Miller, Snead Win State Wrestling Titles

BERLIN- The Stephen Decatur varsity wrestling team completed a remarkable season last weekend at the state championships in College Park, winning two individual state titles and coming in fourth as a team among the 77 schools represented in the Class 4A-3A tournament.

The hits just kept coming for the Seahawks, who last week won their seventh straight Bayside Conference championship. The win in the conference championships came on the heels of Decatur's first-ever state dual meet championship despite moving up to Class 3A this year.

With many of the team accolades already in their possession, the Seahawks traveled to old Cole Field House at the University of Maryland last weekend hoping to add some individual championship hardware to their impressive collective resume. Five Seahawk wrestlers advanced to the state championship meet after strong showings in the regionals, and two came back with individual state championships.

Junior Danny Miller repeated as state champion in the 189-pound weight class, winning his division for the second straight year. Last year, Miller became the first-ever state champion in Decatur wrestling history and was followed by senior Trevor Rickett, who won the school's second-ever state title.

This year, Miller successfully defended his title, sweeping four matches to win his second championship. Miller beat Michael Spriggs of Charles H. Flowers High in the first-round and followed that up with a win over Ryan Pittillo of Perry Hall in the second round to reach the semifinals. In the semis, Miller beat Paul Okeyo of Walter Johnson High to reach the championship match, then beat Patrick Carey of North County for the state title.

Decatur's second state title came in the 130-pound class as Skylar Snead swept four matches to keep his perfect season alive. Snead finished with a 41-0 record on the season and collected Decatur's second individual state championship of the weekend.

In the first round, Snead defeated Isaac Faqbuyi of Eleanor Roosevelt High, then beat Eddie Obendorfer of Damascus in the second round. In the semifinals, Snead beat Sam Cannon of Chopticon to reach the title match, where he quickly dispatched Jordan Hernandez of Arundel to win the state championship.

Three other Seahawk wrestlers competed in the state meet with varying degrees of success. In the 285-pound class, James Reid lost his opening round match but won three straight to finish sixth overall. At 125, Sean McGarry won his opening, lost in the second round and won one match in the loser's bracket. Devin Bataille (103) lost his opening match but put together back-to-back victories to finish strong.

Overall, Decatur finished fourth out of the 77 schools competing in the Class 4A-3A brackets with 64.5 total team points. LaPlata came in first, followed by Urbana and Old Mill.