BERLIN, MARYLAND – The War on the Shore Tournament hosted by Stephen Decatur High School has long been one of the toughest tournaments in the state of Maryland. With Mount Mat Madness and a few other tournaments folding, the War now stands as the uncontested toughest gauntlet in the state.
The field consisted of multiple state ranked teams by the MSWA. No. 1 Mount St. Joseph, No. 4 Loyola, No. 7 Stephen Decatur, No. 8 St. Frances Academy, No. 21 Hammond, No. 24 Bullis, plus honorable mention teams, Rising Sun and Kent Island. Delaware powers Sussex Central and Caesar Rodney were also in the fold along with strong squads from CT and PA.
St. Joe was short a few wrestlers this weekend but still found a way to prevail over Sussex Central. The Gaels held a lead over the Tigers throughout the tournament, but it was close. After the first day, it was 127-116, going into the final round, 211.5-196. St. Joe was 25.5 points ahead at the end, 243.5-218.
“The War on the Shore is a fun and competitive experience for our team,” St. Joe coach Harry Barnabae said. “We look forward to attending the event every season. We expected a strong showing from our upperclassmen and they did not disappoint us. I was very happy to see that Coleman Nogle and Gavin Bage, our two graduating seniors, finished on top of the podium in their last War tournament as MSJ wrestlers. Both are having excellent seasons and are trending upwards as we head into the MIS State tournament and National Preps.”
No. 1 Gavin Bage may have closed the curtain on the show, but his victory was extra sweet because the foe he discarded was the No. 2 guy in the state, Colonel Richardson’s Austin Alexander. Alexander, a state runner-up last year, was fresh off a 9-3 dismantling of No. 3 Luke Randazzo (Loyola), but that didn’t faze the senior at all. Bage took control of the match early and never looked back, eventually ending Alexander’s day at the 3:32 mark of the second period. Bage was second here last year.
“It was really fun going against someone who’s ranked right there next to me,” Bage offered. “Someone who I won’t be able to see at states or any other tournaments. He came out very strong, but I’m feeling good, working very hard in the room and have an amazing coaching staff helping me get better and better every week.”
The Gaels put five combatants into the finals, and all five walked away as titlists. No. 1 Carter Nogle (120), who is No. 24 nationally in SB Live’s rankings, posted a 5-1 win over Bullis’ No. 7 Bryan Santangelo. It was Carter’s second title in a row at this event.
No. 1 Coleman Nogle (126) roared to his first War championship, taking out Evan Cordrey in barely over a minute, 1:19. The senior, who is No. 13 in the nation, pinned his way to the finals, only lasting until the second period once. Nogle was a runner-up last year to Connor Collins (Southern Regional, NJ), and fifth as a freshman. His sophomore year was lost during the COVID year.
No. 6 Ben Smith (160) picked up a pin in his final showdown with Caesar Rodney’s Cody Waski, planting him 46 seconds into the second period. Smith, a sophomore and Maryland native, is new to the Gaels after focusing on freestyle and wrestling in Ohio as a freshman.
No. 1 Bryce Phillips (No. 17 in the country) executed a methodical yet dominant run through the bracket for his second War crown. Two early falls, coupled with a tech-fall led him to the finals where he encountered No. 3 Camren Wright (St. Frances Academy). Again, the methodical approach of Phillips prevailed here as he authored a 10-4 win.
No. 5 Austin Lewis (182) posted an upset in his bronze medal bout with No. 3 Mason Testerman (Rising Sun). Lewis answered a late takedown from Testerman with a quick reversal to stave off overtime and claim a 7-5 victory.
Unranked Maximus Conley (132) also put unexpected points towards the Gaels winning tally. In his seventh-place match, he edged No. 14 Gregory Couch (Kent Island), 6-5.
Rounding out St. Joe’s placers were Cameron Cannaday third at 152 (ranked No. 7 at 145), No. 15 Jake Tamai (4th at 113) and James Wright (8th at 106).
Loyola-Blakefield was the next highest placing Baltimore Area team, placing fifth with 154 points. No. 2 Judah Aybar paced the Dons with an impressive title run that included two pins and a tech-fall en route to the finals where his opponent, Leonard Ashley (Granby, VA), was befallen by injury and could not continue.
