The Iron Horses

Hoisting a championship trophy for the 3rd time this season

The Southern Ram wrestling team entered this weekend's Iron Horse Duals with a perfect 20-0 record, two other tournament championships under their belts and the goal of making it 3 for 3 on the season.  The tournament was stacked with numerous teams throughout the state who were worthy of state rankings and we knew the path to the title would not be easy.

The Rams started to tournament with a match against the John Carroll Patriots.  Sophomore Colum McCann got things started quickly, pinning his opponent in only 15 seconds for our first score.  Southern started pouring on the points, building a 58-14 lead heading into the final bout with pitted freshman Aiden Schwab against the first of three state ranked wrestlers he would face during the tournament.  Schwab was fired up and ready and tore into his opponent, scoring 5 quick points and then picking up the win by fall before the first period ended.  The final team score was Southern 64 - John Carroll 14.

In the second round, Southern faced off against the team from Walter Johnson High School.  The match started at 120 and is was quickly 50-0 before WJ was able to score their first (and only) points of the match.  The highlight bout was an exciting 9-6 victory for senior Evan Paugh at 132.  The final tally for round 2 was Southern 74 - Walter Johnson 3.

Our third match of the tournament would be a bit tougher.  In round three, we faced off against the 18th ranked team in the state from Bel Air High School.  The match started at 132 and we soon found ourselves behind 8-0 after the first two bouts.  At 145 and 152, Jake Sweitzer and Jace Guy scored pins for the Rams to give us a lead we would never give up.  Pins at 285, 106 and 113 would stretch our lead to 38-20 and seal the match for Southern going into the final two bouts.  At 106, Aiden Schwab would pick up his second pin against a ranked opponent when he decked Ethan Vogel in the third period after building a 10-0 lead.  Brogan Kealy and Nate Tasker would each wrestle tough matches against state ranked wrestlers but would both drop decision to bring the final team score to 38-26 in favor of the Southern Rams.

Saturday started with a match up against the tough 1A/2A West team from Liberty High School.  On this day, Southern was the better team and used 5 pins, 3 forfeits and a decision to bring the final team score to 51-25 in the Rams favor.  The top match of this dual was a 5-4 victory by Nate Tasker in a bout where he found himself behind 4-1 and battled back for the victory.

Our 5th match of the tournament would be against Howard High School, coached by former Ram wrestler, a 2X state finalist for Southern and 3X collegiate All-American and career wins leader for University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Daniel Carr.  Carr's alma mater was just too strong for his current team as Southern scored early and often and came away with the 69-9 victory.  The top bout of the duals was between Southern's Jace Guy and Howard's Shayan Kassiri, both highly ranked wrestlers.  On this day, Jace Guy held the upper hand, coming away with a dominating 7-0 decision.

In round 6, we battled the team from North County and won 66-9 on the strength of 8 pins.  The best match of this round was again by Evan Paugh.  At the close of the first period, Paugh was down 6-1 to one of North County's top wrestlers.  Evan score a near fall in the second and smelled blood in the water.  In the third period, Paugh chose the top position and was able to score the win by fall at the 5:00 mark of the bout.

A great crowd watching a great match

Our 7th match of the weekend was the showdown between the Eastern Shore powerhouse Stephen Decatur.  The Seahawks entered the tournament ranked 14th in the state.  A trip to the tournament finals was on the line and it turned out to be an epic battle.  Decatur took and early lead after wins at 132 and 138 but as usual, Jake Sweitzer and Jace Guy put the Rams back on top 11-9 after the first four bouts.  Declan McCann won by decision at 160 to stretch our lead to 14-9, but big wins for Decatur at 170, 182 and 195 gave them a 26-14 lead.  Our two big men did their job and 220 and 285 with pins for Southern to tie the score at 26 heading into the lower weights and some of the Seahawks top wrestlers.  At 106, Aiden Schwab dominated his third state ranked wrestler of the weekend, scoring a major decision.  At 113, Decatur sent of their state runner-up who scored a fall to give the lead back to his team at 32-30.  The bout at 120 featured state ranked wrestlers for both squads and it was a match worthy of the rankings.  Southern's Brogan Kealy took the lead and held on until late in the match when D'Amico was able to take the lead and hold on for the victory.  The match stood at 35-30 in favor of the Seahawks with only the bout at 126 remaining.  Southern needed a pin to win and the Ram's senior co-captain took the mat with that being his sole focus.  Tasker scored first and worked hard trying to get the fall.  The first and second periods expired with Tasker in the lead in the bout, but the Rams trailing in the team score.  Tasker chose top in the third and kept grinding until he was able to lock in the pinning combination and score the fall to an erupting crowd of Southern fans.  Southern would win 36-35 in a great battle between two excellent wrestling teams.

The finals would be a rematch between the Southern Rams and Leonardtown.  Southern won by 6 back in December but a lot has changed since that afternoon in Westminster.  The match started with Jake Sweitzer winning his 8th match of the tournament and his 6th pin of the event giving the Rams a 6-0 lead.  The bout at 152 was between Jace Guy and Leonardtown's Trevor Crowley, both highly ranked in the state.  Guy won the earlier match-up but this time it was Crowley's turn.  The 7-4 decision tightened the team score to 6-3 in the Rams favor.  At 160, Declan McCann scored a decision for Southern but Leonardtown's John Podsednik tied the team score up with a 21 second pin.  That is as close as it would get as Southern rolled off 6 straight victories, with 5 coming by way of pin to seal the championship for Southern.  Leonardtown won the final four bouts but it was too little, too late.  The Rams held on to the 42-33 victory, earning the title of 2019 Iron Horse Duals Champions.

Team Results
Southern 64 - John Carroll 14
Southern 74 - Walter Johnson 3
Southern 38 - Bel Air 26
Southern 51 - Liberty 24
Southern 69 - Howard 9
Southern 66 - North County 9
Southern 36 - Stephen Decatur 35
Southern 42 - Leonardtown 33

Individual Results
8-0 - Aiden Schwab (5 pins)
8-0 - Jake Sweitzer (6 pins)
8-0 - Cole Sweitzer (6 pins)
7-1 - Jace Guy (4 pins)
7-1 - Declan McCann (2 pins)
7-1 - Hunter Park (3 pins)
6-2 - Colum McCann (6 pins)
6-2 - Nate Tasker (3 pins)
5-3 - Brogan Kealy (2 pins)
5-3 - Evan Paugh (3 pins)
4-4 - Hunter Sanders (4 pins)
4-4 - Cameron Glover (1 pin)
3-3 - Cole Baker (2 pins)