The bus was quiet.
C. Milton Wright wrestling had just lost, 39-38, in a Class 2A dual state semifinal on Valentine’s Day, the third straight year the Mustangs’ dual season ended one step away from a trophy. While wrestlers’ heads were surely racing, nobody spoke. The trip back home was silent. Practices this past week were anything but.
“We paid for it,” senior Aaron Moccia said. “Nobody else is working that hard.”
And for the second consecutive season, C. Milton Wright got up off the mat after a heartbreaking loss to win the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference wrestling championship Saturday at Edgewood.
The Mustangs’ team score of 224.5 beat second place Rising Sun’s tally of 208.5. Harford Tech (202), Bel Air (190.5) and Havre de Grace (176.5) rounded out the top five team finishes. Patterson Mill (sixth), Edgewood (eighth) and Aberdeen (10th) were the other three Harford County squads to place in the top 10.
Three C. Milton Wright wrestlers took first place in their respective weight classes and three more placed second. Patterson Mill’s five first-place finishers were the most of any school.
“A very different run than we had last year. Different kind of team,” C. Milton Wright coach John Thornton said. “Just been very up and down as we’ve been trying to find our way. But what matters most is peaking at this time of year. Feels like we’re doing that. It was harder to get back on the horse this time, just that it was three times in a row, and we were that close. So, it definitely took some mental fortitude for these guys to put that behind them and get ready for this.”
It’s hardly a consolation prize for the Mustangs, who’ve gotten accustomed to postseason success but are just lacking that final piece of hardware. The weight of three consecutive state semifinal losses is hard to shake, Thornton admits. He’s unsure if his team will every truly move on from it.
But Saturday was a good start.
Moccia’s victory in the 190-pound class was his second straight UCBAC crown after he transferred from John Carroll. The senior did so this season in more of a leadership role for a young Mustangs team that graduated hundreds of career wins and was searching for an identity early on this season.
Moccia’s attention will now turn to the state individual tournament, beginning with regionals next week. A state championship run would fulfil an order Thornton gave him last year.
The coach asked the senior what his goals were for his final season. Did he want to end it in a state championship, Thornton asked. Moccia responded hesitantly, as if to humbly downplay the possibility or like he hadn’t even thought about it.
“So basically I told him, ‘that’s your goal,’” Thornton joked. “He’s owned that goal since that day.”
He’s getting closer.
Girls divisions see continued growth
Last season was the first time in the history of the UCBAC wrestling tournament that each girls division had at least two wrestlers, enough to field a championship match. Some had enough for a semifinal round.
That was the case again this season, as area coaches say they continue to see girls wrestling grow in Harford County. Fourteen girls wrestlers won titles Saturday. Patterson Mill, which has boasted one of the largest girls teams in recent years, led all teams with four girls winners.
“Even if you’re a first timer, just telling them like, ‘It’s OK, you start somewhere.’ I love that a lot of people are trying wrestling,” said Edgewood’s Triniti Green, who won the girls 130-pound division title match. “When stuff gets challenging, I like to overcome it and prove a point.”
Green’s start in wrestling is a similar story to most of her peers. Her brother did it, so, instead of just watching, she wanted in. Soon, she blossomed into one of the best girls wrestlers in the area and is receiving interest from colleges, where the sport has also grown. Harford Tech’s Emily Wockenfuss, who claimed the girls 145-pound division title, said she’s done martial arts her entire life, and a coach along the way suggested she give wrestling a try. She did, was hooked, and has likewise become the conference’s best.
What growth looks like is different for everyone. Green said she’s become a recruiter in Edgewood’s hallways, trying to convince girls to take the risk she once did and give the sport a try. Wockenfuss is active on Instagram and often sends girls messages and comments on their posts urging them to wrestle for the Cobras.
Numbers are improving. The quality is, too. Soon, schools could form separate girls teams, which would allow them to have their own coaches and schedules. They need to reach a participation threshold for that first. But others like it just the way it is – one team for boys and girls wrestling for a shared goal.
“I like it combined. It makes it feel like you’re a part of a whole family,” Wockenfuss said. “It feels so amazing to be a part of something that’s helping other people and creating something for kids in the future, girls in the future, who really want this to be a part of their lives.”
All championship match results
106: Lucas Heffer (C. Milton Wright) def. Luca Tucciarella (Harford Tech)
113: Gavin Contreras (Elkton) def. Isaiah Chase Washington (Havre de Grace)
120: Khalil Mobley (Bel Air) def. Syhrell Lewis (North East)
126: Jacob Cox (C. Milton Wright) def. Cameron Moore (Harford Tech)
132: Adan Stewart (Rising Sun) def. Brendon Brown (Havre de Grace)
138: Cole Christian (Patterson Mill) def. Zoltan Pollock (Aberdeen)
144: Vincent Kirby (Havre de Grace) def. Dominic Gray (Bel Air)
150: Andrew Montalvo (Bel Air) def. Austin Horn (Rising Sun)
157: Tyler Henderson (Rising Sun) def. Salah Dusmukhamedov (C. Milton Wright)
165: Slayton Samuels (Havre de Grace) def. Devon Landis (Perryville)
175: Zach Garvin (Rising Sun) def. Jarell Williams (Bel Air)
190: Aaron Moccia (C. Milton Wright) def. Jonathan Fletcher (Patterson Mill)
215: Andrew Coakley (North Harford) def. Brett Semple (Havre de Grace)
285: Owen Reilly (Bel Air) def. Cameron Stepp (C. Milton Wright)
Girls 100: Michaelynn Gillespie (Perryville) def. Chesney Gilmore (North Harford)
Girls 105: Mariana Rodriguez Dodson (Edgewood) def. Iliana Olivas (Havre de Grace)
Girls 110: Sarah Alkhatib (Patterson Mill) def. May Brownstein (Rising Sun)
Girls 115: Sofie French (Harford Tech) def. Saphira Hamill (Perryville)
Girls 120: Taylor George (North East) def. Hayden Hurst (Harford Tech)
Girls 125: Amyra Martin (Perryville) def. Cherish Anderson (North East)
Girls 130: Triniti Green (Edgewood) def. Kylie Buehler (Patterson Mill)
Girls 135: Grace Reilly (Bel Air) def. Zoe Sanders (Harford Tech)
Girls 140: Aubrey Goble (Patterson Mill) def. Rylee Quigley (Harford Tech)
Girls 145: Emily Wockenfuss (Harford Tech) def. Clara Larsen (C. Milton Wright)
Girls 155: Anna Farr (Rising Sun) def. Rylynn Gourgoulianis (Harford Tech)
Girls 170: Samantha Keithley (Harford Tech) def. Jacquline Chamber (Patterson Mill)
Girls 190: Joendy Ruiz-Sierra (Patterson Mill) def. Melissa Garcia (Edgewood)
Girls 235: Jolie Dempsey (Patterson Mill) def. Alayna Dolzine (Harford Tech)
Have a news tip? Contact Taylor Lyons at tlyons@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/TaylorJLyons.
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