Nik Antonelli is turning up the heat in anticipation of his final career run at the postseason.

The Annapolis senior “took down” assistant coach Tyler Scarinzi “a couple of times” at Monday’s practice, which is a rare occurrence against a man who was a former private schools state champion in three title-bout appearances at Archbishop Curley before graduating in 2008.

“I think he’s all-around more confident and overall a little bit more aggressive on his feet,” said Scarinzi, 32. “I’ve always made him work hard for everything he gets, but he’s gotten a lot hungrier so I have to work a little harder myself now.”

Antonelli leads the Panthers with a record of 34-3 while wrestling at 145 and 152 pounds, this after having gone 44-4 as a junior.

Antoneli attributes much of his success to the workouts with Scarinzi and fellow assistant Austin Stith, a former Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and private schools state champion at Mount St. Joseph in 2018.

“I roll around with Tyler and our other assistant coach, Austin Stith, and it’s good having them as mentors in the room,” Antonelli said. “Wrestling is an individual sport, but I really can’t say that I’d be the wrestler I am today without my teammates pushing me to my limits every day in practice.”

Antonelli was a freshman in 2020 when he finished fourth in the Anne Arundel County Tournament. The Panthers went 16-2 that year, finishing as Class 4A state dual meet tournament runners-up to repeat champion Springbrook of Montgomery County.

His older brother, Frank, was a junior 120-pounder on that Panthers’ squad, finishing first at counties and regions before being a state runner-up. Frank is now at the Naval Academy.

Nik wants to achieve similar results as Frank did as he and the Panthers seek vengeance at county rival Old Mill at 5:30 p.m. in Tuesday’s Class 4A East regional dual quarterfinals.

“When Old Mill beat us, we were up by four points going into the heavyweight match, and they have a very tough heavyweight,” said coach Tom Sfakyanudis, a former county champion at Annapolis High.

“We have a very young team, so we’re definitely taking it one match at a time. If we can keep from giving up bonus points in a couple of our matches, we can definitely give Old Mill a run.”

Antonelli also wants redemption against South River’s state runner-up Sam Ditmars, a Naval Academy-bound senior and returning county and Class 4A East region champion.

Ditmars has a 6-0 lifetime record against Antonelli, who is headed for Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

“Sam beat me 5-3 in the regional finals last year,” said Antonelli, who has wrestled Ditmars twice this year at 145 pounds. “I wrestled him in our first dual meet and lost, 5-2, and I lost to him, 4-3, at the South River tournament.”

Ironically, Ditmars’ older brother, Nate, was a senior 138-pound county champion at Annapolis as Antonelli’s teammate in 2020.

“I think my coach wants me to go 152 for states because he thinks it’s better for the team,” Antonelli said. “I think my odds are better for states at 152, but I wouldn’t mind getting another shot at Sam at some point later this season.”

After missing weight for the county tournament as a junior, Antonelli rebounded to finish second in the Class 4A East regions and third at states.

A year ago, Antonelli pinned his way into the regional finals where he lost, 8-4, to Sam Ditmars. At states, Antonelli went 4-1, losing his semi final bout, 9-5, to eventual state title-winner Isaac Guttentag of Bethesda-Chevy Chase in Montgomery County. Guttentag edged Ditmars, 11-7, in the state finals.

Antonelli has split bouts with seventh-ranked junior Charlie Gessford of Archbishop Spalding, pinning him once before losing in overtime.

Old Mill’s senior eighth-ranked regional runner-up, Bryan Arevelo, lost 10-0 to Antonelli, who also vanquished Severna Park’s 10th-ranked regional Nate Kohler, 14-8.

“I’ve got some great coaches in the room who know what they’re doing, and I’ve been getting into some great, college-level exchanges with Austin with non-stop movement,” Antonelli said. “One of our teammates is back from injury and he’ll be an asset against Old Mill. Starting right now, my teammates and I are coming together and we’re grinding. I think it’ll be that way for the remainder of the season.”