A number of wrestlers at John Carroll came to the school with no wrestling experience, but they've learned quickly.
The Patriots set a school record for victories in last year's 40-8 season, and were strong again this season with a 35-5 mark heading into this weekend's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament at Mount St. Joseph.
John Carroll coach Keith Watson is finishing his sixth year at John Carroll, which has gone 138-38-1 with five winning seasons under Watson.
He said he is proud of the large amount of individual work that this year's team had done to try to improve.
"That [extra] work always pays off," Watson said. "I really expect that we're going to be better next year."
The Patriots have a solid lineup, led by Ethan Reese. The junior recently went over 100 victories for his career and is 37-3 this year at 189 pounds.
Sophomore Mathew Miller (152, 32-7) is the other John Carroll starter with more than 30 victories. Reese and Miller began wrestling back in elementary school.
UCBAC championships -- The times, dates and locations have been set for the UCBAC championships later this month. The title games for girls and boys basketball are going to be played on Feb. 25 at Harford Community College at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. Regular-season play ends by Friday for the girls and six days later for boys. The Aberdeen boys have clinched the Chesapeake Division title and will probably play either Elkton (8-1 as of Thursday) or Havre de Grace (5-2) for the conference title. Fallston appears likely to win the Chesapeake Division for the girls, holding a three-game lead. The Cougars will meet Edgewood (10-0 in the Susquehanna Division) for the championship. These championship games feature the two regular-season division winners and have no bearing upon the regional and state tournaments. The wrestling tournament already was set for Feb. 22-23 at Aberdeen. The two-day competition should have the final round beginning about 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 23. In regular-season competition, Aberdeen won the Susquehanna Division title. Rising Sun beat Bel Air last week and locked up the Chesapeake Division crown. The state championships for indoor track, which isn't an official UCBAC sport, are set for Feb. 18-19 at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex in Landover.
Milestones -- John Carroll forward Isaiah Philmore scored the 1,000th point of his career last weekend in a 71-65 victory over Aberdeen. Philmore reached the mark on a layup late in the third quarter and finished with 27 points. The junior was honored with a ceremony after the game. ... Devin Ewing of Harford Tech has been closing in on 1,000. He needed 27 points heading into last week. ... The Fallston girls won their fourth straight Harford County swimming title at the annual meet Wednesday night at Magnolia Middle School.
C.M. Wright cheerleading -- C.M. Wright won last week's county cheerleading competition. Fallston finished in second place, while Edgewood took third. The top two teams advance to regional competition, scheduled for Tuesday in Carroll County.
Jeff Seidel