1999 Maryland Independent School State Championships

McDonough School, Owings Mill, MD
February 19-20, 1999

DeMatha HS in Hyattsville captured the Maryland Independent Schools Championships by a 31 point margin over runner-up Archbishop Curley HS February 20th. Calvert Hall HS finished third. DeMatha hadn't been expected to do so well this year, but a key transfer, plus the development of several underclassmen and a rigerous training schedule helped the Stags to another state title.

The majority of finals matches proved to be real wars right from the beginning. At 103 lbs, Zach Johns of McDonogh took Darien Kess of Archbishop Curley into overtime at 1-1. In the overtime, Kess immediately attacked Johns with a low double, easily securing the takedown for a win.

At 112, defending state champion and one of the nation's best wrestlers, Calvert Hall senior Chris Knox had little trouble scoring a 17-4 decision over sophomore Chris Eig of Bullis.

At 119, Derek Michaloski of Calvert Hall, easily scored a major decision Kevin Nash of Boys Latin. Prior to the tournament, there was speculation that Matt Palmer, an undefeated freshman phenom from Bullis, would compete at this weight. However, Matt chose to compete at 125, where he quickly pinned Curley's Antwain Lide in the first period.

At 130, DeMatha's Nick Delonga scored a 5-1 decision over Curley's Brian Bricker in an exciting and fast paced match.

At 135, another exciting matchup (left) featured undefeated Bryan McDermott of Mt. St. Joseph against DeMatha's Kevin Gabrielson. This was a rematch of previous meetings with attacks and counters resulting in a 5-2 win for Bryan.

At 140, Curley's Shawn Calhoun powered to a tough 5-3 decision over DeMatha's Nick Gladen. Several times Gladen executed unorthodox but exciting moves only to be countered at the last second by Calhoun.

The 145 lb. finals match was one of the best all night. Two of the nations top wrestlers, Drew Robertson of DeMatha and Calvert Hall's Tony Russo went into overtime with a 1-1 tied score. Drew won the toss and you could see the smile on his face as he chose bottom and immediately escaped for the win.

Another of Maryland's outstanding wrestlers, Paul Boettcher of Curley, easily handled DeMatha's Kyle Woods for a 5-0 win at 152.

At 160, DeMatha sophomore Joey Sargent faced tough Rob Arnold of Boys Latin in a match that could have gone either way. In the third period Rob was behind 7-6 and staged an intense series of moves to score. Joey managed to hold off the attack and capture the title. The picture is of Sargent in his QF match against Ireland (Calvert Hall).

At 171, in a match many were waiting to see, #2 nationally ranked Wes Cummings of DeMatha had little trouble defeating Joe Rosenbaum of McDonogh. This loss broke Rosenbaum's streak of 35 wins. Wes has signed with Cal-State Bakersfield for next year.

At 189, another nationally ranked senior, Gilman's Damien Davis, continually pressured Archbishop Spalding's Jason Heffernan to gain a 12-6 decision.

Another exciting finish featured Gilman's Mike Faust, defending champion and one of the nation's best against DeMatha's Mark Hayes. Mark is a big heavyweight and kept the smaller Faust at bay with a 3-3 tie going into overtime. Mike is tough to hold on to and when he got the toss he chose down, quickly turning inside and excaping from the bigger wrestler for the victory.

Top 6 Team Scores
1.  DeMatha 272.5
2.  Curley 242.5
3.  Calvert Hall 171.5
4.  Gilman 160
5.  McDonogh 154.5
6.  Mt St Joe 141.5

Individual Results
103
1st Kess (Curley) dec. Johns (McDonogh) 3-1 OT
3rd Meltzer (Bullis) dec. Palumbo (AACS) 4-2 OT
5th Natterman (Loyola) tech fall Tucker (Calvert Hall) 18-2

112
1st Knox (Calvert Hall) maj. dec. Eig (Bullis) 17-4
3rd Armstong (DeMatha) dec. Yoon (Gilman) 5-3
5th Eder (McDonogh) maj. dec. Winter (MSJ) 11-0

119
1st Michaloski (Calvert Hall) mj Nash (Boys Latin) 12-4
3rd Kirhagis (Curley) pinned Mead (Good Counsel) 
5th Vogler (Loyola) pinned Frazier (McNamara)

125
1st Palmer (Bullis) pinned Lide (Curley) 1:27
3rd Lanciotti (MSJ) won by injury default over Chester (McDonogh)
5th King (Calvert Hall) maj. dec. J. Smith (Pallotti) 17-3

130
1st DeLonga (DeMatha) dec. Bricker (Curley) 5-1
3rd Bowie (Gilman) dec. Mryncza (Calvert Hall) 8-3
5th Feinberg (Bullis) dec. Kocay (MSJ) 5-4

135
1st McDermott (MSJ) dec. Gabrielson (DeMatha) 5-2
3rd Tom Boettcher (Curley) pinned Rovito (Loyola)
5th Nelson (Gilman) dec. Carballo (Pallotti) 6-2

140
1st Calhoun (Curley) dec. Gladen (DeMatha) 5-3
3rd Miller (McDonogh) dec. Haynes (Good Counsel) 4-1
5th Roose (St. Paul's) dec. Owens (Boys Latin)

145
1st Robertson (DeM) dec. Russo (Calvert Hall) 2-1 double OT
3rd P. Kirhagis (Curley) dec. Henderson (St. Paul's) 
5th Dorsey (Bowling Brook) dec. Hollman (McDonogh) 8-6

152
1st Paul Boettcher (Curley) dec. Woods (DeMatha) 5-0
3rd Webb (Gilman) dec. Moore (MSJ) 3-2 double OT
5th Zuk (McDonogh) dec. Skinner (Bowling Brook) 15-8

160
1st Sargent (DeMatha) dec. Arnold (Boys Latin) 7-6
3rd Jake Keyes (MSJ) dec. M Charvat (Curley) 3-1
5th Ireland (Calvert Hall) pinned Penno (St. Paul's) 2:41

171
1st Cummings (DeMatha) dec. Rosenbaum (McDonogh) 7-1
3rd McLain (W. Nottingham) maj. dec. Curran (Curley) 13-3
5th Cerand (Bullis) dec. Lewis (Gilman) 3-1 OT

189
1st Davis (Gilman) dec. Heffernan (Spalding) 12-6
3rd Ficker (DeMatha) pinned Petrash (Landon) 
5th Terry (Bowling Brook) pinned Matthews (McNamara) 4:05

HWT
1st Faust dec. Hayes 4-3 double OT
3rd Alevrogiannis (St. Paul's) dec. Day (McDonogh) 3-0
5th Price (Bowling Brook) pinned Greggs (John Carroll) :39