-7): Bricker was an MIAA champ and finished second at the state private schools tournament and fourth at the National Preps. Bricker amassed 18 pins, including one over McDonogh's MIAA champ Steve Chester, and 23 takedowns. Bricker (108 career wins) also defeated Arundel's two-time county and region champ Pat Ortman and Northeast's region runner-up, Chris LaPorte.
Paul Boettcher, Curley, Sr., 152 (41-2): Boettcher amassed 136 career wins and 67 pins. He defeated Calvert Hall's three-time MIAA champ Tony Russo, Harford County champ John Ishibashi (Aberdeen) and three-time Carroll County champ Mike Muller (South Carroll). Boettcher, who had 19 pins and 110 takedowns (a school-record 242 for his career), won MIAA and state private schools titles and was third at the National Preps tournament for the second straight season.
Drew Bowers, Owings Mills, Sr., 135 (35-3): A two-time county and region champ, Bowers finished second at states and ended up with 140 career wins and 114 pins. He pinned state champs Kyle Burger (Westminster) and Vaymond Dennis (Hammond), region champ Chris Allen (Williamsport), defeated Kent's region champ Jacob Kirwan, and last season decked Calvert's Jason Poore, who was third at states. In addition, he is an A-average student.
Shawn Calhoun, Curley, Sr., 140 (40-4): Calhoun won MIAA and private schools titles in addition to all seven of the Maryland tournaments he wrestled in. He amassed 23 pins -- including three straight in the MIAA tournament -- which is one less than the single-season record. Calhoun (108 career wins) beat DeMatha's state runner-up Nick Glanden to win the difficult Hammond Invitational, where Einstein's state runner-up Timur Chabuk was third.
Damien Davis, Gilman, Sr., 189 (38-6): Ranked No. 1 at 189 the past two seasons, Davis won his second straight MIAA and state private schools tournaments and was second at the National Preps for the second straight year. Among Davis' noteworthy wins were victories over South Carroll's Leroy Eyler, who was fourth at states, and Delaware state champ Pete Santoro of St. Mark's, who is ranked No. 7 nationally by USA Wrestling. An honorable-mention in USA Wrestling with a 126-20 career mark, Davis earned All-Metro honors in wrestling last winter, All-Metro in lacrosse last spring, The Baltimore Sun Male Athlete of the Year award last spring and All-Metro honors as a football running back this past fall. Among the nation's top high school defensemen, he'll play lacrosse at Princeton.
Mike Faust, Gilman, Jr., Hwt., (47-1): Ranked No. 1 in Maryland, Faust won the "Beast of the East" tournament, his second straight MIAA and state private schools tournaments and was National Preps champ. Faust also won the Gilman Duals event, along with victories over Hammond's state runner-up Matt Nelson and St. Paul's Nick Alevrogiannis (third at private school states). Faust was an All-Metro pick last season. He twice avenged his lone loss to DeMatha's Mark Hayes.
Darien Kess, Curley, Soph., 103 (45-5): Kess scored a school-record 210 takedowns and allowed only 13. A former four-time junior-league champ, Kess won MIAA and state private schools titles and was runner-up at National Preps to a Blair Academy wrestler ranked No. 2 nationally. Ranked No. 1 in Maryland, Kess had 21 pins, along with wins over No. 2-ranked Zak Johns (McDonogh), then-No. 1-ranked Luke Palumbo (Annapolis Area Christian), No. 3-ranked Max Meltzer (Bullis), state runner-up Matt Eveleth (Chesapeake-AA) and Howard County champ Jason Friert (Hammond). Palumbo is the only Maryland wrestler who defeated Kess this season -- and that was in the season's first event.
Jason Laubach, Overlea, Soph., 125 (37-2): Laubach won his second straight county and region crowns and was a Class 1A-2A state runner-up. Among Laubach's wins were decisions over Hammond's Howard County runner-up Ryan Mackin, Dulaney's Mike Winters (fourth at states), Lackey's district champ Jesse McKeever (third at the 1A-2A states) and a pin of McDonough of Charles County's district runner-up Jason Kiessling. So difficult was Laubach's class at states that Montgomery County runner-up and region champ Marlin Martin (Einstein) placed sixth. Laubach is 68-7 over two seasons.
