Frederick Douglass Youth Open
Upper Marlboro, MD
December 20, 1997

The big local teams were all there: Olney, Calvert, Arden Attackers, Northern, and of course the SMWC All-Stars, the Capital Area Wrestling League's defending 1997 champions. PG County's first local youth event of the season drew about 200 wrestlers. Youth wrestling is growing throughout Maryland, with some of the best around from the southern part of the state.

This tournament was a first year event for Douglass, but based on the upsurge of new young wrestlers in the area won't be the last. While most of the areas top wrestlers were entered, some of the county's large beginner level clubs like Bowie and Upper Marlboro, which practices at Douglass, weren't able to generate much support for the event. Likely these organizations will also develop talented youth wrestlers in the future, which could lead to an even stronger local presence next season.

Proving once again that you can't beat them in their own backyard, the Gwynn Park HS based SMWC All-Stars finished with five individual champions and 29 team points, enough for first place honors. Runner-up Calvert, with a surprisingly strong showing, finished with 27 points, Arden Attackers finished in third with 21 points, and always tough Olney finished in fourth with 16 points. Outstanding championship performances for SMWC came from Steve Sargent, younger brother of DeMatha wrestler Joey Sargent, Mike Rowe, Dirk Hurrin, Ryan Forman, and Ryan Lowder.

Another interesting tournament note. The tournament used Madison pairing to eliminate the need for wrestlers to cut weight. Although there were around 200 entries, all wrestlers had full brackets, there were no pairing complaints, seeding was used, and the tournament ended about 2:30 pm.

Team Scoring (Top 5 places)

SMWC All-Stars		29
Calvert			27
Arden Attackers		21
Olney Mat Club		16
Northern Youth		12

Individual Results (Madison Weight Classes)

B 42

1.  Cottin Moomau		Unatttached 
2.  Quinten Leadbetter		Northern
3.  Hunter Rowe			Northern
4.  Wes Jones			SMWC

B 50

1.  Michael Maciaha		Attackers
2.  Kevin Bohlman		Attackers
3.  Zeke Saukel			Northern
4.  C.J. Ganley			Calvert

B-M 56

1.  Steve Sargent		SMWC
2.  Ryan Buff			Calvert
3.  Collin Leadbeter		Northern
4.  Greg Saumenig		Attackers

M-J 66

1.  Michael Rowe		SMWC
2.  Joe Smith			Olney
3.  Ben Ganley			Calvert
4.  Mathew Eckert		Attackers

M-J 72

1.  Jeff Frazier		Calvert
2.  Brandon Waters		Attackers
3.  Chris Vocker		Attackers
4.  Mike Vocker			Attackers

M 79

1.  Dirk Hurrin			SMWC
2.  Matt Jones			SMWC
3.  Stas Nogay			Olney
4.  Ben Anderson		Northern

J-I 79

1.  Tim Bohlman			Attackers
2.  Lee Trohanis		SMWC
3.  Joshua Baynham		Attackers
4.  James Woodland		Attackers

J 89

1.  Ryan Scherer		Olney
2.  Billy Smith			Olney
3.  Stephen Jollis		Olney
4.  Randy Oates			Northern

M-J 103

1.  Matt Bancroft		Calvert
2.  Phil Riley			Calvert
3.  Kyle Richards		Olney
4.  Mark Degarmo		Olney

I 103

1.  Max Buff			Calvert
2.  Ganett Rolen		Olney
3.  Matt Bancroft		Calvert
4.  Chris Booker		Olney

J-I 118

1.  Ryan Lowder			SMWC
2.  Jason Kiessling		SMWC
3.  Michael Vachon		SMWC
4.  Walt Hoffman		SMWC

J-I130

1.  Ryan Forman			SMWC
2.  SanVictorino		Attackers
3.  Brent Jones			SMWC
4.  Adam Butler			Olney

I 150

1.  Benjamin Cefaratti		Attackers
2.  Chris Laurence		Olney
3.  Jesse Keyes			SMWC
4.  Joshua Tiralla		Calvert