Wrestling: Mt. Hebron Pins Down Howard Like Clockwork; Urbana Beats Centennial

Mount Hebron High wrestling coach Todd DeCrispino doesn't like to see valuable time go to waste on the mat.

So he particularly enjoyed how junior 145-pounder Drew Staedeli made full use of every moment on the clock Tuesday night against visiting Howard. Staedeli managed an escape with less than a second left in his match with Zack Wrisk, earning a 4-3 victory and helping the Vikings to a convincing 48-27 win.

"That's what we constantly emphasize – wrestle until the buzzer – and that's exactly what he did," DeCrispino said. "That (escape) stops it from going into overtime. It could be a completely different outcome in overtime."

"It was like a sit-in and he kind of let go at the last second," said Staedeli, who improved to 2-2 with the win over the senior. "I was trying to pull it out at the end."

Staedeli's victory was one of six in a row by Mount Hebron in the middle of the match that put the contest away. Overall, the Vikings (2-2) won seven of the 10 contested bouts against the Lions (2-3). Mount Hebron got four pins and two lopsided decisions to go with Staedeli's buzzer beater.

Drew Vickers (125 pounds) and Jon Iwaskiw (189) both improved to 4-0 with second-period pins for the Vikings.

"I'm really impressed with how we wrestled," said DeCrispino. "We've been focusing on being aggressive on our feet and being aggressive from the bottom position, so we did a real nice job."

With both teams forfeiting two bouts, neither team was at a disadvantage entering the match. So the result was particularly disappointing for Howard, which was coming off a decent showing in the Big 20 Wrestling Tournament at Perry Hall, where they got third-place showings from Wrisk and Mike Frazier (215), and a fourth from John Holthaus (130).

"They didn't have the same intensity," said Howard co-coach Tim Murdock. "I can't explain it. The kids knew what they had to do. Mount Hebron was a good shot for us. We're evenly matched…. Of course I'm upset right now – a little disappointed – but that's how wrestling is. They came out  and they wanted it a little bit more."

Howard is off until its Jan. 4 match against visiting Oakland Mills. Mount Hebron goes on the road for the first time this season Thursday against Tuscarora in Frederick before going on the holiday break.

Centennial falls to Urbana

The visiting Hawks won six matches by forfeit and five others by pinfall in dropping the Eagles to 1-2.

Centennial won only three matches, getting pins from Zach Portnoff (160) and Joey Wysocki (152), and a technical fall from defending state champ Nathan Kraisser  (125).  The Eagles' Macon Stanley (130) held a 10-3 advantage over Billy Krop before getting caught midway through the second period.

Mount Hebron 48,  Howard 27

189 -- Jon Iwaskiw (MH) p. Steve Via, 2:33
215 -- Michael Frazier (How) won by forfeit
285 -- AJ Wade (MH) won by forfeit
103 -- Nate Schiavone (How) won by forfeit
112-- Breccan Fischer (How) p. Liam Curran, :53
119-- Alex Stewart (MH) p. Ryan Stover, 2:14
125-- Drew Vickers (MH) p. John Jang, 3:27
130 -- Zach Fernande (MH) md John Holthaus, 10-2
135 -- Joe Kendrick (MH) p. Rob Bruffey, 2:43
140 -- Drew Staedeli (MH) d. Zack Wrisk, 4-3
145 -- Max Varipapa (MH) tf Thomas Matthew, 16-0
152 -- Kyle Eckart (How) p. Nick Lucchesi, 2:13
160 -- Nawwal Ibad (MH) won by forfeit
171 --Nick Loiselle (How) d. Nevin John, 3-2

Urbana 66, Centennial 17

160 -- Zach Portnoff (C) p. Daniel Johnston
171 -- Mike Vernelson (U) p. Dannial Siddiqui
189 -- Joe Rimel (U) p. Ed Wysocki
215 -- Matt Semelsberger (U) won by forfeit
285 -- Danny Hipkins (U) won by forfeit
103 -- Karl Brady (U) won by forfiet
112 -- Dave Abretski (U) p. Matt Nickell, 1:25
119 -- Brandon Plante (U) won by forfeit
125 -- Nathan Kraisser (C) tf Nick Frank, 19-4
130 -- Billy Krop (U) p. Macon Stanley, 3:18
135 -- JT Freeze (U) p. Hutson Baumann, 3:07
140 -- Jake Thomas (U) p. Sam Markose, :29
145 -- Dave Campbell (U) won by forfeit
152 -- Joey Wysocki (C) p. Alex Faucette