Northern Garrett's roster is filled with athletes who seem to have been wrestling forever, and the experience showed. Jesse Shimrock (130) was runner-up at the Maryland State AA/A tournament last year, while Roy Holiday (112), Seth Huber (119), and regional champ Brandon Stein (125) were qualifiers.

Against Northern, Preston could manage only two wins, by Jarrett Jennings at 189 and Freshman Matt Miller at 275. Fairmont Senior won 3 of 14 bouts against Northern by Jonathon Delligatti at 103, defending State Champ Nicholas Hedrick at 145, and Dave Hearst at 275.

The Fairmont Senior/Preston match came down to the last bout. The Westsiders jumped out to a 31-9 lead after the first 8 bouts, but Preston clawed their way back in with pins by Freddie Harrison (152), Matt Thorn (171), and Mike Tibbs (215), and an injury default taken by Jarrett Jennings at 189 after the cobwebs failed to clear following a slam. With Fairmont holding on to a 35-33 lead going in to the final match, Dave Hearst clinched the victory for the Polar Bears with a 12-2 major decision over Preston's Matt Miller.

Notes:

• All three teams filled all thier weight classes and brought along their JV squad. The event took 4 1/2 hrs to complete on two mats.
• Maryland's state tournament is run in two divisions as is West Virginia's -- AAA and AA/A. Northern Coach Scott Stough points out that Maryland uses a "wrestle back" or "follow the leader" format - with the result that many wrestlers who lose in the first round are eliminated. Otherwise, Northern may have had more finalists last year.
• Fairmont Senior Coach Mark Delligatti reports that he had no eligibility problems for this first match and his squad is pretty much set for the year. Preston's lineup seems less settled at this point, with several wrestlers still looking for the right weight, some injury problems (Ricky Brandeau at 103) and some "too-few-practices" yet.

Northern Garrett (Md) 67 Preston 9

103 -- Blake Huber N p Matt Bulford 1:17
112 -- Roy Holiday N p Justin Miller 1:33
119 -- Seth Huber N p Josh Shockey 2:39
125 -- Brandon Stein N p Shawn Sigley 1:04
130 -- Paul Beitzel N p A.J. Tasker 1:46
135 -- Brandon Kamp N p D.J. Pyles 1:41
140 -- Jesse Shimrock N p Matt Simpson 4:53
145 -- Adam Brenneman N p Adam Foley 1:08
152 -- Mark Wolf N d Freddie Harrison 5-3
160 -- Matt Kaufman N p Bobby Baylor 0:36
171 -- David Wampler N md Matt Thorn 10-0
189 -- Jarrett Jennings P d Ryan Brenneman 4-3
215 -- Ryan Savage N p Mike Tibbs 2:21
275 -- Matt Miller P p Nick Garletman 5:44

Northern Garrett (Md) 56 Fairmont Senior 10

103 -- Jon Delligatti FS d Blake Huber 10-4
112 -- Roy Holiday N p Dustin Barnes 2nd
119 -- Seth Huber N p Brad Michalski 1st
125 -- Brandon Stein N p Cecelio Besares 1st
130 -- Paul Beitzel N p R.J. Straight 1st
135 -- Brandon Kamp N md Scott Hartlieb 16-4
140 -- Jesse Shimrock N md Jonathan Holt 14-0
145 -- Nick Hedrick FS md Adam Brenneman 17-6
152 -- Mark Wolf N d Matt Cinalli 6-1
160 -- Matt Kaufman N d Jeff Courtney 12-11
171 -- David Wampler N p Luke Corley 1st
189 -- Ryan Brenneman N p Holland Dotts 2nd
215 -- Ryan Savage N p Curtis Barber 2nd
275 -- Dave Hearst FS d Nick Garltman 15-9

Fairmont Senior 39 Preston 32

103 -- Jonathan Delligatti FS p Mat Bulford 3rd
112 -- Dustin Barnes FS p Justin Miller 1st
119 -- Brad Michalski FS p Josh Shockey 1st
125 -- Shawn Sigley P d Cecelio Besares 7-5
130 -- A.J. Tasker P p R.J. Straight 2nd
135 -- Scott Hartlieb FS d D.J. Pyles 10-3
140 -- Jonathan Holt FS md Matt Simpson 11-0
145 -- Nicholas Hedrick FS p Adam Foley 1:01
152 -- Freddie Harrison P p Matt Cinalli 2nd
160 -- Jeff Courtney FS md Bobby Baylor 12-3
171 -- Matt Thorn P p Luke Corley 1st
189 -- Jarrett Jennings P inj def Holland Dotts
215 -- Mike Tibbs P p Curtis Barber 1st
275 -- Dave Hearst FS md Matt Miller 12-2

Team point deduction from Preston

Updated December 5, 1998