Fourth-ranked River Hill established itself as a Class 4A state title contender even in yesterday's 39-33 loss to Virginia power Colonial Forge in the title bout of its inaugural River Hill Duals.

Against last year's AAA state runner-up - Virginia's largest classification - the defending Howard County tournament champs got pins from Vince Cina (103 pounds), Ryan Shevland (145), Mike Lignelli (189), Jesse Fawcett (215) and Steve Humphrey (heavyweight), along with a decision by Nick Shevland (140).

Their efforts were not enough to overcome Colonial Forge (4-0), which broke a 33-33 tie with a 56-second pin by top-ranked Scott Fisher (152) in the final bout of the night. But the result, said Cina, should send a message to the rest of the state.

"I wasn't really surprised. We kept plugging away. We knew it would be close," said Cina. "It shows us where we are and what we need to work on and how we need to approach the rest of the season."

Colonial Forge led 12-0 after pins by the Pellar brothers, Dale (160) and Matt (171), the latter overcoming a 2-1 deficit against Austin Sneeringer. The Hawks (3-1) took a 24-16 lead on consecutive pins by Lignelli, Fawcett, Humphrey and Cina, but Colonial Forge led 33-24 on a pin, three major decisions and a decision. River Hill tied the match with a decision by Nick Shevland, followed by Ryan Shevland's pin. But Fisher was simply too much.

Lignelli and Fawcett pinned previously unbeaten wrestlers.

Colonial Forget coach Bill Swink thought the Hawks wrestled with intensity, as evidenced by Ryan Lauer's 18-8 loss to third-ranked Matt Taylor (119). Lauer trailed only 6-4 after nearly pinning Taylor just before the buzzer ended the second period.

"I thought he was pinned before the buzzer," said Lauer. "Five more seconds and I definitely would have had him stuck. I stick him, we win the match."

The Shevlands, Cina, Lignelli, Fawcett and Humphrey all went unbeaten in four bouts of the eight-team affair, which also included Hammond, Wilde Lake, Glenelg, Franklin, North Hagerstown and Arundel.

For Hammond, which beat North Hagerstown by 53-21 for third place, Dan Snyder (140) went undefeated. Others winning all four bouts: Arundel's Justin Bowers (103), Andrew Stiffler (125) and Mike Handleman (130), as did Glenelg's David Brindza (112) and Matt Bichner (130).