As a Calvert Hall freshman wrestler last season, Brad Gab- rish was just two wins over .500, was pinned twice and lost by 15 or more points more times than he would like to recall.
But at yesterday's fourth annual Ed Peery Invitational at Annapolis Area Christian School, Gabrish showed his rivals the ceiling.
The sophomore scored 22 near-fall point in three bouts, topped by his 13 back points in a 20-6, title-bout win over Kyle Gogar of Broadneck at 130 pounds to lead the Cardinals to the overall crown in the 12-team event.
"I go for the pin right away. If I can end the match quickly, I'll do it," said Gabrish, who earned his sixth fall of the year in his first match yesterday. "It's about earning respect for myself and the team. It's fun being a winner."
Calvert Hall outdistanced runner-up Southern of Anne Arundel, 159-135.5, with Tom Montanya (103) joining Gabrish in victory. The Cardinals' Nick Barone (112) and Jason Bell (145) finished second; Matt Cunningham (125), Mick Soule (189) and Rhett Myers (215) finished third; and Colin Goldsmith (119) and Brendon Smith (135) were fourth-place finishers.
Southern crowned David Thornton (125) and Joe Brown (189), with third-place Annapolis getting titles from state runner-up Ben Graham (135), regional champ Andrew Smith (140) and Eric Lawrence (160).
Montanya, a freshman, has a 14-3 record after his 8-3 win over the host school's Patrick McMahon (16-3).
Brown improved to 9-1 with a 3-1 decision that was secured on a takedown in the last five seconds against Loyola's Richard Huggins.
Thornton made history by winning the event for the fourth straight time. The senior pinned two opponents before blanking Archbishop Spalding's Dave Murnane, 7-0, to raise his record to 10-0.
"One reason we came to this tournament was to give me the chance to win four in a row," said Thornton, a two-time state qualifier who has yet to place there.
Graham, a junior, could be the next four-time winner. He won his third straight Peery Invitational by earning Outstanding Wrestler honors for the second time. "People know what I did last year at states, and I'm trying to live up to expectations," said Graham, who is 6-0 after getting his third, fourth and fifth pins of the year.
While Lawrence remained unbeaten at 6-0 with an easy, 9-4 victory, Smith had a more difficult time moving to 4-0. His third-period escape and takedown broke a scoreless tie in an eventual, 3-2 decision over the host school's Justin Pavlischek (14-4).
Smith defeated Pavlischek, 5-1, in a dual meet last week.
Broadneck got titles from Tyler Moyer (215), a transfer this year from the state of Washington, and Mike Vakas (119). Moyer (6-0), a two-time Washington state freestyle champion and Greco-Roman runner-up, edged Northeast's previously unbeaten Joe Fold, 4-1. Fold, who stands 6 feet 4, is 6-1 with five pins.
"He's tall, so that was scary, and I heard he was pretty tough," said Moyer, who went 35-5 and won a Washington state county title last year. "We'll battle back and forth this year in the county league, so it's good to get a feel for how he wrestles."
Northeast crowned Geoff Clark-Ames (112) and Chris Dyke (152), a third-place finisher in the state meet last year who is 6-1. Clark-Ames scored a pin over Barone off a takedown 13 seconds into overtime to win after being runner-up in last year's event. Clark-Ames won his second high school tournament, but it was the first time his father, Brad, was able to watch him do it.
Glen Burnie sophomore Justin Neal (heavyweight) and Spalding's Mike Laidley (145) remained unbeaten. Neal is 9-0 after his 10-1 rout of Loyola's Maurice Rojas, and Laidley is 8-0 after his overtime-criteria victory over Bell. Loyola's Eric Keller (171) is 12-3 after his title-bout, 5-0 win over Pallotti's Tim Jennings.
Chopticon tournament
Ben Sills (125) and Brad Dreyer (135) each improved to 10-0 as they won individual titles, and Mike Long (103), Mike Taylor (119) and Tony Gibson (160) each finished second, pacing seventh-ranked Harford Tech to a third-place finish in the 16-team Chopticon tournament.
Erik King (112) and Mike Piorunski (heavyweight) were third, and Chris Bigdeli (130), Josh Taylor (140) and Matt Zaun (171) were all fourth as the Cobras placed 10 wrestlers within the top four of their weight classes.
Harford Tech totaled 202 points, just behind champion La Plata (211) and runner-up Chopticon (209).
In his title bout, Sills won, 3-2, over Northern of Calvert's Justin Canning, a fourth-place finisher in last year's 4A-3A state meet.