Stalled out
GLEN BURNIE — Generally speaking, in a wrestling dual meet a stall call is a penalty to the offending wrestler and, subsequently, the wrestler’s team. But in the 4A/3A state dual finals on Tuesday night at North County High, that wasn’t the case.
Needing a pin in the final match to clinch La Plata’s third state dual championship in the past five seasons, La Plata 135-pounder Daniel Brannon did all he could, and three times turned Reservoir’s David Kuper to his back. But after an early third-period takedown put Brannon’s lead at 13-0, Kuper was called for multiple stalls resulting in a pair of points awarded to Brannon which stopped the match at the five-minute mark due to a technical fall and thus, clinched the state championship for Reservoir.
The scoreboard showed Reservoir and La Plata tied at 31, but the Gators clinched the title on tiebreaker criteria. The teams split the matches down the middle, but Reservoir won three by fall to the Warriors’ two, thus leaving the Warriors runners-up for the second consecutive year.
La Plata won four of the first six matches to take an early 20-7 lead. Nick Romero (140) and Nick Houser (160) each secured falls, while Jaylen Jones (171) won by tech fall Mitch Keith took a 3-1 decision at 189.
But the Gators followed with a four-match run highlighted by pins by Sean Quinn (215), Josh Hamilton (285) and Josh Knox (112) to surge to a 28-20 lead.
Dylan Dull stopped the bleeding for the Warriors with a hard-fought 8-6 decision at 119, but Reservoir’s Danny Poore bounced back with a late takedown for a 6-4 win at 125. La Plata’s John Thomas then delivered an 8-2 win over James Mullens at 130, leaving the score at 31-26 in the Gators’ favor and setting up the final showdown.
The state championship was the first for Reservoir. La Plata, which won back-to-back duals titles in 2006 and 2007, has reached the state duals five consecutive years. Including Tuesday night’s loss, over the past five seasons the Warriors have suffered just three losses to Maryland teams coming by a combined total of less than 10 points.
Reservoir defeated Walt Whitman 34-28 in Tuesday’s semfinals, while La Plata upended Urbana 35-24.
Reservoir 31*, La Plata 31
140 Romero (L) pinned Greer, 1:03
145 Colabucci (R) 6-2 Zimmerman
152 M. Mullens (R) 14-4 Higgs
160 Houser (L) pinned Sims, 3:08
171 Jones (L) 19-4 Sheehy
189 Keith (L) 3-1 Zester
215 Quinn (R) pinned Keeve, 4:57
285 Hamilton (R) pinned Boarman, 3:31
103 Clinton (R) 4-0 Papanicolas
112 Knox (R) pinned Patterson, :43
119 Dull (L) 8-6 Rowell
125 Poore (R) 6-4 Jennings
130 Thomas (L) 8-2 J. Mullens
135 Brannon (L) 15-0 Kuper
*Reservoir wins by tiebreaker criteria most falls
La Plata 35, Urbana 24
135 A. Krop (U) 8-4 Brannon
140 Tatanish (U) 8-1 Romero
145 Zimmerman (L) 3-0 Abreski
152 Higgs (L) 6-3 Azat
160 Houser (L)pinned Virnelson, 1:51
171 Jones (L) 14-4 Silva
189 Keith (L) 9-7 OT Semelsburger
215 Dailey (U) pinned Keeve, 2:43
285 Boarman (LP) 12-4 Fitzgerald
103 Frank (U) 11-5 Papanicolas
112 Steinheimer (U) pinned Patterson, 2:17
119 B. Krop (U) 6-5 4OT Dull
125 Jennings (L) pinned Groveston, 1:25
130 Thomas (L) pinned Carberry, 4:45
E-mail Andy States at astates@smacsportsnet.com
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