Bishop Ireton High School | Archive | February, 2009

Boys’ and girls’ basketball: St. Mary’s Ryken boys and girls sweep play-in games at home

***Be sure to click the VIDEOS link above for highlights from both games***

Stories by:
James A. McCray III
Prince George’s County, Content Editor
Photos and Videos by:
Andy States
SMAC, Content Editor

Girls:
St. Mary’s Ryken 57, Bishop Ireton 30

New season, new records, new attitudes, and new expectations still amount to the same dream, a championship.

For two Washington Catholic Athletic Conference teams, the dream began Thursday night inside of the St. Mary’s Ryken gym as the Ryken girls hosted Bishop Ireton in a contest to determine who would advance to the WCAC quarterfinals.

For the Ryken girls, that dream will live another day after the Knights earned a 57-30 victory.

“A win is a win, but it wasn’t pretty,” admitted Ryken head coach Tara Everly.

What was pretty for the Ryken team was its defense as the Knights interrupted passes and turned steals into baskets, including a 14-0 run during the middle stages of the second quarter to open up a 29-5 lead.

Also aesthetically pleasing was the play of sophomore guard Zakiya Chambers-Hunter as she scored a game-high 16 points in the victory.

“It was a good game overall,” Chambers-Hunter said. “We played as a team. … This win is going to boost our overall morale, so I guess we can’t miss a step at all. We have to continue with everything that we have been doing.”

Although Ryken won in wire-to-wire fashion, the fourth quarter was a worrisome spot for Everly and the Knights as many of the shots that fell through the first three periods, did not fall in the fourth.
 
“We went cold [in the fourth quarter] and we don’t want to do that in any remaining games,” she said. “But, we got it done as a team and that is what I told them.”

Ryken will now face Holy Cross in a Saturday quarter-final contest scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Gallaudet University.

Lindsey Baumann
led all Ireton scorers with 13 points albeit in the losing efforts.

St. Mary’s Ryken 57, Bishop Ireton 30
Ireton —   2   6   13   9; Baumann 13, Ala. Thurmond 8, Ojigbe 4, Ale. Thurmond 2, Daguilh 2, Robinson 1

Ryken —  11  20  12  14; Chambers-Hunter 16, Leddy 9, McCormick 7, Manigault 6, Kuhna 6, Logan 6, Combs 4, Fegeley 2, Darden 1

Boys:
St. Mary’s Ryken 73, Archbishop Carroll 51
The country of Turkey is nestled neatly between the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea separating the two.

Fitting that two of St. Mary’s Ryken basketball players –each from Turkey– helped separate the Knights from visiting Archbishop Carroll Thursday night as Gokhan Sirin and Gorkem Somez combined for 44 points in Ryken’s 73-51 victory over Carroll in a WCAC play-in contest.

With the environment of the playoffs and a capacity crowd on hand, Ryken started slow falling behind 12-9 to end the first quarter.

However, after the crowd settled in and the players did likewise, Ryken opened the second period on a 15-0 scoring rampage that opened up a 12-point, 24-9 lead, as the Knights went on to the eventual victory.

“The crowd was great, and I think the guys came out a little bit too psyched up,” Ryken head coach Dave Tallman said. ” … I told them, ‘This is your home court, it’s a play-off game, the crowd is here, and it is time for us to throw the first punch.’ I think it was our intensity and us wanting it more than they did.”

Sirin, who scored a game-high 27 points, scored six of his 27 during the second-quarter run and had the stroke from the outside as well knocking down five three-pointers in Ryken’s winning effort.

“Those guys are gym rats,” Tallman said of Sirin and Somez. “They love the game, they work their tail off. … We have been waiting for both of them to be on the same night and it happened tonight. Hopefully it continues, and I think it will. They have worked really hard, my entire senior class, and they deserve it.”

Somez added 17 points, respectively.

For the seniors of the Ryken team, Thursday night was the official last home game of their respective careers and for seniors such as team captain R.J. Buck, it was a memorable win.

“It’s exciting,” Buck admitted. “It’s a little sad, but it’s exciting to leave with a [win].”

