It was a tough day on the mat for all but one — Mount St. Joseph senior Tyler Rill — of the local competitors at the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association wrestling tournament on the Gaels' home mats Feb. 11.
Rill earned his second straight MIAA title after finishing second as a sophomore.
His 9-6 victory over McDonogh's Tyler Patrick earned improved the state's top-ranked 170-pound wrestler's record to 26-3.
Patrick is ranked fifth by the Maryland State Ranking Association.
Mount St. Joe's Seth Rowell was the only other Gael to reach a final, although he lost to McDonogh's Xavi Ramos at 132 pounds.
"It's a little different from my freshman and sophomore years when I was here and we would normally get six guys in the finals," Rill said. "I think we are rebuilding and we will be back up to where St. Joe used to be."
St. Joe, which has the most MIAA titles (seven) since the league switched from the Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) in 1996, last won in 2010 with six finalists.
This year, the Gaels were seventh, trailing champion McDonogh (228.5 points). Archbishop Spalding (192.5), St. Paul's (186.5), Archbishop Curley (158), John Carroll (148.5) and Loyola Blakefield (145).
Catonsville's David Mohler (36-2), a Loyola junior, finished second for the third year in a row, falling to St. Paul's Jack Mutchnik (41-9) for the second straight year by a point on the Crusader sophomore's reversal with 14 seconds left for a 3-2 triumph.
"We have wrestled so many times and we've been friends for a while and every match is like this," said second-ranked Mutchnik who lost to third-ranked Mohler last year at the Maryland State Independent tournament. "It's a heart attack for the parents and everything."
The pair of 120-pounders are on a collision course for another showdown at the Maryland Independent Schools state tournament at McDonogh, Feb. 17 and 18.
Mount St. Joseph results
Champion: Tyler Rill (170 pounds).
2nd place: Seth Rowell (182).
3rd place: Dan Hawkins (195).
5th place: Malik Woody (113), Shane Lowman (285).
6th place: Dave Gurski (220).