(Check back for bios, see videos below)
Wrestler of The Year: Josh Asper, Hereford
Josh Asper — The senior’s most important accomplishments can be measured by his dominance at the four state tournaments in which he competed.
There, Asper amassed a record of 16-0 that was comprised of four pins, nine decisions, two major decisions and one technical fall.
Asper’s four different state titles, which allowed him to join Aberdeen’s Matt Slutzky and Owings Mills’ Steve Kessler as Maryland’s lone quadruple winner, were won in the Class 2A-1A at 135, 145 and 160 pounds, and this year’s in Class 4A-3A state championship at 171 pounds.
Asper defeated past or future state champions seven times during the course of his career, and vaquished past of former state runners-up six times.
Asper also was a linebacker on the Bulls’ Class 3A state runner-up football team, being the top tackler on that squad.
Josh Asper, at a glance:
Record in 2007-08:
37-0
Pins: 29
Technical falls:
Three
Career record: 151-7
Winning streak:
87
Last loss: By 8-7 against Hammond’s Vince Taweel, Feb. 14,
2006
Baltimore County titles: Three
Regional titles:
Three
State titles: Four
State champions beaten:
Tyler McLeod, North Carroll; Justin Ratliff, Southern Garrett (twice); Zac
Stavish, South Carroll; Tyler Mullen, South Carroll, Brock Buddesheim, Sussex Central, Del., Owen Smith, Calvert Hall.
State
runners-up beaten: Chad Cotterman, Walkersville; Latra Collick, Stephen
Decatur (twice); Matt Kahl, Harford Tech; Tyler Mullen, South
Carroll, Justin Bowersox, Thomas Stone.
College committment: University of Maryland, where he
plans to wrestle
Josh Asper, match-by-match, at Mount Mat
Madness Invitational
Year: 2008
Grade: 12th Weight:
171
Opponent – Result
Dru Keyser, Boys’ Latin – won,
fall, 0:55
Tim Wood, Archbishop Curley – won, fall, 1:47
Ryan Hertz, Old Mill – won, fall, 0:55
A.J. Fernow,
Mountain View, Va. – won, decision, 4-1
Brock Buddesheim, Sussex
Central – won, decision, 3-0
Josh Asper, match-by-match, at
states:
Year: 2005 Grade: 9th
Weight: 135
Opponent –
Result
Justin Ratliff, Southern Garrett – won, decision,
8-4
Latra Collick, Stephen Decatur – won, decision,
5-4
Jeffers Frazier, Calvert – won, major decision,
13-4
Chad Cotterman, Walkersville – won, decision,
6-2
Season-ending record: 39-5
Year:
2006 Grade: 10th Weight:
145
Opponent – Result
Brandon Knight, Smithsburg –
won, fall, 1:18
Jake Phillips, Queen Anne’s – won, technical fall, 16-1
Roger Torres, Poolesville – won, decision, 13-7
Matt Kahl,
Harford Tech – won, decision, 5-4, 3OT
Season-ending record: 36-2
Year: 2007 Grade: 11th
Weight: 160
Opponent –
Result
Larry Friend, North Dorchester – won, fall,
3:02
Zac Stavish, South Carroll – won, major decision,
9-1
Danny Cox, Rising Sun – won, decision, 3-0
Justin Ratliff,
Southern Garrett – won, decision, 6-2
Season-ending record:
39-0
Year: 2008 Grade: 12th
Weight: 171
Opponent –
Result
Tyler Breitschwerdt, Reservoir – won, fall,
1:26
Taylor Leighton, Walt Whitman – won, fall, 1:46
Zach
O’Keeffe, Chesapeake-Anne Arundel- won, decision, 5-0
Justin Bowersox,
Thomas Stone – won, decision, 5-1
Season-ending record:
37-0
Co-Coaches of the Year: Guy Pritzker, Owings Mills; Damon Royster, Milford Mill.
Guy Pritzker — Entering the Class 2A-1A state duals final four, there were few who expected Owings Mills to emerge as champion.