Kemy Osse led Carroll with 17 points, respectively.

Ryken now draws No. 1 seed DeMatha, a game scheduled for Saturday at 2:45 p.m. at Gallaudet University.

“DeMatha is an unbelievable team, an unbelievable program,” Tallman said. “Their history and the status of their program is where we are trying to get. We are going up there with nothing to lose, we are going to play our hearts out, and leave it all out on the floor, and we will see what happens.”

St. Mary’s Ryken 73, Archbishop Carroll 51
Carroll — 12   6   17   16; Osse 17, Dauda 14, Price 10, Manga 5, D. Thompson 2, Cumberlander 2, M. Thompson 1
Ryken — 9   27  22   15; Sirin 27, Somez 17, Barker 8, Smith 7, Andrews 6, Smith 4, Barnett 2, Buck 1, Graham 1

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Swimming: Churchill girls, Prep boys win Metros

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

Swimmers know what’s supposed to happen in the pool come Metros.

They know who they’ve beaten, who’s been training hard, who has the fastest times. And if they don’t, they’re quickly told.

But when Churchill’s girls swimming team heard the swimming community talking about how they were set to end Good Counsel’s 12-year run of winning Metros, it freaked them out a bit.

“It scared me,” junior Alicia Watkins said, “when we first heard we were going to win Metros, when everybody was talking about us.”

Now, months later after feeling the hype, Churchill fulfilled its billing, breaking Good Counsel’s dominance by scoring 414 team points compared to Good Counsel’s 337. Whitman placed third and Walter Johnson girls took fourth.

Churchill also won the overall title, combining boys and girls scores, by scoring 677 points compared to Good Counsel’s 610.

Whereas last week, when Churchill clinched the boys and girls county championship and tossed Coach Rodney Van Tassell into the pool, this week the entire team went in for a swim.

It may be the start of a changing of the guard in the high school swimming scene, which has been long dominated by the public schools.

“I think this says a lot about the parity of swimming in this area,” Van Tassell said. “I think that’s the way it’s going to be for a while.”

The Bulldogs did it the way they’ve been doing it all year, with depth and a select few standout moments. Overall, Good Counsel won six events, compared to just two by Churchill.

Capping off the day was a triumphant Churchill victory at the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Bulldogs had lost to Walter Johnson in duals, divisionals and counties but ended up winning by a full second.

Watkins was dominant throughout the day, and especially so during her leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay. Individually, she won the 500-yard freestyle by a staggering 5.33 seconds, besting her personal best of 5:03 with an automatic All-American time of 4:56.03.

“I kept telling them all year that’s our best relay,” Van Tassell said. “It was all just a matter of them believing they could do it.”

Georgetown Prep claimed the boy’s title by 21.5 points over Gonzaga. The Little Hoyas were led by senior Brady Fox, who broke his own 100-yard fly Metros record with a time of 48.71. Fox also chased the 100-yard back Metro record but fell 0.39 milliseconds short.

Prep also won the 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard free with Matt Thomas.

“Standing here with my best time in the 100 fly, a great relay split, I’m happy,” Fox said. “I’m a little disappointed with my 100 back but I did what I needed to do. … Our main goal was to just win the meet.”

Several other Metros records were toppled Saturday. O’Connell’s Michael Flach broke the 500-yard free with a time of 4:26.02, more than four seconds less than Yuri Suguiyama’s 2000 record. Poolesville junior Cara Chuang broke her own record in the 100-yard backstroke by 0.38 milliseconds with a time of 55.24.

Good Counsel’s boys 200-yard free relay – consisting of Zack Wepasnick, Matt Reinheimer, Casey Stodter and Kevin Vallario – toppled Paul VI’s record from 1999 with a time of 1:25.71.

Gonzaga’s 400-yard freestyle relay team – consisting of Brian Murphy, Brendan Whipkey, Doug Mackenzie and Pat Sullivan — topped Georgetown Prep and broke the Little Hoyas’ record by nearly four seconds.

Walter Johnson sophomore Elizabeth Pepper, O’Connell’s Flach, Good Counsel freshman Sarah Haase and Sherwood’s Emily Ryczek were all individual double champions.

