Tonight will be my first in-person Maryland dual. Having moved to the Baltimore area a little over a year ago, I am still getting familiar with the lay of the land so to speak. As my platform for covering wrestling has always been more of a national thing I have spent less time in my own backyard than I was hoping to.
But there is no time like the present to get all the way caught up. Or at least to the extent that I can. And what better match up to do it than a dual between the #1 and #3 schools in the state. The prep/private school top dawg and the public school numero uno. Bet you didn’t know we get multilingual over here at times.
Anyway, I’m still learning names and becoming familiar with Maryland’s wrestling community. I leaned a bit on Billy B’s rankings to fill in roster spots. I looked at recent events. The point being, the projected line ups I put together may be off a weight or two. I apologize if so.
One specific example is 190. I haven’t seen a wrestler for the Gaels at this weight in all the events I looked at. Whereas I’ve seen where South Carroll had guys there. For example, Manny Rodrigues competed at 195 in a Tri-Meet against Liberty and Century. He’s ranked among the 175 pound class so I would guess making 190 wouldn’t be an issue. However, I wouldn’t suspect it would be him there anyway. He’s looking at a top 5 showdown with Austin Lewis. All I’m saying is that it appears the Cavaliers will get a forfeit win here – I just don’t know who will actually get their hand raised. Or maybe the Gaels have a surprise up their sleeve. Do Gaels have sleeves? Or even wear shirts? I digress.
Also, I saw Shane Anderson recently for the Gaels at 138 pounds. However, Billy B has Jayden Diggs there, so I’ll slot him in at 138 against Gage Owen. I had seen Diggs compete at 144 so we’ll put Anderson there. Of course in a dual all of this can be flipped or switched.
And finally, Joseph Gigliotti is currently ranked at 120. That sets up a beautiful head to head with Carter Nogle. However, Shawn Hobbs has been at 120 for the Cavaliers and could be at the weight here which would put Gigliotti up at 126 against the other Nogle, Coleman.
I usually like to include a weight by weight prediction/breakdown in my dual previews but I’m not in a position to do anything beyond blind guessing. That’s why I’m genuinely excited for this. Because some of these weights appear to be top-notch when it comes to the state’s elite.
And that’s always fun for a Thursday evening.
As for those weights, I’ve gathered up the possible top 10 [state rankings] matchups.
Based in Western PA. Right in the heart of WPIAL country, Todd brings an insider’s view from the country’s epicenter of wrestling. He’s excited to build on the TKDWN tradition of starting with the story first. The athletes, the coaches, their families and supporters, there is no shortage of stories to tell. And Todd will bring his unique perspective to help us continue to deliver top notch content for the world’s greatest sport!