Sam Mays, Franklin, Soph., 145 (25-3): Mays was county and region runner-up to Overlea rival Derrick Oxendine before defeating Oxendine for the state title. Mays reached the title bout by pinning Southern of Garrett's Eric Rexrode, who entered at 32-0 and who had finished third at states the previous season. Mays also decked Perry Hall's Chris Pike, a third-place finisher at the Class 3A-4A state tournament. Mays' only other loss was by a point to a wrestler from Pennsylvania.
Bryan McDermott, Mount St. Joseph, Sr., 135 (49-2): Ranked No. 1 in Maryland throughout the season, McDermott won MIAA and state private schools titles and was fourth at the National Preps. McDermott was 3-2 versus DeMatha's Kevin Gabrielson, whom he beat for the state title. McDermott pinned Old Mill's county and region champ James Fleming, and twice defeated former two-time state champ Bobby Monday of Sherwood of Montgomery County. McDermott, who has a wrestling scholarship to Duquesne University, became only the fourth Gaels' wrestler to win the prestigious PowerAde Tournament at Trinity High in Bethlehem, Pa., beating three wrestlers who were ranked in the top five in Pennsylvania.
Derek Michaloski, Calvert Hall, Sr., 119 (34-14): After going 15-13 and failing to place at any tournaments last season, Michaloski was perhaps the area's most-improved wrestler. Michaloski was second at MIAAs, first at the state private schools tournament and sixth at National Preps. "I'd go into tournament seeding meetings last year and couldn't say he placed in any tournaments," coach Henry Franklin said. "He was definitely a pleasant surprise."
Derrick Oxendine, Overlea, Sr., 145 (38-2): A takedown specialist, Oxendine ranks as the Falcons' winningest wrestler with 110 career victories. He also is only the second Overlea wrestler ever to place three times at states with two fifth-place finishes and this year's runner-up effort. Oxendine used two pins and a technical fall to reach the state finals, and was 2-1 against Franklin's state champ, Sam Mays. Oxendine was a three-time county and regional finalist, finishing second in each as a sophomore and winning each the past two seasons.
Joe Rosenbaum, McDonogh, Sr., 171 (39-3): Ranked No. 2 in the state behind DeMatha's two-time National Preps champ Wes Cummings, Rosenbaum (25 pins) was a private schools runner-up, MIAA champ and fourth-place finisher at National Preps. Rosenbaum took a 35-0 record into his state title bout with Cummings, losing, 7-1. One of his pins was against National Preps runner-up Marvin McClain of West Nottingham Academy. A second-team All-Metro pick as a football linebacker, Rosenbaum also is one of the nation's top five high school lacrosse defensemen and is headed for NCAA champ Princeton to play that sport.
Tony Russo, Calvert Hall, Sr., 145, (45-6): A three-time MIAA champ who is ranked No. 2 in the state, Russo won one state private schools championship in three title-bout appearances. This year, he had 19 pins, seven technical falls and seven major decisions. Three of Russo's losses were narrow defeats against DeMatha's two-time National Preps champ Drew Robertson, twice in overtime and the other by 3-2 in this year's preps finals. Among Russo's biggest wins was one over Blair Academy's Jody Giurcich, who owned two wins over Robertson and who has won one National Preps title in three prep final appearances. Russo also defeated DeMatha's 160-pound state champ Joe Sargent, Damascus' state runner-up T. J. Salb and Westminster's Carroll County champ John Muse.
Matt Schuster, Franklin, Fr., 103 (35-2): A former junior-league state champ, Schuster took his lumps early before going on a roll, winning county, region and state titles. At states, he beat Carroll County champ Nate Yinger -- who entered at 23-1 -- 8-6 in an overtime semifinal. But his 10-1 title-bout rout of Northern of Garrett's Blake Huber sealed the Indians' first state tournament crown. Among Schuster's two losses was one to Gaithersburg's state runner-up Mark Anderson.
Team selections The 1999 All-Baltimore City/County wrestling teams were selected by Lem Satterfield after consulting with The Sun staff and area coaches.
Pub Date: 3/10/99