Up and Down Week for Decatur Grapplers

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's varsity wrestling team had an up and down stretch against some tough teams from the western shore last week, splitting a pair of matches in a dual meet with Rising Sun and John Carroll last Thursday before falling to Reservoir on Saturday.

The Seahawks went across the bridge two times late last week for one of the toughest segments of the their schedule and returned with mixed results against some of top-ranked teams in the state. In a dual meet last Thursday, Decatur dropped a close one to Rising Sun, 31-21, in a seesaw contest that came down to the final match.

Decatur's defending state champion Danny Miller, wrestling at 215 pounds, got the Seahawks off to a quick start with a win in the first match against Rising Sun, and Dylan Drew (289) followed with a win of his own to stake Decatur to an early lead. Rising Sun then won the next five matches to take a 19-9 lead, but Decatur was not finished yet.

The Seahawks rallied for four straight wins including victories by Matt Doherty (135), Bernie McGarry (140), Josh Barger (145) and Danny Kominos (152) to pull ahead with a 24-19 lead with one match to go. However, Decatur's Mike Meekins was disqualified in the finale, resulting in a six-point credit for Rising Sun and a three-point reduction for the Seahawks, ending the match in a 31-21 win for the Tigers.

Decatur responded to the tough loss with a big win over John Carroll, another ranked program from the Baltimore area in the other half of the dual meet on the same night. Again, the Seahawks got off to a quick start with four straight wins and nine of the first 10. Decatur's Drew got it started with a win at 289, followed up with wins by Nick McLoota (103), Anthony LaBarck (112) and Devin Bataille (119). After one loss, the Seahawks reeled off five more in a row led by Corey Tobias (130), Doherty (125), Bernie McGarry (140), Bargar (145) and Danny Kominos (152).

John Carroll went on a mini-run of its own, winning the next two matches, before Decatur's heart and soul, Danny Miller, rounded out the 36-20 win with a victory in the last match. After two tough matches against some of the top wrestling programs in the area, the Seahawks had earned a split.

Decatur returned went back across the Chesapeake two days later on Saturday for a match with another tough program in Reservoir. The Seahawks crushed Reservoir, 60-9, last year to jumpstart a run at a state dual meet championship, but the Gators exacted a little revenge last weekend with a 38-27 win. Reservoir won the first two individual matches before Decatur responded by winning the next three.

Matt Doherty got the Seahawks' mini-run started with a win in the 135-pound class. Bernie McGarry (140) and Josh Bargar (145) completed the run by Decatur to take a 15-6 lead early on, but Reservoir responded by winning the next three to take a 24-15 lead. Zweifel stopped the bleeding with a win in the 189-pound class to cut Reservoir's lead to 24-18 before Miller tied the contest at 24-24 with a pin in the 215-pound class match.

Decatur retook the lead, 27-24, with a win by Dylan Drew in the 285-pound class, but Reservoir closed out the match with three straight wins to avenge last year's crushing defeat, 38-27. It doesn't get any easier for the Seahawks, who hit the road again this weekend for the Arundel Duals, featuring some of the top high school wrestling programs in the state.