The Eagles were ranked 20th in the DigitalSports-Maryland State Wrestling Association Top 20, below 17th-ranked, defending Class 2A-1A state duals and tournament champ, Rising Sun of Cecil County, as well as then No. 4 Glenelg of Howard County and then No. 2 Southern Garrett County.
But the Eagles overcame the odds, not only in defeating Rising Sun, 34-26, in the semifinal, but in vanquishing heavily favored Glenelg, 35-34, in the championship match.
The Eagles earned Pritzker’s fourth state duals crown
since 2004, when Owings Mills completed a state record run of three straight
championship seasons coupled with their dual meet title-winning efforts of 2002
and 2003.
Coupled with his seven Class 2A-1A state tournament crowns, Pritzker, in his 26th-year, has a state-leading total of 11 combined championships.
The win improved the Eagles to
18-0, and earned Pritzker his 395th career dual meet victory against only 54
losses.
Pritzker said his Eagles won the crown in honor of one of
his former wrestlers, Steve Kellner, who died “right before the season.”
“We’ve
dedicated the season to Steve Kellner,” Pritzker said. “And I looked up
into the heavens, and I said, ‘Steve, I know you’re up there, so would
you please help us today?”
A 1997 graduate of Owings Mills, Kellner, said Pritzker, “wrestled for me since he was 9 years old.”
“Steve
was also an assistant JV coach for me, and also helped me with my
junior league teams,” said Pritzker, who has remained close with
Kellner’s parents, Joe and Rhonda Kellner. “I really feel like Steve
Kellner was with us in spirit tonight.”
At the Class 2A-1A state tournament, the Eagles’ 103-pound Avi Friedman dominated with three pins and a decision to end his year at 37-0 and to become the 26th wrestler to win a state title under Pritzker — the most by any active coach.
Also at the state tournament, Tony Mack (160) was a runner-up, and both Cody Rosen-Stone (140) and junior Julio Trujillo (285) placed third, the latter, after pinning last year’s Class 2A-1A state runner-up, Sean Sisler of Southern Garrett County.
Coach: Guy Pritzker, 26th season, 395-54 career
Individual State Champions: 26, most by any active coach.
County Division titles: 15
County Tournament titles: 10
Regional Tournament titles: 14
Regional Dual titles: 11
State Tournament titles: 7
State Dual titles: 4
Class 2A-1A state final
Owings Mills 35, Glenelg 34
Started at 285
285- Julio Trujillio
(O) p. Derek Patrick, 2:13 (6-0, O)
103- Avi Friedman (O) tf. Nick
Cafferty, 23-7 (11-0, O)
112- Kevin Dufour (O) d. Zach Gerber, 6-0 (14-0,
O)
119- Brendan Conway (G) mj. Brian Farbman, 11-2 (14-4, O)
125-
Brian Marcoux (G) p. Dan Marcus, 2:32 (14-10, O)
130- Brad Mutchnik (O)
d. Craig Brindza, 7-2 (17-10, O)
135- Danny Bichner (G) p. Luke Harris,
1:08 (17-16, O)
140- Chris Stinnett (G) d. Cody Rosen-Stone, 6-2 (19-17,
G)
145- Mitch Barker (O) p. Mike O’Leary, 3:49 (23-19, O)
152- Tim
Chase (G) p. Dan Pesach, 3:00 (25-23, G)
160- Tony Mack (O) p. David
Pruett, 2:39 (29-25, O)
171- Alex Hufnagel (G) d. Ja’twaan Murdock, 3-2,
OT (29-28, O)
189- Trent Carr (O) p. Gary Keister, 3:12 (35-28,
O)
215- Zach Cross (G) by forfeit (35-34, O)
Class
2A-1A state semifinal
No. 20 Owings Mills 34, No. 17
Rising Sun 26
Started at 215
215- Devon Long
(O) by forfeit (6-0, O)
285- Julio Trujillio (O) d. Andrew Baranksi, 4-0
(9-0, O)
103- Avi Friedman (O) mj. Adam Heffelfinger, 14-0 (13-0,
O)
112- Kevin Dufour (O) p. Ethan Ulrich, 4:18 (19-0, O)
119-
Richard Christie (R) p. Justin Greenberg, 1:44 (19-6, O)
125- Jason
Robinson (R) mj. Brian Farbman, 13-4 (19-10, O)
130- Brad Mutchnik (O) d.
