Having placed fourth and second at the past two 4A-3A state wrestling tournaments, Perry Hall's Jimmy Van Daniker knows he's running out of time in his quest to win a state title.
And the top-ranked senior at 112 pounds wastes little of the precious commodity on the mat.
"I'm more aggressive, trying to put people away every match," said Van Daniker, who has a perfect grade point average (4.0), mat record this season (20-0) and attendance record. "This year, I don't want to mess around."
The two-time defending region champ took only 31 seconds to nail down his 16th pin and also had a 14-2 major decision in yesterday's tri-meet with visiting 13th-ranked Calvert Hall and Annapolis Area Christian School. Only two opponents have gone the full six minutes with Van Daniker, a two-time Baltimore County runner-up and former three-time junior league state champ.
"I feel I've reached my peak for high school," he said. "I think I have a shot [at a state title]."
Calvert Hall won the tri-meet, downing Perry Hall, 40-31, and routing Annapolis Area Christian, 55-13, for its ninth and 10th straight dual-meet victories in the past six days. Pins by Mick Soule (189 pounds), Rhett Myers (215) and Aaron Janowski (heavyweight) lifted the Cardinals (12-1-1) from a nine-point deficit against Perry Hall (8-6).
Soule, Myers (26-3) and Janowski were double-winners for the Cardinals, as were Tommy Montanye (103), Colin Goldsmith (119), Matt Cunningham (125) and Brendan Smith (135).
Montanye (26-5) had a first-period pin and a 10-2 decision over Pat McMahon (21-4) of Annapolis Area Christian (6-7-1). Goldsmith, a sophomore second-year wrestler, scored his eighth straight pin and had a 8-0 decision.
"We kind of let teams hang around, but when we catch them in the end, it's over. It's done," said Goldsmith. "This match was amazing. This season's been beautiful."
Joining Van Daniker in winning twice were Perry Hall's Nick Ramsel (135), Matt Kahl (130), Steve Zaicko (145), Eric Miller (160) and the Bonincontri twins, Carlo (152) and Nick (171).
Ramsel (19-1), a defending county champ, led, 14-2, when he pinned Calvert Hall's Andrew O'Brien. Ramsel also beat Annapolis Area's Justin Pavlischeck, 8-2.
Kahl (21-1) had two hard-earned victories, escaping five seconds into the second overtime period of his 5-4 victory over Annapolis Area Christian's fifth-ranked T.J. McMahon (17-3), and edging Calvert Hall's Brad Gabrish, 9-6. Kahl's only setback was a 6-4 loss to third-ranked state runner-up Chris Clark of Eastern Tech.
With a forfeit and a pin, Johnny Miller (145) was Annapolis' only double-winner.