Good Counsel wrestling sets a new standard in its breakthrough campaign
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Version 0 of 1. Paul Hutton rose from the mat and felt his high school wrestling career come full circle. He had just beaten St. Paul’s freshman Jack Parr for the 170-pound Maryland Independent Schools state title, helping his Good Counsel team cruise to its first state championship since 2013. Hutton was a freshman on that 2013 team, the first to bring Maryland’s top prize to the Olney private school. On Feb. 20 he was one of several seniors soaking up Good Counsel’s second state crown and taking stock of the powerhouse they had built. “Freshman year I was just a member of the team,” said Hutton, who took fifth at states that season. “This year I was more of a leader. I scored more points for my team and felt more involved in it, so it was kind of cool to see the difference between freshman year and senior year.” Good Counsel’s state triumph at McDonogh School hardly came as a shock, and they went wire to wire this winter to finish as The Post’s top-ranked team. The Falcons were heavy favorites going into the state meet, and they left nothing to chance with a 66.5-point gap between themselves and runner-up McDonogh. Yet it was still jarring to see them go six for six in finals matches after winding up losing all six individual finals in which they had a wrestler during their third-place finish last year. That sort of dominance became just a matter of routine for Good Counsel this year as they won six of the 10 tournaments they entered, including a fourth consecutive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title. They also finished eighth at Beast of the East and fourth at National Preps, the highest finishes in school history at those events. Seven of their wrestlers topped 40 wins on the season. Even with all the accolades, the Falcons never lacked motivation. Coaches pushed them to aim for meet records, raise the bar higher and, most of all, become better wrestlers. “A big thing was to get better at wrestling,” Hutton said. “Not just try to go out and win, but the goal was to go out there and get better at wrestling.” That mindset certainly paid off for Hutton and the rest of a senior class that will be sorely missed next season. Hutton committed to wrestle at Indiana in January, while Kevin Snyder will wrestle at Ohio State alongside his brother, two-time All-Met Wrestler of the Year Kyle Snyder. Kevin Budock will wrestle at Old Dominion and Garrett Neff at Duke. Still, those seniors might only be laying the foundation for something greater. Brady Daniel, Bailey Thomas and Paul Purkey will return next season as individual state champions, and the Falcons’ underclassmen will get stronger when the team’s offseason strength and conditioning program gets underway on Monday. Good Counsel has come a long way since a brash 24-year-old named Skylar Saar took over a mediocre wrestling team in 2004. State titles were the ultimate goal then, just as national titles are the ultimate goal now. Saar knows Blair (N.J.) and Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) didn’t become the top two finishers at National Preps by default. It was the culmination of a process he believes is well underway at Good Counsel. “Let’s figure out how to do it and how to beat them,” Saar said. “If you set your goals higher, I think we can go further.” Junior Scott Obendorfer and senior Colin McLaughlin finished second at the individual Maryland 4A/3A meet, and for the second year in a row, Damascus brought home both state dual meet and team tournament championships. . . . Battlefield sophomore River Curtis and freshman Brandon Wittenberg helped the Bobcats defend their 6A North region title and finish in second place in the 6A state tournament. . . . Hayfield went unbeaten in its regular season conference slate for the third year in a row and finished third at the 6A state tournament. . . . Robinson junior Sam Book beat previously undefeated Dante Wiles in the 120-pound state final to lead the Rams to fifth place at the 6A state meet. . . . WCAC runner-up St. John’s followed its D.C. championship with an 11th-place finish at National Preps, its best finish at the season-ending event in Bethlehem, Pa. . . . Glenelg won region titles in dual meet and tournament competition. . . McLean won Conference 6 and placed fourth at the 6A state tournament. . . . Juniors Nick Sulhoff and Gino Sita, sophomore Tristan Breen and senior Dejuan Marble all placed at the Maryland 4A/3A state meet to help the Huntingtown to a fourth-place finish. 1. Good Counsel (9-0) Last ranked: 1 2. Damascus (23-0) LR: 2 3. Battlefield (11-3) LR: 3 4. Hayfield (12-3) LR: 9 5. Robinson (10-0) LR: 4 6. St. John’s (14-7) LR: NR 7. Glenelg (28-2) LR: 6 8. McLean (23-9) LR: 7 9. Spalding (8-3) LR: 5 10. Huntingtown (33-3) LR: 8 Final records. |