Event 1: Boys 200 Medley Relay
Georgetown Prep (Brady Fox, Raymond Chi, Matt Thomas, Adam Spencer) – 1:34.99

Event 2: Girls 200 Medley Relay
Whitman (Victoria Kuhn, Reia Tong, Danielle Schulkin, Lauren Poore) – 1:48.41

Event 3: Boys 200 Free
Matt Thomas, Georgetown Prep – 1:38.81

Event 4: Girls 200 Free
Elizabeth Pepper, Walter Johnson – 1:50.55

Event 5: Boys 200 IM
Michael Flach, O’Connell – 1:51.15

Event 6: Girls 200 IM
Sarah Haase, Good Counsel – 2:04.17

Event 7: 50 Free
Pat Sullivan, Gonzaga – 20.86

Event 8: 50 Free
Emily Ryczek, Sherwood – 23.99

Event 11: Boys 100 Fly
Brady Fox, Georgetown Prep – 48.71

Event 12:
Girls 100 Fly
Danielle Schulkin, Whitman – 56.00

Event 13: Boys 100 Free
Kevin Vallario, Good Counsel – 45.73

Event 14: Girls 100 Free
Emily Ryczek, Sherwood – 51.72

Event 15: Boys 500 Free
Michael Flach, O’Connell – 4:26.02

Event 16: Girls 500 Free
Alicia Watkins, Churchill – 4:56.38

Event 17: Boys 200 Free Relay
Good Counsel (Zack Wepasnick, Matt Reinheimer, Casey Stodter, Kevin Vallario) – 1:25.71

Event 18: Girls 200 Free Relay
Good Counsel (Sarah Haase, Morgan Dailey, Nora Considine, Blair Webb) – 1:38.14

Event 19: Boys 100 Back
Brady Fox, Georgetown Prep – 49.19

Event 20: Girls 100 Back
Cara Chuang, Poolesville – 55.24

Event 21: Boys 100 ******
Evan Wollman, DeMatha – 56.07

Event 22: Girls 100 ******
Sarah Haase, Good Counsel – 1:02.51

Event 23: Boys 400 Free Relay
Gonzaga (Brian Murphy, Brendan Whipkey, Doug Mackenzie, Pat Sullivan) – 3:05.97

Event 24: Girls 400 Free Relay
Churchill (Natalya Ares, Shannon Ridge, Maria Watkins, Yvonne Huo) – 3:33.12

TEAM STANDINGS

Boys

1.    Georgetown Prep – 433
2.    Gonzaga – 401.5
3.    Good Counsel – 273
4.    Churchill – 263
5.    DeMatha – 252
6.    Walter Johnson – 193
7.    Sherwood – 156
8.    O’Connell – 139
9.    Paul VI – 137
10.    Wootton – 131
11.    B-CC – 117
12.    Blair – 116.5
13.    Whitman – 110
14.    St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes – 108
15.    Northwest – 96

Girls

1.    Churchill – 414
2.    Good Counsel – 337
3.    Whitman – 306
4.    Walter Johnson – 280
5.    Holy Cross – 257
6.    St. John’s – 164
7.    Bishop Ireton – 149
8.    Northwest – 146
9.    Sherwood – 137
10.    O’Connell – 136
11.    Quince Orchard – 125
12.    Richard Montgomery – 120
13.    Poolesville – 111
14.    Holton Arms – 89
15.    Sidwell Friends – 82

Combined

1.    Churchill – 677
2.    Good Counsel – 610
3.    Walter Johnson – 473
4.    Georgetown Prep – 443
5.    Whitman – 416
6.    Gonzaga – 401.5
7.    Sherwood – 293
8.    O’Connell – 275
9.    Holy Cross – 257
10.    DeMatha – 252
11.    Northwest – 242
12.    Bishop Ireton – 229
13.    Wootton – 211
14.    St. John’s – 194
15.    Blair – 157.5

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Ireton names Norem as boys soccer coach

Bishop Ireton Athletic Director W. William Simmons today announced Ireton alum Jon Norem (class of 1989) will become the boys varsity soccer coach for the 2009 Bishop Ireton season.

