Talent pool runs deep in eastern part of the county

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006

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by Dan Greenberg

Staff Writer

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laurie dewitt⁄the gazette

William Basques will be a key wrestler for Einstein this season, as the Titans try to compete in a tough Division I.

Strengthened by the three schools in the Northeast Consortium, which went a combined 34-8 a year ago, as well as perennial powerhouse Sherwood, several wrestling teams are poised to make Division I very competitive this winter.

The three consortium teams — Paint Branch, Blake and Springbrook — each posted double-digit victory totals last season. Additionally, each fielded individual regional champions on their rosters.

For Paint Branch, which finished 12-2 a year ago, several accomplished wrestlers will return for a team with a legitimate shot at its first state championship since 2001. Despite losing Brent Stewart — who went 38-1 a year ago in the 171-pound class, won county and regional titles and also became the first Paint Branch wrestler to win a state championship since 2002 — the Panthers have more than enough depth to continue being a force.

Junior Steven Miller (140), who wrestled five pounds lighter a year ago and finished 36-4 in just his second year on the squad, leads the way. He also won both county and regional titles for the Panthers, and is joined by county and regional runner-up Danny Lethbridge (112). Senior Vincent Chirichella will move up in weight class after wrestling successfully at 130 pounds a year ago and finishing second in both the county and regional tournaments. Stewart’s younger brother, Tim (152), helps round out a deep lineup, as he was fourth in the county and fifth in the region a year ago.

The Panthers finished 7-1 in dual meets last year as well, only losing to county champion Damascus. With as much depth as Paint Branch now has, there’s reason to think this year is when they take the next step. But head coach Rick Smith is cautious about saying so.

‘‘Springbrook is right on our tails, Blake is improving, Magruder is a very good team — there are just a lot of good teams in the county, so we can’t take anything for granted,” said the 14th-year coach. ‘‘If we can stay healthy, I’d love to see us top Damascus. I’d like to see us take it one step further in the county and region, and hopefully peak at the right time. We have to have a mind of respect all of them but fear none of them.”

Springbrook matched Paint Branch’s regular-season record, going 12-2 in posting on of their best records in school history. Returning state qualifier Carlo Galeano (145) is back and poised to make a run at an individual title. But gone are a combined 40 wins from Sergey Golosinskiy and Peter Checco.

The Blue Devils will look to a group of seniors, including Jason Chan, Jordan Dow and David Abramson, who also plays football and lacrosse. Last season, they just missed qualifying for the Regional Dual-meet championships.

‘‘We have a pretty good group of returners too,” head coach Rob Wendel said, who is entering his 13th year as the Blue Devils’ coach. ‘‘Though it will be hard to fill some of the weights left by seniors last year.”

Rounding out the Consortium is Blake, who surprised everyone by finishing 10-4 a season ago, its first winning season in school history. After years of being also-rans, partly due to losing out on many of Burtonsville’s best wrestlers to the more recognizable Paint Branch and Springbrook programs, the Bengals have improved dramatically over the past couple of years.

Two years ago, they featured two heavyweights in the county finals, Rich Dipietro (now wrestling at University of Maryland) and Matt Sanders, marking the first time that had ever happened at Blake. Last year, they featured Phil Menapace (189), who finished second in both the county and the region, and Joe Thomas (215), who was a top-six performer in both as well.

Now they turn to a group of two seniors and a sophomore to carry the load. DeMatha transfer Antonis Alexandris is the team’s best wrestler, and will begin his first year at Blake at 125 pounds. Senior Andrew Grunwald (130) was injured for much of last year, but is now back healthy. And finally, sophomore Duncan Hawvermale returns as the team’s most accomplished wrestler from a year ago, posting 20 wins in his first year on varsity.

‘‘We won a lot of close matches, beating teams that beat us bad the year before that gave us trouble, like Blair and Sherwood,” coach Rob Pinsky said. ‘‘We have lost a good amount of people, seven of our 14 varsity starters actually, but luckily we have a lot of people to replace them. We’re still trying to figure out who’s going to be our upper weights though, so we’ll see.”

Sherwood finished 7-7 last year, a down season by its recent standards, but returns several standout performers that could make the Warriors dangerous again this winter. They lost only three seniors, and their three best wrestlers remain. Senior Andy Lowy (119) returns after a dominant junior season in which he not only went 34-0, but captured his second-consecutive state championship. He could be one of the best wrestlers in the county, The same could be said for fellow senior and All-Gazette returnee Rhett Beattie (125), who went 31-1 a year ago and took the county title. Rounding out the trio is sophomore Steven Gamble (130), who won the county, region and state titles in 2005.

Blair is in the midst of a rebuilding process, having finished only 4-8 a year ago. Ninth-year coach Jake Scott does return a pair of juniors who helped the Blazers earn victories last season, including a 42-28, comeback win against Einstein. Third-year wrestler Haben Ghebremeschel (125) is one of the toughest of Blazer wrestlers, as is Phine Ulysse (135).

Bethesda-Chevy Chase is also a team looking to join the ranks of some of the more competitive Division I wrestling programs, though it must recover from a 4-9 regular season a year ago. The Barons are looking to regain the form they had in 2004, when they featured three individual county champions: Sonny Nucci (who also won the state title that year), Chad Geronimo and Rudy Moures.

They have the talent to do so. B-CC returns two state-tournament qualifiers. Senior Pat Landon (112) posted a team-best 33 wins a season ago at 103 pounds. Senior Lucas Bruskin, who wrestled at 125 pounds last year, will be in either the 130- or 135-pound class this time around, and is looking to improve on his already sterling 30-12 record from a year ago.

‘‘We’ve got some experienced, talented guys back,” said Barons coach Bob Bunting. ‘‘So we’re excited for the season to start.”

Northwood will also begin its first year of varsity wrestling as a member of Division I.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons

Head coach: Bob Bunting, 8th year

Last year’s record: 4-9

Last county tournament title: None

Last state team title: None

Last individual state title: Sonny Nucci (2004)

Wrestlers to watch: Pat Landon, Lucas Bruskin

Blair Blazers

Head coach: Jake Scott, 9th year

Last year’s record: 4-8