With Owings Mills holding on to a one-point lead in the second-to-last bout against Glenelg in last night's Class 2A-1A state dual tournament, 189-pound wrestler Trent Carr provided an exclamation point for a day that was as much improbable as it was impressive for the No. 9 Eagles.
Carr's pin over Gary Keister clinched Owings Mills' fourth state dual-meet crown in a 35-34 upset of the No. 3 Gladiators.
After knocking off defending state champ Rising Sun in the semifinals earlier in the afternoon, the Eagles got standout efforts across the board to get past Glenelg.
Said Owings Mills coach Guy Pritzker: "There's no way we should have won the first match, much less the second match. These kids do not quit, and they believe in themselves. It's unbelievable that we won this state championship. They're amazing. I'm in shock. I can't believe it."
Pins from Julio Trujillo (285), Mitch Barker (145), Tony Mack (160) and a technical-fall win by Avi Friedman (103) helped put the Eagles in position, and Carr was there to complete the task. After a tight first period, he caught Keister with a double-underhook, getting the pin at the 3:12 mark of the second period.
Glenelg got a strong performance in the middle weights with pins by Brian Marcoux (125), Dan Bichner (135) and Tim Chase (152). At 171 pounds, Glenelg's Alex Hufnagel grinded out a 3-2 decision in three overtimes against Ja'Twan Murdock to pull the Gladiators within one at 29-28 before Carr's pin.
Owings Mills advanced with a 34-26 win over Rising Sun, getting pins from Kevin Dufour (112) and Cody Rosen-Stone (140) with Mack earning a tough 8-6 decision over Danny Cox in the featured 160-pound class.
Glenelg reached the finals with a 34-33 win over Southern-Garrett in the earlier semifinal.glenn.graham@baltsun.com
Class 4A-3A
The sting of host North Carroll's 33-26 loss last night to Stephen Decatur of Worcester County in the Class 4A-3A state finals smothered the joy the Panthers had felt after their upset victory in the semifinals that ended La Plata's Maryland winning streak at 52.
North Carrroll (15-2), winner of three straight dual-meet regional crowns, was seeking its first state title since 1994. Stephen Decatur won its first state title.
"Getting to the finals is good for the program," Panthers coach Dave Dodson said, "but when you get there, you want to win. Everyone is tough at this level, and everything has to go your way. We just didn't match up."
North Carroll led 17-16 after back-to-back wins by Nathan Shaffer (215) and Jason Thomen (285), but the Panthers lost four of the next five matches.
After falling behind 10-0, North Carroll rallied on three straight victories by Chris Stout (152), Jesse Coulby (160) and Dan Merrill (171).
North Carroll beat La Plata in the semifinals, 30-28. La Plata was seeking its third straight state title and was 67-1 in Maryland dual meets over the past four years.
RICK BELZ