A life-long soccer player, Jon played for the legendary Hall of Famer Pete Johnson at Bishop Ireton during the late 1980’s. With a Virginia Catholic state championship in his senior year, Norem went on to play college soccer for Shenandoah University, where he graduated in 1994.

He has coached a number of successful club soccer teams for the previous ten years throughout Northern Virginia.  He is married to the former Marci Garrison of Woodbridge, Virgina and the couple has three children:  Daniel, Nicolas, and Garrison. Ireton opens the 2009 campaign August 25th when they host DeMatha, then travel to three-time conference champion, Gonzaga.

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Wrestling: Georgetown Prep is 2nd at St. Albans

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

A few years ago, a blizzard swept through Washington DC, locking out several top-notch out-of-state teams from participating in the St. Albans wrestling tournament.

It was then that Georgetown Prep finished third, its highest placing up to that point in the prestigious local tournament.

But on a warm Saturday with a handful of major Pennsylvania and Virginia wrestling teams beating up on the rest of the local competition, Georgetown Prep held its own, finishing second behind nationally-ranked Wyoming Seminary for its highest ever finish at St. Albans.

The Little Hoyas had three individual champions and scored 217.5 points, 88.5 less than Wyoming Seminary (Pa.), but seven more than St. Benedicts (N.J.) and 41.5 more than the next closest local team, fourth-place finisher and WCAC champion Bishop O’Connell.

“I think we wrestled about how I expected,” Coach Mike Kubik said. “We’re a solid team.”

Georgetown Prep (16-3) was coming off an IAC championship and first-place finish at Capital Duals. The Little Hoyas avenged duals losses to St. Benedicts and O’Connell in the process.

“We’re starting to build the tradition,” Kubik said. “The kids come in the room and they know if they listen and work hard they’re going to win.”

Georgetown Prep sophomore Bobby Gribbon started the Little Hoyas’ finals momentum with an 11-5 decision over Woodberry Forest’s Chris Cirenza at 152 pounds. Gribbon placed fifth at St. Albans last year.

Following him was senior Giancarlo Zerega at 171 pounds. Zerega was matched up against St. Benedict’s Jeff Johnson, who had pinned Zerega earlier this year after the Georgetown Prep wrestler had an 8-1 lead.

This time, Johnson racked up a 10-0 lead heading into the period, twice turning Zerega on his back. But about a minute into the third period, Zerega used what he calls “dirty kids,” a moved named by former Georgetown Prep wrestler Michael Esposito in which you get a half nelson and grab somewhere the other wrestler really doesn’t want to be grabbed.

“I was thinking, ‘This kid’s pretty good and I don’t really have a chance,’” Zerega said. “’I can at least try to make him hurt, try to make him remember me.’”

With that, Johnson went on his back. Johnson almost fought out of the move for a reverse, but Zerega tipped him back over for the pin at 4:42. It’s the first tournament win of the season for Zerega, who has several times placed second this year.

Lastly, 189-pounder Junior Monzey took down Wyoming Seminary’s Donald McNeil, 6-4. McNeil was just two of nine Wyoming Seminary finalists to be defeated. It’s Monzey’s third tournament win of the season, adding to his Damascus Holiday Tournament and Big 20 titles.

MASON FINALLY GETS HIS JACKET

O’Connell’s Kyle Mason ranks the St. Albans tournament right up there among the highest the Knights wrestle in all season.

But for as important as it is to him, Mason had never won it. He had never even reached the finals.

Finally, on Saturday, the senior 119-pounder got his St. Albans title with a 9-5 decision against Georgetown Prep’s Parke Overmiller.

“I always wanted this jacket,” Mason. “That was always my motivation. I finally got it and I’m happy.”

Mason (37-5) felt the urgency of winning this tournament in his senior year. He was dominant throughout, notching an 18-3 technical fall in the first round, then two pins in a combined two minutes, three seconds heading into the finals.

“I was in a groove today,” Mason said. “This year I knew I had a pretty good chance of winning. Other years they’ve just been a lot better than me. I just didn’t have that next step.”