Randazzo recovered from his loss to Alexander to grab a bronze, joining him in that honor were Jayden Jackson (113, No. 6 at 106) and Nevan McKneeley (138). Loyola’s other award winners were No. 6 Logan Kisner (132) and Aiden Bird (195) landing in the fourth spot, plus Josh Hale (126) and No. 2 Chance Miller (220) finishing eighth.
St. Frances Academy had a stellar weekend, placing nine wrestlers, and finishing sixth with 144 points. The Panthers lone finalist was Camren Wright. Placing fourth were No. 18 Noah Shird (126) and Ladaynean Simpson (145, No. 18 at 152). No. 20 James Carrington was fifth at 285.
Standing in the No. 6 position were Christian Wright (113), Jayson Wright (138) and No. 24 Douglas Johnson (195). Chase Carpintieri (152, No. 19 at 160) and Derrick Grant (170, honorable mention) were seventh.
Rising Sun’s No. 1 Tyler Garvin (113) found himself in a tight battle that put his undefeated high school record in jeopardy. Sussex Central’s Malachi Stratton pushed the nations’ No. 16 grappler into overtime, where the junior secured the winning takedown mid-way through the initial extra frame.
“Not the way that I wanted to win in overtime,” Garvin said. “But I’m grateful to have the opportunity to compete and have a great support system. I’m looking forward to getting back in the practice room on Monday”
Garvin’s title tacked on points that resulted in a top ten finish for the Tigers (9th with 120.5 points). No. 11 Elijah Farr (220) was Rising Sun’s next star. Farr decked No. 2 Miller in his quarter finals match, lost to St. Joe’s Phillips in the semis, then procured a third-place award.
Teammates joining them on the podium were Testerman and No. 10 Zach Garvin (138) with fourth place finishes. No. 10 Adan Stewart (106) was seventh and No. 13 Xzavier Brown (113), eighth.
Hammond had two grapplers work their way into seventh place finishes, No. 21 Jonathan Neypes (160) and Raynard Kanu (285).
In addition to the local stars who are nationally ranked, there was one more competitor in the field holding a national ranking, No. 22 Raekwon Shabazz (Xavier, CT). Shabazz was fifth at the Beast of the East. Here, he took out the host school’s highly touted freshman No. 6 Elijah Collick, 11-2.
Stephen Decatur was fourth and crowned two champions. Both wrestled their hearts out and battled back from deficits at different times. At 132, Logan Intrieri (No. 7 at 138) was seeded No. 2 and decked the No. 1 seed Kyle Levesque (Xavier) with one second left on the clock of the first period, 1:59.
State runner-up No. 3 Gavin Solito fell behind early in his bout with Bullis’ Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (No. 8 at 160), but battled back for the win, 14-5, much as he did in his semifinal meeting with Hudson Saylor (Whitehall, PA), which he won, 6-5.
Xavier crowned Anthony Bastile (138) as their second gold medalist. Sussex Central’s two champions were Gabe Cannon (170) and Ivan Neal (195). Melquann Warren won the 182lb title for Whitehall.
***National rankings referenced here are from SB Live’s National Rankings. State rankings are from the MSWA’s rankings.
Team Scores: (top 15)
1-Mt. St. Joseph 243.5
2-Sussex Central, DE 218
3-Xavier, CT 175
4-Stephen Decatur 158.5
5-Loyola 154
6-St. Frances Academy 144
7-Whitehall, PA 138
8-Caesar Rodney, DE 120.5
9-Rising Sun 120
10-Coatesville, PA 110.5
11-Granby, VA 92
12-Leonardtwon 87
13-Lake Braddock, VA 81
14-Bullis 76
15-Damascus 76
106
1st Place Match
Raekwon Shabazz (Xavier) 26-3, Jr. over Elijah Collick (Stephen Decatur) 27-2, Fr. (MD 11-2)
3rd Place Match
Korlan Tran (Lake Braddock) 27-4, Sr. over Alexander McEvoy (Caesar Rodney) 21-9, Sr. (Fall 3:57)
5th Place Match
Wilmont Kai (Whitehall ) 17-5, Fr. over Ellis Kirsch (Bullis School) 26-3, So. (For.)
