Hammond's wrestlers spent this season honoring former teammate Joe Killo, who spent the past year serving in Iraq as an Army Specialist manning a machine gun atop a Humvee, by wearing a yellow stripe on their singlets and e-mailing him during the top-ranked team's school-record setting season.
"We call wrestling a war, but what he does is a matter of life and death and puts what we do into perspective," Hammond 130-pound sophomore Vince Taweel said. "We always hoped that we would get to see him as soon as we could."
Old Mill's Greg Saumenig, top, grapples with Mervo's Lamone Wilson to win the 103-pound title as the Patriots claimed their 2nd region crown in three years.
(Don Wright For The Washington Post)
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The Golden Bears' wait came to end last night. Killo entered Glenelg High School just before the final round of the 2A South Region tournament and was swarmed by current and former team members.
"We heard this morning that he might make it," said Hammond 189-pound junior Steve Sessa. "And when we saw him walk in here, there was no way we were going to let him see us lose."
So Hammond gave one of its most inspired performances of the season, winning four individual titles and having five more place in the top three to cruise to the championship in the team competition with 190 points, ahead of Glenelg (149), Oakland Mills (140.5), Atholton (116) and Calvert (101.5).
"What they did for me while I was gone meant so much to me," said Killo, who won the region title in 2000 and finished third in the state meet as a 145-pound senior in 2001. "When I was alone out there in Iraq, the first thing I would think about is the people who care for me back home, and Hammond wrestling is like a family."
Killo, who was honored by tournament officials before the finals and was in charge of presenting awards, got to hand first-place certificates to some familiar Hammond faces: A.J. Smith (152), Ethan Cohen (119), Taweel and Sessa. The top four finishers in each weight class advanced to the state tournament, which is Friday and Saturday at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House.
Glenelg got first-place finishes from brothers Matt (160) and Danny Bichner (103). Oakland Mills had no champions but placed nine wrestlers in the top four in the 23-team field.
4A/3A East
Old Mill sophomore Nic Box and Chesapeake senior Matt Willis were deadlocked, 3-3, with 36 seconds left in the 140-pound final at yesterday's Maryland 4A/3A East Region championships when Box calmly jogged over to a nearby trash can and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Box then returned to the mat and beat Willis, 4-3, with an escape in overtime. The victory was crucial in helping the Patriots win the team title ahead of Arundel, 163.5-160.5, at South River.
"It was a win for myself, but more importantly, my team needed a win," said Box, his teeth blood-stained from biting his tongue after Willis's head slammed into his chin.
Box's individual title was one of four for the Patriots. Victories by Greg Saumenig (103), Chris Volker (152) and Keith Jones (275) helped Old Mill win its second region crown in three seasons.
Arundel freshman Nicole Woody became the first female to advance to the 4A/3A state tournament when she defeated Broadneck's Josh Tabor, 17-4, in the consolation semifinals. No female had advanced to states in any classification until Woody and Jade Hendricks of 2A/1A Western Tech did so yesterday.
"It's pretty cool being one of the first two girls to qualify for states," Woody said.
