Archbishop Curley's Tyler Scarinzi scored a 7-5 victory over Hammond's Class 2A-1A state champion Devon Gillett in a matchup of two of Maryland's best 119-pound wrestlers during Curley's 53-17 win in a dual meet last night at Mount St. Joseph.
A tournament runner-up in last year's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association, Scarinzi led 5-0 early after switching his double-leg attempt to a lateral drop. Scarinzi's move, which he started 20 seconds before the end of the first period, nearly pinned Gillett on his back as time elapsed in the first period.
"I was able to build a big lead," said Scarinzi, who is 15-1. "But he kept coming after me."
Gillett was within 6-5 after scoring consecutive third-period, single-leg takedowns but couldn't score again after letting up Scarinzi in an attempt to tie the match with a late takedown.
"I was on my back with seven seconds left in the first period - the longest seven seconds of my life," said Gillett, a senior who slipped to 12-1. "If only I didn't give up the big move."
The night featured private school powers Mount St. Joseph (3-0) and Archbishop Curley (7-0), ranked Nos. 2 and 3 in The Sun, against 10-time Class 4A-3A state champion Old Mill (1-2) and five-time 2A-1A champion Hammond (8-5), ranked Nos. 4 and 5.
Against Hammond, Curley's Mitch Fenton (130 pounds), Mike Kulik (160), Andrew Sellers (171), Sam Burdych (189), Josh Boler (215) and Tony Powell (275) had pins, the last two in 39 and 24 seconds, respectively.
Curley's Bubba Corbett (112) and Travis Davis (152) earned major decisions, and Steve Kain (125) had a 26-second pin.
Mount St. Joseph beat Old Mill, 33-23, and Hammond, 54-13, getting two pins each from two-time private schools champion Jake Bohn (189), along with two wins each from Frank Goodwin (103), Austen Clouse (112), Benny Schaufele (130), Dallas Brown (171) and Jake Selba (215).
Old Mill state champion Greg Saumenig (125) scored his 100th career victory, 13-5, over Mount St. Joseph's Danny Orem; teammate Justin Faithful (275) had a pin; and Nic Box (160) rose from his regular 152-pound class for an 8-7 victory over MIAA champ Chris King of Mount St. Joseph.
Hammond's double winners were Howard County champion Zach Halper (135) and three-time state champ Vince Taweel (140).
lem.satterfield@baltsun.com