Owings Mills sophomore Eric Vinores was unbeaten in nine bouts entering yesterday's 16-team Arundel tournament. But even with that kind of success, the first-year varsity wrestler said he wasn't quite sure what to expect.
"We wanted to beat River Hill and Chesapeake in the team scoring because they're ranked ahead of us," Vinores said. "I personally was expecting to win, but not to pin everyone."
But that's exactly what Vinores did, raising his record to 11-0 with his sixth, seventh and eighth falls of the year, as the fifth-ranked Eagles won a tournament that included defending 4A-3A state tournament champ Chesapeake-Anne Arundel, defending private schools champ Curley and River Hill and North Carroll - defending champs in Howard and Carroll counties, respectively.
Vinores, who overcame a 4-2 deficit against Curley's Brett Harrison in his last match, was joined on the victory podium by teammate Eric Fishel (171), who moved to 12-0 with two pins and a 9-0 major decision over Centennial's Tony Aiello.
Jason Jacovsky (103), Rob Cooper (119), Sasha Binder (130) and Mike Kessler (145) were runners-up for the Eagles.
Despite only having three seniors from last year's 2A-1A state duals champ, Owings Mills outdistanced Chesapeake, 229-183.5, although the Cougars crowned Corey Bowers (119), Steve Yaruta (125) and Chad LaPlanche (189).
Jacovsky (11-1), ranked No. 2, decisioned Arundel's previously unbeaten Justin Bowser in the semifinals. But Jacovsky lost his title bout, 5-3, on an overtime takedown to third-ranked Vince Cina (10-0, eight pins). Cina and Nick Shevland (140) won titles for fourth-ranked River Hill (third place).
"The takedown was off a front headlock. It was a throw-by and I just spun behind," said Cina. "I'd never wrestled him before, but we trained together on the national team two years ago."
Shevland, ranked sixth, improved to 13-0 with a semifinal victory over Curley's Steve Miller, and a 5-2 championship win over North Carroll's Seth Knights (9-1) in the finals.
Third-ranked Cooper entered his title bout 11-0, including four pins and three technical falls. But Cooper met his match in top-ranked Bowers (5-0), who led 8-1 before pinning Cooper with 31 seconds left. Bowers earned Outstanding Lowerweight honors.
"This was about getting started, getting on a roll. I came out in the finals and felt great," said Bowers, a third-place finisher at states last year who nailed his fourth pin of the year. "I've been wrestling like this all year, but it's surprising to do it against a kid as good as Cooper."
At 125, Centennial's fifth-ranked Dominic Ventura (9-1) handed Old Mill's third-ranked regional champ, Doug West, only his second loss, 5-3, in overtime of their semifinal. But Ventura lost his title bout, 4-3, to Chesapeake's No. 2 state runner-up, Yaruta (3-1), who escaped with 15 seconds left. Yaruta's teammate, LaPlanche, pinned Meade's Patrick Ricketts in 1:30 to improve to 5-0.
Kessler (10-1) nailed his seventh pin in 1:10 over Chesapeake's Chris Grove, but Centennial's No. 2 Mark Nakasone (10-0) simply was too strong for Kessler, grinding out a 7-3 victory. Nakasone earned Outstanding Upperweight honors, and his twin brother, state champ Dave (10-0), took just 70 seconds to win his title bout over Cape Henlopen's Bobby Hopkins.
At heavyweight, Meade's Alec Eaton (10-2) scored a double-overtime semifinal victory over Glen Burnie's top-ranked, previously unbeaten Justin Neal. But Eaton lost his title bout, 3-0, to Old Mill's William Bell (11-1).
South Carroll's Andrew Winfield (160) raised his record to 10-0, scoring two near-fall points in the final seconds of regulation for a 4-2 decision over North Carroll's Rob Pearre (10-1). Pearre, who never had lost to Winfield, reached the final after a buzzer-beating reversal for a 13-11 upset of Chesapeake's third-ranked James Woodland.
"The last time I wrestled him, he beat me in double overtime," said Winfield. "We'll see each other like five more times. To beat him was really good."
Curley's top-ranked Mark Frey (130) remained unbeaten in the Arundel gymnasium, winning his fourth straight tournament title, 14-6, over Arundel's Mike Handleman.
Frey won his semifinal, 9-0, handing Old Mill's Josh Baynham his first loss.
Arundel's Richard Mazzuca (215) pinned Chesapeake's previously unbeaten Pat McLanigan in 2:53.