With determined Mount St. Joseph providing early resistance, the top-ranked McDonogh wrestling team turned to two of its senior captains to restore order last night.
After Ben Levin claimed a 15-5 major decision over Benny Schaufele at 130 pounds, the Eagles' Josh Fitch followed with a match-turning second-period pin over Danny Orem at 135 pounds.
Just like that, a four-point deficit was a six-point lead, and the Eagles won the next four bouts on their way to a solid 39-18 home win over the No. 5 Gaels that clinched their third straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship.
In a span of four days, the Eagles (19-3, 9-0 league) beat their two closest rivals, handling Archbishop Curley, 47-17, on Tuesday before rolling past the Gaels (13-10, 7-2) in front of a big crowd on Senior Night.
With the match tied at 15 after Levin's major, Orem and Fitch went scoreless in the first period before Fitch took advantage of an opening in the second. After getting an early escape and takedown, Fitch scored the pin at the 3:03 mark to give the Eagles a 21-15 lead.
"I was a little disappointed when the first period went 0-0, so the second period I really just wanted to open up. I knew if I could get a takedown, once I got on top I could really put some punishment in, so that's what I did and turned out well," Fitch said. "It's very special for the team [to win the MIAA regular-season title]. As a freshman, we were looking to beat St. Joe and got smacked like 51-16 or something. It was embarrassing, and I felt horrible, so it's nice to be on the other side of that. For the past three years, we've really stepped it up, and we're working as hard as ever, and it's really paying off.
Albert Woody (140 pounds), Curtis Holmes (145) and Shane Milam (152) were each able grind out decisions to push the Eagles' lead to 30-15 before another senior captain Kramer Whitelaw (160) clinched the match with a decisive 8-2 decision over Edwin Jackson.
Helping the Gaels' cause early was Karl Green (285), who got a 2-1 upset decision over Lane Clelland. The Gaels also got a pin from Frank Goodwin at 112, and then Gino Pollack (125) edged Josh Johns, 11-10, with three back points coming in the final seconds.
glenn.graham@baltsun.com