7th Place Match
James Wright (Mt Saint Joes) 16-8, Fr. over Adan Stewart (Rising Sun) 27-3, Fr. (Dec 3-0)
113
1st Place Match
Tyler Garvin (Rising Sun) 29-0, Jr. over Malachi Stratton (Sussex Central) 27-4, So. (SV-1 7-5)
3rd Place Match
Jayden Jackson (Loyola-Blakefield) 11-2, Fr. over Jake Tamai (Mt Saint Joes) 10-2, Fr. (Dec 4-3)
5th Place Match
Cole Moffett (Caesar Rodney) 27-8, So. over Christian Wright (St Frances Academy) 6-4, Fr. (Fall 2:17)
7th Place Match
Braylon Gonzalez (Xavier) 13-3, Fr. over Juan Hinojosa (Stephen Decatur) 20-6, So. (MD 9-1)
120
1st Place Match
Carter Nogle (Mt Saint Joes) 66-7, Jr. over Bryan Santangelo (Bullis School) 20-1, Jr. (Dec 5-1)
3rd Place Match
Trevor Copes (Caesar Rodney) 27-6, So. over Andrij Szczesniuk (Coatesville ) 9-2, So. (Dec 7-5)
5th Place Match
Chase Murray (Sussex Central) 25-6, Jr. over Kevin Kasperowski (Xavier) 20-8, Jr. (Dec 5-4)
7th Place Match
Xzavier Brown (Rising Sun) 28-3, So. over Jazmon Snead (Delmar Junior-Senior H S) 25-9, So. (Dec 9-2)
126
1st Place Match
Coleman Nogle (Mt Saint Joes) 106-8, Sr. over Evan Cordrey (Sussex Central) 22-7, So. (Fall 1:20)
3rd Place Match
Reid Caimi (Stephen Decatur) 24-5, Jr. over Noah Shird (St Frances Academy) 21-8, So. (MD 12-4)
5th Place Match
Jack Hooks (Kent Island) 27-4, Sr. over Rohan (RJ) Bucknor (Bullis School) 9-5, So. (M. For.)
7th Place Match
Nick Moore (Caesar Rodney) 24-8, Fr. over Joshua Hale (Loyola-Blakefield) 18-10, Fr. (Dec 7-4)
132
1st Place Match
Logan Intrieri (Stephen Decatur) 27-1, Sr. over Kyle Levesque (Xavier) 23-4, Jr. (Fall 1:59)
3rd Place Match
Talan Savage (Sussex Central) 25-6, Jr. over Logan Kisner (Loyola-Blakefield) 20-8, Sr. (M. For.)
5th Place Match
Alexis Vasquez (Granby) 21-4, Sr. over Nathan Moore (Caesar Rodney) 19-13, Fr. (MD 16-4)
7th Place Match
Maximus Conley (Mt Saint Joes) 17-8, Jr. over Greg Couch (Kent Island) 23-8, Jr. (Dec 6-5)
138
1st Place Match
Anthony Basile (Xavier) 21-5, Jr. over Walter Smith (Granby) 21-4, Jr. (Dec 16-11)
3rd Place Match
Nevan McKneely (Loyola-Blakefield) 16-8, Fr. over Zach Garvin (Rising Sun) 27-3, Fr. (Fall 0:38)
5th Place Match
Rocco Tully (Parkside) 21-5, So. over Jayson Wright (St Frances Academy) 20-9, Jr. (Fall 4:06)
7th Place Match
Jason Seagreaves (Coatesville ) 4-5, Sr. over Dylan Bennett (Caesar Rodney) 12-11, Jr. (M. For.)
145
1st Place Match
Judah Aybar (Loyola-Blakefield) 29-3, Jr. over Leonard Ashley (Granby) 15-1, So. (Inj. 2:15)
3rd Place Match
Andrew Long (Sussex Central) 21-4, Sr. over Ladaynean Simpson (St Frances Academy) 26-3, So. (Fall 0:59)
5th Place Match
Evan Seagreaves (Coatesville ) 13-7, Sr. over Seth Pascoe (Whitehall ) 11-7, Jr. (Dec 9-5)
7th Place Match
Jaxon Kopp (Caesar Rodney) 18-10, Sr. over Braxton McAvey (James M Bennett Senior) 21-8, So. (MD 19-6)
152
1st Place Match
Gavin Solito (Stephen Decatur) 28-1, Jr. over Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (Bullis School) 26-5, So. (MD 14-5)
3rd Place Match
Cameron Cannaday (Mt Saint Joes) 34-11, So. over Hudson Saylor (Whitehall ) 15-6, Sr. (UTB 3-3)
5th Place Match
D`Marion Melton (Granby) 22-5, Sr. over Matt Ferrucci (Xavier) 21-8, Sr. (Dec 13-6)
7th Place Match
Chase Carpintieri (St Frances Academy) 20-6, So. over Joe Gruner (Damascus) 21-9, Sr. (Dec 7-5)
160
1st Place Match
Benjamin Smith (Mt Saint Joes) 22-2, So. over Cody Waski (Caesar Rodney) 22-6, Sr. (Fall 2:46)
3rd Place Match
Jadyn Craig (Sussex Central) 23-5, Sr. over Julian Schott (Woodbridge) 21-4, Sr. (For.)