O’Connell, who was still relishing it’s WCAC win over DeMatha a week later, also put James Young in the 125-pound finals and notched with two third-place finishers – Nam Dunbar and Jonathan Carpenter.

ARECHIGA GETS REVENGE

Good Counsel 112-pounder Shane Arechiga had faced Gonzaga’s Paul O’Neill three previous times this season and lost all three. He pinned himself after leading 11-0, lost in a dual meet and then again in the WCAC finals.

But this time around, Arechiga for some reason felt more confident than ever. That paid off as Arechiga notched a 4-3 decision over O’Neill behind a third-period takedown to finish in third place in the ultra-challenging 112-pound weight class.

“WCACs and the dual meet I was really nervous,” Arechiga said. “Today I felt real confident because I think I was wrestling a lot better today than in my previous matches.”

SEMINARY TAKES OVER

Wyoming Seminary was absolutely dominant throughout the tournament. It notched seven champions, including 135-pounder Nicky Gordon, who became just the third wrestler to ever become a four-time St. Albans champion.

“It feels great, “ Gordon said. “It’s a great tournament, it’s good competition and we really like this tournament.”

It’s the third tournament Gordon has become a four-time champion at this year. He also became a four-time Mount Mat Madness champion and four-time Tunkhannock title winner.

But despite his milestone, Gordon wasn’t even named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler. That honor went to 130-pounder Devon Brown, who handled three-time Maryland State private schools champion Andrew Bannister with a 6-2 decision.

“They’re tough and they’ve got motors,” Prep’s Kubik said of Wyoming Seminary’s wrestlers. “They never stop.”

CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

103: Malone (WYO) tech Jackson (McN), 18-2
112: Johnson (WYO) majdec Prada (DeM), 11-3
119: Mason (DJO) dec Overmiller (GP), 9-5
125: Kitzis (WYO) dec Young (DJO), 7-1
130: Brown (WYO) dec Bannister (McN), 6-2
135: Gordon (WYO) fall Boucher (St.B), 1:35
140: Burg (WFS) dec. Wesley (St.C), 8-3
145: Martinez (WYO) dec. Phillips (St.C), 8-2
152: Gribbon (GP) dec. Cirenza (WFS), 11-5
160: Luvsandorj (St.B) maj. Caiazzo (WYO), 15-6
171: Zerega (GP) fall Johnson (St.B), 4:42
189: Monzey (GP) dec. McNeil (WYO), 6-4
215: McMullen (WYO) fall Vassos (LAN), 2:33
HVY: Freeman (St.C) fall Henry (EHS), 1:15

TEAM SCORES

1. Wyoming Seminary – 306
2. Georgetown Prep – 217.5
3. St. Benedicts – 210.5
4. O’Connell – 176
5. St. Christopher’s – 143.5
6. Woodberry Forest – 142
7. Episcopal – 129
8. DeMatha – 100.5
9. Sidwell Friends – 92.5
10. Good Counsel – 91
11. McNamara – 81
12. Gonzaga – 79
13. Paul VI – 77.5
14. St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes – 69
15. Western Reserve Academy – 60
16. Bullis – 57
17. Landon – 55
18. Bishop Ireton – 47.5
19. St. Mary’s Ryken – 46
20. St. Anselm’s – 30
21. Randolph Macon – 27.5
22. St. Albans – 27
23. Georgetown Day – 26
24. McLean School – 25
25. Progressive Christian Academy – 18
26. St. John’s – 14
27. Princeton Claremont – 13
28. Potomac – 12
29. Heights – 7
30. Maret – 7
31. Edmund Burke – 6

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Wrestling: O’Connell ends DeMatha’s 23-year title run

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

O’Connell wrestling Coach Bill Carpenter won a WCAC championship his first year of coaching.

“I figured, ‘Well, this is going to be a piece of cake,’” Carpenter said.

After 28 years and 23 straight WCAC DeMatha conference tournament championships, Carpenter has certainly come to realize that it’s no piece of cake.

“And today, true to form, it was not a piece of cake,” Carpenter said Saturday.

