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Wrestlers hope to conquer Mount Mat
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McDonogh senior Josh Fitch, front, will be vying for gold at this weekend’s Mount Mat Madness Tournament.
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Severna Park coach Paul Joyce is quick to point out four of his wrestlers placed in last year’s 4A/3A state tournament. But he is equally quick to note none of those wrestlers came close to the medal podium at the Mount Mat Madness Tournament.
“That tournament is tougher than any event — dual meet or tournament — that we’ll be involved in all year,” he said, “including the state tournament.”
Severna Park is one of a dozen area teams who will compete at this weekend’s Mount Mat Madness Tournament, which is considered one of the toughest in the Mid-Atlantic region. A field of 28 teams from four states — Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania — will convene at Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville campus for the two-day event which begins Friday afternoon at 2:30 and concludes with the finals on Saturday night at 7:30.
The event gives many of the state’s top public school teams, including Glenelg, Hereford, Old Mill and Rising Sun of Cecil County, their only opportunity to face the region’s best squads because Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association rules regulate how many miles teams can travel for competitions.
“A lot of the public schools in the area don’t have the luxury of traveling out of state like the private schools do,” Mount St. Joseph wrestling coach Kirk Salvo said. “This tournament brings all of the top schools in the area together and it just keeps getting bigger every year. Whenever we go to a school in Pennsylvania or Virginia, schools are always asking us how we can get involved in the Mount Mat Madness.”
Salvo said winning the tournament is a big deal for his team, but not as important as winning the MIAA title, the state private school championship or doing well at National Preps. Still, he said Mount Mat Madness plays an integral role in preparing his team for the postseason.
“There is so much involved in putting a tournament like this together that it can be a distraction at times,” Salvo said. “We’ve finished first the first year, second the second year, third the third year and fourth the fourth year so we’re hoping to reverse that trend. The most important part of this tournament is providing positive exposure for the sport of wrestling.”
To underscore the difficulty of the Mount Mat Madness, even a three-time public school state champion like Hereford 171-pounder Josh Asper knows there is no guarantee he will win this weekend.
“It’s going to be my toughest test to date,” Asper said. “This is the first time we’ve wrestled in it, so if I can win it will go down as one of my greatest accomplishments.”
Mount Mat Madness
» When: 2:30 p.m. on Friday; 8:30 a.m. on Saturday (championships scheduled for 7:30 p.m.)
» Where: CCBC-Catonsville
» Tickets: $10 per session; $25 tournament pass; $16 Saturday pass; children under 6 free
» Teams: Maryland: Curley, Boys’ Latin, Calvert Hall, DeMatha, Glenelg, Hammond, Harford Tech, Hereford, La Plata, McDonogh, Mount. St, Joseph, Old Mill, Rising Sun, Severna Park, South Carroll, Walkersville, Whitman. Delaware: Caravel Academy, Hodgson Vo-Tech, St. Marks. Pennsylvania: Cedar Cliff, Dallastown, Spring Grove, Westmont-Hilltop, Wyoming Seminary. Virginia: Forest Park, Mountain View, Robinson.
rsnyder@baltimoreexaminer.com
