Last year, C. Milton Wright wrestling was simply satisfied with being here. But this season was different. For the first time, coach John Thornton noticed, a culture shift brought forth a different state of mind.
The Mustangs believed they belonged in the Class 2A duals state semifinals this time around and earned the spot, facing little resistance through their regular-season schedule and regional bracket.
Still, the result was the same.
C. Milton Wright lost Saturday to eventual state champion Huntingtown at North County high school, 37-24, coming up just short of the title bout for the second consecutive season in a result that stunned the group.
There’s solace in the unfavorable result, however. They now know better than most what it takes to win here, and coupled with the mental adjustment that occurred this year, Thornton hopes that’s enough to break through one day soon.
“For once, we actually truly believed we could win,” the coach said. “Previous years, we thought, ‘Let’s get there and see what happens.’ This year, it was like, ‘We can do this.’ I don’t think anybody expected to leave here today after the first round. They’ll use it as fuel.”
C. Milton Wright fell into a deep hole early Saturday, losing five of its first six matches to require near perfection to climb back. Those heroics nearly happened — the Mustangs won five of their last seven contests to nearly pull off a comeback.
Mitchell Nguyen captured C. Milton Wright’s first victory in the 138-pound bout, a second-period reversal the deciding factor in a 6-5 decision. Five bouts later, 175-pounder Aaron Moccia kicked off what became an impressive Mustangs run. Nathan Whetzel (215) found his team’s third win and Cameron Stepp (285) won by pin to bring the dual to 32-15, its closest score of the afternoon, then Sean Downey (113) and Kane Densch (120) each won their bouts to wrap up the semifinal. But even closing with near perfection wasn’t enough.
“I was happy with how we wrestled for the most part,” Thornton said. “They got a good momentum swing in the beginning. Momentum means a lot in wrestling. That kind of carried them for a while. You can see it on the bench. Guys are trying to get into it, but once you’re down 25 against a good team, people are starting to get quieter. I was proud that we didn’t mentally check out.”
C. Milton Wright returned eight starters from last season’s roster, including most of the wrestlers who won Saturday. That experience, coupled with instant-impact freshmen and junior varsity promotions, formed a squad that Thornton said was “unlike any team” he’s had in his nine years at the helm.
The Mustangs cruised through their regular season conference slate, then reached the semifinals with 65-10 and 57-17 victories in the regional semifinals and championship, respectively.
Fueling that admiration was an attitude adjustment Thornton noticed taking place over the winter.
“For the first time, they wanted this as bad as I did,” he said. “Just time and building the culture over a period of years. We had really great leadership this year. I never had attendance issues. Saturday mornings, everyone’s there. Everyone’s on weight. I didn’t have to micromanage that stuff.”
C. Milton Wright’s season isn’t over. The Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference championships begin Friday, a last chance for these Mustangs to compete as a team. The individual regionals are the following week.
Thornton said his team will need “a couple days” to digest Saturday’s loss before shifting focus to UCBACs. But he also believes this defeat will provide extra motivation for C. Milton Wright to end this season hoisting some sort of hardware.
“Monday, Tuesday, we’ll be back at it and hope to win a conference championship,” the coach said. “They say if you can’t get what you want, get the next best thing. At this point for us, the next best thing is to win a conference championship.”
Class 2A state semifinal
Huntingtown 37, C. Milton Wright 24
126 – Landon Vercoe (Huntingtown) over Jacob Cox (C. Milton Wright) TF 21-3; 132 – Will Stewart (Huntingtown) over Logan Layne (C. Milton Wright) TF 22-6; 138 – Mitchell Nguyen (C. Milton Wright) over Brady Arigo (Huntingtown) Dec 6-5; 144 – Luke Johnson (Huntingtown) over Joza Peters (C. Milton Wright) Maj 11-1; 150 – Ezekias Perez (Huntingtown) over Dylan Roche (C. Milton Wright) TF 15-0; 157 – Will Buckler (Huntingtown) over Carson Windesheim (C. Milton Wright) Fall 1:39; 165 – Blake Ashley (Huntingtown) over Devin Sweeney (C. Milton Wright) Dec 7-2; 175 – Aaron Moccia (C. Milton Wright) over Tyler Hayden (Huntingtown) Dec 7-0; 190 – Chase Brooks (Huntingtown) over Jaxon Simms (C. Milton Wright) Maj 11-1; 215 – Nathan Whetzel (C. Milton Wright) over Ryan Smith (Huntingtown) Dec 7-3; 285 – Cameron Stepp (C. Milton Wright) over Peyton Powell (Huntingtown) Fall 1:45; 106 – Owen Hayden (Huntingtown) over Rory Sweeney (C. Milton Wright) TF 19-3; 113 – Sean Downey (C. Milton Wright) over Logan Jones (Huntingtown) Dec 6-2; 120 – Kane Desch (C. Milton Wright) over Kyler Kiessling (Huntingtown) Fall 1:19.
Have a news tip? Contact Taylor Lyons at tlyons@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/TaylorJLyons.
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