O’Connell ended DeMatha’s domination of the WCAC conference that lasted nearly a quarter-century Saturday evening behind four individual champions and a 180.5 team score, just 4.5 points more than the Stags.

The Knights led by 18 points before the Stags stormed back. The tournament came down to the final bout at heavyweight between Paul VI’s Dan McGroarty and DeMatha’s Miguel Azucena, with the entire O’Connell squad relegated to cheering from the sideline.

“It’s the first time we cheered for PVI, cause …” Knights 130-pounder Nam Dunbar said, alluding to O’Connell’s rivalry with its Virginia conference foe.

The Stags needed a major decision in the bout to win, but McGroarty – a first-year wrestler – pulled out a 5-2 decision to seal O’Connell’s tournament title.

Paul VI fans, O’Connell fans and otherwise exploded in cheers, as if nearly the entire gym was ready to see somebody else take the crown this season. The O’Connell wrestlers flocked to McGroarty and Carpenter came to him, shook his hand and said he will be his favorite Paul VI student athlete for all time.

“I think everybody in the whole school was cheering for me,” McGroarty said. “They’ve had it 23 years. I think it’s time to change it a little bit.”

O’Connell had finished second to DeMatha too many times for Carpenter to count. But O’Connell is laden with senior experience, motivated to win in its coaches final season and was convinced that it could pull off the upset after beating the Stags in a dual meet.

“I’ve been looking forward to this since freshmen year when I found out how many times they had won it,” Dunbar said. “Ever since, I wanted to win this so bad. Everybody has.”

“I’ve been wanting to win this since I was born,” 135-pounder Jonathan Carpenter added. “My dad’s the coach. I’ve been watching DeMatha win every year and it’s nice to know we’re the best team.”

O’Connell entered the finals with a 6 ½ point lead and had eight wrestlers in the finals compared to DeMatha’s seven. The two teams had head-to-head matchups in five matches.

The Knights got their first big win at 119-pounds from Kyle Mason, who took down DeMatha’s Pat Prada, who bumped up a weight class despite feeling sick all week. Mason pulled out a 9-5 victory.

O’Connell 125-pounder James Young then eeked out a 7-5 win over Jonathan Simmons, then Carpenter beat the Stags’ Kyle Hayden at 135 pounds to give the Knights an 18-point lead.

But then, with DeMatha’s Chris Miller losing 8-3 to O’Connell’s Chris Curtin, the Stag senior tossed Curtin on his bag and pinned him. It was Miller’s first-ever finals appearance in any tournament.

“I wanted to do a leaping hug but I didn’t know if that was too cliché,” Miller said. “I went from winning my match, feeling great and everyone congratulating me to now just feeling terrible.”

Miller’s win electrified the Stags, who then cheered Paul VI’s Ben Pfotenhauer to a 3-2 decision over O’Connell’s Conor Furey, then got a huge pin from Daniel Singh at 189 pounds.

Ben Hatef pinned O’Connell’s Christian Straubs at 215 pounds in just 1 minute, 28 seconds, setting up the Stags for a chance to win.

“Let’s go Dan!” Young said of O’Connell’s feelings at the time.

Besides the Knights’ individual champions, O’Connell got big third-place finishes from 152-pounder Andrew Nguyen, who had never placed before at a tournament, and first-year wrestler Luke Milligan at 189.

“It’s the way to go out,” said Carpenter, who confirmed he plans to hang up his coaching shoes after this season. “For us, this is as sweet as it gets.”

McNAMARA’S BANNISTER IS OUTSTANDING

Bishop McNamara senior 130-pounder Andrew Bannister has won numerous tournament titles. He’s a three-time Maryland private schools champion and can’t even recall all of his other tournament bracket sheets.

It’s the level of competition that Bannister sees that makes a tournament memorable. Bannister faced off against his rival, Bishop O’Connell’s Nam Dunbar, in Saturday’s finals and won 11-6. He was later named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.

It’s vindication for Bannister, who lost in the semifinals of last year’s WCAC tournament after bumping up a weight class. Then, there were some who thought Bannister was trying to avoid Dunbar.

But after beating Dunbar for the third time in his career, Bannister has further proven that he is the victor of the match-up between two of the area’s most talented wrestlers.