Shawn Barney, 4-0 (22-10, O)
135- Austin Glessner (R) d. Luke Harris, 7-4
(22-13, O)
140- Cody Rosen-Stone (O) p. Sam Guethler, 3:44 (28-13,
O)
145- Matt Jackson (R) p. Jordan Trujillio, 1:41 (28-19, O)
152-
Kyle Barney (R) mj. Mitch Barker, 12-4 (28-23, O)
160- Tony Mack (O) d.
Danny Cox, 8-6 (31-23, O)
171- Ja’Twaan Murdock (O) d. Jesse McGee, 11-7
(34-23, O)
189- Justin Gainey (R) d. Trent Carr, 6-1
Damon Royster — Despite losing former assistant coach, Craig Rollins, to a head-coaching position at Aberdeen High in Harford County, Royster was able to rebound with a formidable team.
Royster guided the Millers to the program’s most successful season in years, earning the school’s first Baltimore County Tournament title since 1964.
And Royster’s Millers did so by not only dethroning two-time champion and third-place finishing Hereford, but also, by vanquishing runner-up Owings Mills, which was coming off of its Class 2A-1A state dual meet championship victory.
Milford Mill’s Adeleke Ibironke won a 130-pound clash of returning fourth-place
state finishers, 14-11, over Eastern Tech’s Dustin Peddicord, earning his second
straight county title in the process.
(135), edged previously once-beaten Tommy LaVey of Overlea, 5-4, to win his
county title as White and Ibironke were among 10 Miford Mill wrestlers who
finished in the top four of their respective weight classes.
(215) and Charles Blue (171) finished second — the latter for the second
straight year — Darian Allen (103) and Peter Sweet (189) were third, and Lance
Coles (112), Brandon Ragin (152) and Ryan Smith (160) were all fourth as
Millers (211.5 points) dethroned third-place Hereford (194), and out-distanced
runner-up Owings Mills (200).
Ragin and the Sweet twins were
all fourth.
At states, Ibironke was third, and Allen, fourth.
The first-team
Name, School, year, weight
Avi Friedman, Owings Mills, Jr., 103
Ben Baker, Pikesville, Jr, 112
Earl Eppard, Lansdowne, Jr., 119
Deonte Carter, Woodlawn, Jr., 125
Adeleke Ibironke, Milford Mill, Sr., 130
Ar-Rashid White, Milford Mill, Jr., 135
Cody Rosen-Stone, Owings Mills, Sr., 140
Jeremy Keil, Hereford, Sr., 145
Josh Mann, New Town, Sr., 152
Josh Ornstein, Lansdowne, Sr., 152
Tony Mack, Owings Mills, Sr., 160
Josh Asper, Hereford, Sr., 171
Ryan Pittillo, Perry Hall, Sr., 189
Tyler Weedon, Catonsville, Fr., 189
Andrew Ewers, Parkville, Sr., 215
Julio Trujillo, Owings Mills, Jr., 285
The second-team
Name, School, year, weight
Matt Swiger, Hereford, Fr., 103
Darian Allen, Milford Mill, Sr., 103
Philipe Walker, Woodlawn, Jr., 103
Kevin Dufour, Owings Mills, Jr., 112
Britain Sannicolas, Dundalk, Jr., 119
Terrance Owens, Milford Mill, Sr., 125
Dustin Peddicord, Eastern Tech, Sr., 130
Tommy LaVey, Overlea, Sr., 135
David Fouts, Hereford, Jr., 140
Kyron McCoy, Catonsville, Sr., 145
Steve Boyce, Catonsville, Jr., 152
Hector Montoya, Kenwood, Sr., 160
Ryan Smith, Milford Mill, Sr., 160
Charles Blue, Milford Mill, Sr., 171
Peter Sweet, Milford Mill, Sr., 189
Nick Jensen, Pikesville, Sr., 215
Patrick Sweet, Milford Mill, Sr., 215
Ted Kiegler, Dulaney, Sr., 285
Processing your request, Please wait....
