BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s varsity wrestling team turned in a strong performance at the Bayside Championships last weekend with a second-place overall finish as a team and a handful of individual championships and top finishes.
North Caroline won the Bayside championship with a total of 241 points, while Decatur finished a close second with 212.5 points. Kent Island was third with 168. The Seahawks won two individual championships, collected four seconds and four fourths to go along with two seventh-place finishes. As a result, 10 Seahawk wrestlers advanced to the state regional championships this weekend.
At 106, Decatur’s Robert Kaminski beat Axavier Spencer of Cambridge-South Dorchester in his first bout, then beat Parkside’s Michael Daugherty to reach the finals. Kaminski beat Ryan Bauer of North Caroline in a 4-2 decision to with take first in the division.
At 132, Decatur’s Andy McKahan beat Richard Webster of North Dorchester in the first round, then beat Jake Becker of Parkside in the second round. McKahan then won a major decision over Colin Jensen of Queen Anne’s to reach the finals. In the championship match, McKahan beat Justin Thomas of Kent Island.
At 113, Decatur’s Josh Lawson earned a first-round bye and then beat Devin Webster of Snow Hill in his opener. Lawson then beat Brandon Suitt-McIntyre of North Caroline in the semifinals to earn a trip to the finals before falling to Nasir Tucker in the championship to earn second place.
Decatur’s Lukas Layton won his opener over Easton’s Josh Valdez at 152, then beat Chase Bowden of Mardela in the second round. Layton beat Nick Leisenring of Kent Island in the semis, but fell to Nick Zinkand of North Caroline in the title match to earn second place.
At 160, Decatur Tyler Vansice swept his first three, beating Donnie Forgan of Kent County, Jake Conner of North Dorchester and Jake Hipps of Kent Island to reach the finals. Vansice fell to Eddie Burgstahler of Easton in the championship bout and earned second place.
At 195, Decatur’s Dryden Brous beat Isaac Lawson of Wicomico in his opener, then beat Noah Schall of North Caroline to advance to the championship. In the title match, Brous fell to Bryan Outten of Snow Hill and earned a second-place finish.
At 120, Decatur’s Jeremy Danner beat Sinan Al-Smadi of Parkside in his opener, but fell to Decklan Fischer of Snow Hill in the second round. Danner then beat Varzuhan Wiseley of St. Michael’s and Wilson St. Surin of Wicomico to reach the third-place bout. Danner fell to Noe Cervantes of North Dorchester and earned a fourth-place finish.
At 145, Decatur’s Adam McInerney beat Brady Smith of Parkside in his opener, then fell to Sean Holiday of North Dorchester in the second round. McInerney then beat Ryan Salus of Kent Island, Blake Donaldson of Queen Anne’s and Evan Mansfield of Snow Hill to reach the third-place bout. McInerney lost to Holiday and earned a fourth-place finish.
At 182, Caleb Bourne beat Kean Shanahan in his opener, but fell to Khalil Harris of Cambridge-South Dorchester in his second match. Bourne then beat Josh Draper of Colonel Richardson to reach the third-place bout, but fell to Kent Island’s Arne Nelson and finished in fourth.
At 220, Jian Joobeen beat Ryan Rawlings of North Caroline in his opener, but lost to Markel Newman of Kent County in the second round. Joobeen the beat Parkside’s Brett Dudley, but fell to Kris Williams of Cambridge-South Dorchester to earn a fourth-place finish. Other Seahawk place winners included a seventh-place finish for Carl Echols at 126 and a seventh-place finish for Bobby Scafone at 138.