“It kind of solidified my accomplishments,” Bannister said. “I was feeling real nervous going in and I’m pretty sure he was feeling the same way. With me and him it can go either way.”

Just as in their last match-up, Dunbar went up 4-1 early in the match. After an escape, Bannister got a takedown with eight seconds left in the second period. The pair then knotted the score at 6 with 50 seconds left before Bannister got a takedown with 23 seconds left and rolled Dunbar to his back.

McNamara also had the 103-pound champion in Aaron Jackson, who like Bannister has suffered just two losses this season.

“It’s a lot of hard work, wrestling with Andrew every day,” Jackson said. “I’m trying to come behind Andrew Bannister, a three-time state champ and all that. I’ll try something.”

O’NEILL GETS HIS SECOND TITLE

Gonzaga sophomore Paul O’Neill notched his second WCAC title with a 7-3 win over Good Counsel’s Shane Arechiga at 112 pounds. The match was one of the elite match-ups of the tournament.

“It’s no different from the first, but it feels good to get the win,” O’Neill said. “I knew I was going to have to wrestle hard. Shane’s a real good wrestler. I’ll celebrate after the season but right now I’m just trying to stay focused.”

Gonzaga also got third-place finishes from Zak Thompson at 119 pounds and Stephane Guilou at 125.

WENZLAFF BOOSTS CADETS

St. John’s 160-pounder James Wenzlaff had beaten Paul VI’s Matt Carlstrom already this season but he couldn’t help but be a little nervous taking the mat Saturday. That’s because Wenzlaff knew that St. John’s wrestling really wanted his win.

Wenzlaff defeated Carlstrom, 9-2, becoming the first Cadet to win a WCAC championship in the past four years.

“I was a little shaky,” Wenzlaff said, admitting the history at first made him nervous but then boosted him later. “Towards the end when I started wrestling it helped me.”

PAUL VI IS ALSO STRONG

The Panthers did more than just help O’Connell win the title. Paul VI had quite a strong showing with three champions out of four finalists.

Ben Pfotenhauer won a 3-2 decision over O’Connell’s Conor Furey, Charles Bull beat Ireton’s TJ McLaughlin, 8-0, and McGroarty notched perhaps the most dramatic win of all.

McGroarty found his chances at winning a title because Good Counsel heavyweight Devin Gordon-Hamm was still on a football recruiting trip at Pittsburgh and St. John’s heavyweight Kevin McReynolds was also not participating Saturday.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. O’Connell – 180.5
2. DeMatha – 176
3. Paul VI – 130
4. Good Counsel – 87
5. McNamara – 84.5
6. Ireton – 76.5
7. Gonzaga – 59
8. St. Mary’s Ryken – 55
9. St. John’s – 24

CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

103- Aaron Jackson (MCN) maj.dec, 13-4 over Elliot Mondragon (BI)
112- Paul O’Neill (ZAG) dec, 7-3 over Shane Arechiga (GC)
119- Kyle Mason (DJO) dec, 9-5 over Pat Prada (DEM)
125- James Young (DJO) dec, 7-5 over Jonathan Simmons (DEM)
130- Andrew Bannister (MCN) dec, 11-6 over Nam Dunbar
135- Jonathan Carpenter (DJO) dec, 10-4 over Kyle Hayden (DEM)
140- Christopher Miller (DEM) pin, 3:20 over Chris Curtin (DJO)
145- Ben Pfotenhauer (PVI) dec, 3-2 over Conor Furey (DJO)
152- Charles Bull (PVI) dec, 8-0 over TJ McLaughlin (BI)
160- James Wenzlaff (SJC) dec, 9-2 over Matt Carlstrom (PVI)
171- Mitch Brown (DJO) dec, 4-41 over Mark Rodriguez (BI)
189- Daniel Singh (DEM) pin, 2:21 over Andrew Lutterloh (BI)
215- Ben Hatef (DEM) pin, 1:28 over Christian Straubs (DJO)
275- Dan McGroarty (PVI) dec, 5-2 over Miguel Azucena (DEM)

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