St. Paul's coach Jay Braunstein had to be thrilled with his team's performance Wednesday night.
Working with a depleted squad, host St. Paul's topped Mount St. Joseph, 39-33, and Gilman, 48-30, in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference tri-meet.
The Crusaders also beat Malvern Prep, of, Pennsylvania, 45-30.
Gilman and Mount St. Joseph elected not to wrestle Malvern.
The Crusaders had their share of problems, but none was bigger than the gaping holes in the lineup.
They were missing senior defending Independent Schools State Tournament champion Peter Galli (152 pounds) for "disciplinary reasons" and seniors Hunter Lee (285), A.J. Koi Koi (220) and Ryan Gary (182) and junior Greg Louzan (170) because of injuries.
"It's the happiest I have been in 27 years of coaching," Braunstein said. "Everything leading up to this match was a recipe for disaster. We were missing five guys, had finals exams this week and a miscommunication about weight allowances. All of our guys had to lose two pounds. But these guys really rose to the occasion."
St. Paul's had to fight back from an early deficit against Mount St. Joseph.
The Gaels jumped out to a 24-6 lead thanks to 182-pounder Daniel Hawkins' pin of Roger Boyce (182) in 1:40 and Matt Lucas (195), Tyler Rill (170) and Shane Lowman (285) receiving forfeits.
But St. Paul's prevailed in seven of the final nine matches to upend Mount St. Joseph as the Crusaders received pins from Griffin Welsh (120), Eric Friedman (126, 11-3) and Billy Krop (132).
With his team clinging to 36-33 lead, St. Paul's two-time defending state champion senior Brad Mutchnik (160, 10-2) finished off the Gaels by scoring an 8-2 decision over Kyle Berlin.
"I was very confident in Brad, but I was surprised he got taken down," Braunstein said. "He hadn't been taken down all year."
The Crusaders also beat Gilman, but Mount St. Joseph had an easier time with the Greyhounds.
Mount St. Joseph led 17-12, then won six straight matches to take control. Berlin and Rill highlighted the stretch with back-to-back pins.