5th Place Match
Jacen McLeod (Leonardtown) 22-6, So. over Preston Saylor (Whitehall ) 8-11, So. (Fall 2:41)
7th Place Match
Jonathan Neypes (Hammond) 24-7, Sr. over Canaan Mapp (Parkside) 20-6, So. (Dec 5-4)
170
1st Place Match
Gabe Cannon (Sussex Central) 25-4, Jr. over Lucas Matheny (Lake Braddock) 27-3, Jr. (Fall 1:08)
3rd Place Match
Sean Douglas (Damascus) 23-5, Sr. over Jack Weldon (Coatesville ) 13-6, So. (Dec 5-2)
5th Place Match
Parker Intrieri (Stephen Decatur) 19-9, Jr. over AJ Kuntz (Leonardtown) 22-7, So. (Fall 4:45)
7th Place Match
Derrick Grant (St Frances Academy) 22-8, So. over Breaden Wood (Octorara Area HS) 16-7, Jr. (Fall 0:43)
182
1st Place Match
Melquan Warren (Whitehall ) 16-2, Sr. over Charles Weidman (Xavier) 25-3, So. (Fall 1:34)
3rd Place Match
Austin Lewis (Mt Saint Joes) 49-16, Jr. over Mason Testerman (Rising Sun) 23-2, Jr. (7-5)
5th Place Match
Giuseppe Mellinger (Kent Island) 26-5, Jr. over Brad Mueller (Parkside) 9-6, Fr. (Fall 4:23)
7th Place Match
Michael Adkinson (Woodbridge) 13-10, Sr. over Nate McDaniel (Stephen Decatur) 13-13, So. (Fall 5:23)
195
1st Place Match
Ivan Neal (Sussex Central) 24-5, Sr. over Jacob Ehret (Damascus) 24-4, Jr. (Dec 5-1)
3rd Place Match
James Hopkins (Whitehall ) 16-4, Fr. over Aiden Bird (Loyola-Blakefield) 15-12, Jr. (Dec 8-4)
5th Place Match
Matthew Luton (Coatesville ) 11-7, Jr. over Douglas Johnson (St Frances Academy) 19-7, So. (Dec 5-3)
7th Place Match
Adam Mitchell (Octorara Area HS) 15-8, So. over Oren Lacey (Leonardtown) 11-8, So. (Fall 4:49)
220
1st Place Match
Bryce Phillips (Mt Saint Joes) 72-6, Jr. over Camren Wright (St Frances Academy) 21-2, Jr. (Dec 10-4)
3rd Place Match
Elijah Farr (Rising Sun) 27-3, So. over Trent Pane (Lake Braddock) 23-7, So. (Fall 1:20)
5th Place Match
Vin Scileppi (Xavier) 16-7, Sr. over Robert Stailey (Leonardtown) 19-5, So. (Dec 5-0)
7th Place Match
Ryder Robinson (Sussex Central) 20-9, Sr. over Chance Miller (Loyola-Blakefield) 19-8, Sr. (Fall 2:46)
285
1st Place Match
Gavin Bage (Mt Saint Joes) 46-6, Sr. over Austin Alexander (Colonel Richardson) 23-1, Sr. (Fall 3:33)
3rd Place Match
Luke Randazzo (Loyola-Blakefield) 24-6, So. over Ethan Stanalonis (Leonardtown) 23-6, Jr. (Fall 2:25)
5th Place Match
James Carrington (St Frances Academy) 26-5, Fr. over Dylan McGuire (Coatesville ) 7-6, Sr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match
Raynard Kanu (Hammond) 12-7, Sr. over Daryl Woral (Woodbridge) 14-14, Jr. (Fall 2:49)
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