Led by two champions and 12 wrestlers placing fifth or better, C. Milton Wright won its first-ever Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference wrestling tournament title Saturday at Edgewood High School.
The Mustangs totaled 224 points to easily win ahead of runner-up Patterson Mill (175) and third place Bel Air (158). Bel Air had won the last six titles.
“It’s a big step forward for us,” Mustangs coach John Thornton said of his team’s breakthrough win. “That was the difference this year, we placed 12 out of 14 wrestlers in the top six. I thought from the start that we were the team to beat, but our team changed shape many times from October to now.”
The CMW champs were expected as Constantino Gourgoulianis won at 120 pounds and two-time state champion James Riveira won at 126. In the finals, Gourgoulianis won 10-0 over Patterson Mill’s Kyle Pulket, while Riveira pinned Perryville’s Jeffrey Leonard in 2:42.
North Harford wrestlers won three titles. Freshman Cruz Cespedes came from the ninth seed to win the 106 crown. Cespedes won 7-4 over Bel Air’s Gavin McDowell in the final. “It’s crazy, I was not expecting that. I made the drop from 113 to 106 and wasn’t expecting a high seed, but I knew I could bust the bracket,” Cespedes said.
The other Hawks were repeat winners. Josh Mitchell, who missed nearly the entire season with a neck injury, pinned Edgewood’s Kyle Brown in 1:02 to win at 145, while Theodore Stinson, a champ a year ago for CMW at 182, pinned Mustang Logan Dvorak in 2:35 to win again at 182.
Patterson Mill also won three titles. Brian Wheatley edged CMW’s Juan Ortega, 5-4, at 132; Connor Morton beat Matt Conroy of Bel Air, 7-4, at 195; and unbeaten Mason Sprinkel (40-0) pinned Joppatowne’s Fola Kolawole in 5:19 at 285.
Host Edgewood won a pair of titles in back-to-back weight classes. Trae Hughes, the top seed at 160, pinned his way into the final, where he won a 6-0 decision over Harford Tech’s Ryan Turney.
Teammate Tyreak Carey, upset top seed Michael Sweigart of Havre de Grace in the 170 semifinals (4-3), edged Tech’s Kelvin Mendez, 3-2, in the final. “Hard work, I worked all week and I’ve been talking about this day for a long time,” Carey said. “Said I wanted to be first, first in counties and I’m on my way to states baby.”
The other two titles won by Harford County wrestlers came at 152, with Havre de Grace’s Gavin Lloyd edging Cameron Pires of Fallston, 4-3, while at 220, Chris Kalambihis of Joppatowne needed just :45 to put away Ian Artice of Bo Manor.
The 113 title was won by Perryville’s Chase Rondone, 8-3, over Bel Air’s Trevor Lorin and Rising Sun’s Logan Garvin beat CMW’s Carter Goscinski, 4-2, at 138.
CMW’s other top six place winners were Demetrios Gourgoulianis, third at 106; Roy Hooe, fourth at 113; Andrew Van Syckle, fifth at 145; Mark Hopkins, fifth at 152; Christian Trombley, fourth at 160; Trey Lindsey, fourth at 195; and Cameron Wood, fifth at 285.
