C. Milton Wright wrestling’s Aaron Moccia made history last week at War on the Shore, one of Maryland’s most prominent high school wrestling tournaments that attracts nationally ranked teams and wrestlers to Ocean City.

The 190-pounder won his division and is the first C. Milton Wright wrestler to win at War on the Shore. Mustangs coach John Thornton thinks Moccia might even be the first wrestler from any Harford County school to win there.

The tournament featured three Harford County teams – Harford Tech and Havre de Grace in addition to Moccia’s Mustangs. The senior cruised through his weight class, pinning four of his five opponents to become one of just four placers from the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference. With the win, Moccia improved to 11-1 on the season with 10 pins.

Moccia spoke with The Aegis on Monday to reflect on his victory last week, his wrestling career overall and why he believes C. Milton Wright, a state semifinalist last year, could be better equipped to win it all this season.

What was it like to compete in War on the Shore and come out with a win?

The atmosphere is just, I mean it’s not really comparable to a lot of tournaments. To get the win there is pretty huge, especially early on in the season when you’re planning to keep improving, it’s nice to pull out a big win like that. Being the first at C. Milton Wright to do it, it just feels good. Having coaches that support me as much as they do, it just made it a lot easier to have that pressure relieved off of me, even at such a big competition level.

How’s it feel to know about the history you made?

It’s a big thing for me and for the team. It shows the improvement that the team has made over the course of Coach John’s stay. From being a small team, the improvements that he’s made over nine years, the amount he helped me improve is crazy.

What in particular worked so well for you there?

Just my neutral was working for me. Just being dominant in neutral, aggressive is what really helped me get some of those wins, especially some of the harder ones.

Back to Coach Thornton, what’s the biggest thing he’s helped you with?

Just with confidence and stuff, my wrestling IQ in general. I mean, just putting me in positions and the whole team in positions that they need to work on. He’s really helped me improve as a wrestler.

You transferred from John Carroll ahead of your junior year. What went into that decision, and how have the last two seasons at C. Milton Wright gone?

My John Carroll time was amazing. The coaches there were great. But they were going to bump us down to the B division in the MIAA conference. So I think I just saw it as not really being beneficial for me to stay at the school. My coaches knew Thornton previously, so having Coach John there at C. Milton Wright and being able to attend there was really the best move for me. And the past two years have been great.

What did the team learn from last year’s state semifinal run that you’re applying to this season?

Last year, our team had a lot of — we called them dogs. We had a lot of people who would go out and get their pin. But this year, overall, we’re not getting all of our [six-point wins]. We don’t have the people who are going to go out there and always get their pin. But this year, I feel like the average on our team has gotten a lot better. I feel like the overall wrestler on our team is going to compete, and that’s I think what’s going to really bring us up to the state finals level and be able to win. And I also think just team chemistry in that, it’s not really the coaches forcing that goal upon us and being like ‘they want to win the state dual.’ It’s more the team is pushing themselves and wanting to improve over the season.

Do you have plans to wrestle in college?

Yeah, I’ve been looking at a lot of colleges, mostly just D-III. I’ve had some offers and I’ve talked to a good amount of coaches, but I haven’t decided fully on any specific place.

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