Region duals: Williamsport avenges loss to Boonsboro, finishes second in 1A West

Thursday

Class 1A West final four

All in all, the Williamsport wrestling team’s trip to Northern Garrett was a success.

The Wildcats topped rival Boonsboro in the semifinals 38-30 to avenge their Feb. 1 loss to the Warriors, before falling 56-12 to the host Huskies in the final.

Northern Garrett (24-0) — the state’s No. 2-ranked public-school team, of all classes — advanced to the 1A state semifinals Saturday at North Point High School.

“We gave up less points than we did the last time against them. They got 60 on us last time,” Williamsport coach Mike Rechtorovic said of last month’s loss to the Huskies. “We wrestled tough and managed to stay off our backs in a couple matches. But they’re a good, well-coached team. They’re going to go wrestle for a state title for a reason. They’ve got a lot of tough guys and are a very, very good dual-meet team.”

Williamsport (21-5) also was the region runner-up to Northern Garrett last year, with a much different lineup.

“After losing eight seniors from last year, we ended up in the exact same spot — the region finals — where we were a year ago, but this time with a much younger team,” Rechtorovic said. “The guys had to wrestle tough to do it and find a way to beat a team that had just beaten them a week ago. They figured out a way to do it. They scratched and clawed their way to enough points to beat Boonsboro.”

Last week, the Warriors defeated the Wildcats for the first time in program history, 40-36, after falling just short several times in recent years.

Thursday’s match went down to the wire again. But this time, unlike last week, it was the Wildcats who rallied.

The Wildcats trailed 30-16 through 10 bouts before closing with four straight, bonus-point wins — a pin by Aidan Alvarez (106 pounds), tech falls by Bryce Swartz (113) and Camden Hull (120) and a match-winning pin by Nicky Anderson (126).

“We kind of knew we had those guys waiting in the wings and had the matchups we wanted down there,” Rechtorovic said of the lightweights.

Williamsport also got a pin from Brycen Fraley (195), a major decision from Aiden Straitiff (138) and a win by forfeit from Adin Hastings (182).

“Our guys were really pumped,” Rechtorovic said. “They’ve worked really hard in the room since losing to Boonsboro and have wrestled pretty well since. They really wanted this and came out and wrestled tough, not just the guys who won but also the guys who stayed off their backs, giving up decisions instead of pins.

“I’m proud of the way the guys came out and fought for each other and found a way to win that first match.”

Against Northern Garrett, Hastings won by fall at 182, while Anderson (126) and Mason Wolfensberger (285) each won by decision.

For Boonsboro (20-5), Trevor Sowers (145), Russell Colliere (152) and Nate Elliott (220) each won by pin, while Tanner Halling (132), Manny Sampson (160), Michael Cornell (170) and Sean Cornell (220) each won by decision.

Tuesday

Class 1A West quarterfinals

Boonsboro 72, Allegany 12

The second-seeded Warriors quickly put away the visiting Campers to advance to Thursday’s semifinals at Northern Garrett.

Boonsboro (20-4) scored seven pins, including six in the first period, and picked up five forfeits to prevail in a match that lasted only a half-hour.

“We went out there and wrestled like we should,” Warriors coach Shawn Smith said. “We’re big on pinning. That’s what we preach over and over again, and that’s what they should be going out there to do.”

In the first bout of the night at 170 pounds, Boonsboro’s Manny Sampson was in a tight battle with Allegany’s Sunny Chavis before securing a pin midway through the second period.

The pace only picked up from there as Graham McLean (195), Sean Cornell (285), Sean Martucci (120), Tanner Halling (126) and Parker DeBaugh (138) each pinned in less than a minute, while Nate Elliott (220) won by fall in 1:24.

Michael Cornell (182), Hamza Jivan (106), Jeremy Troccola (113), Camrynn Rogers (132) and Trevor Sowers (145) each won by forfeit.

Next up for the Warriors is a rematch with third-seeded Williamsport in the semifinals.

Last week, Boonsboro rallied on its home mat to beat the Wildcats for the first time in program history, 40-36.

“We’re county rivals, and now that we’ve actually beaten them, maybe they’ll consider us rivals as well,” Smith said. “They’re a very worthy opponent, and I’m sure we’ll put on a good match.

“It’s kind of crazy,” he added. “It’s the third time we will have wrestled Williamsport in Garrett County (in the region semifinals). It’s always weird to get your county rival in another county. But whoever wins that match has to wrestle Northern, who is very, very good, so we’ll see what happens.”

The top-seeded and defending champion Huskies (22-0) will face fifth-seeded Brunswick in the other semifinal, with the final to immediately follow.

The region winners will advance to the state duals Saturday at North Point High School.

Williamsport 69, Southern Garrett 6

The Wildcats (20-4) appear ready for their rematch with Boonsboro.

Williamsport steamrolled the No. 6-seeded Rams with seven pins, three decisions and three forfeit victories.

"We wrestled them a couple weeks ago and it was closer than this," coach Mike Rechtorovic said of a 62-18 win on Jan. 21.

Rechtorovic was especially pleased with the performances of middleweights Ben Ellis (first-period pin at 152 pounds), Soren Miller (first-period pin at 160) and Ben Kaetzel (10-5 decision victory at 170).

"I'm proud of our middleweights," Rechtorovic said. "We've had some struggles there this year and those guys came up with real good wins today."

Brycen Fraley (195) and Mason Wolfensberger (285) earned first-period pins, Camden Hull (120) and Logan Williams (132) scored second-period pins and Aiden Straitiff (138) notched a third-period pin for Williamsport. Aiden Alvarez (106) and Nicky Anderson (126) earned decisions, and Bryce Swartz (113), Adin Hastings (182) and Andrew Alvarez (220) won by forfeit.

As for Thursday’s rematch in the semis, Rechtorovic said, "We've had conversations," declining to comment further.

If the Wildcats get past Boonsboro, they’re most likely to face another familiar foe in Northern Garrett in the final. The Huskies edged the Wildcats for last year’s region title and then beat them more convincingly last month, 60-20.

Class 3A West quarterfinals

Linganore 70, North Hagerstown 9

The top-seeded Lancers rolled to victory against the visiting Hubs (7-17), prevailing in 12 of the 14 weight classes.

For North, Jacob Hart pinned Joe Reid in 2:30 at 195 pounds, and Garcia Ndosa-Kardiobo was a 3-2 winner over Trevor Jenkins at 220.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Williamsport avenges loss to Boonsboro, finishes second in 1A West