Spalding wrestling downs neighboring rival Old Mill

Oct 27, 2024

Against the applause that met hairline matches, overwhelming pins and overtime battles, no sound throughout Spalding wrestling’s dual with Old Mill could rival it: the thunder that filled the gymnasium when old rivals RJ Duncan and Delmar White took the floor in the heavyweight finale.

White, who last saw Duncan after beating him, 1-0, in last season’s county championship while wrestling for Chesapeake, faced away from his old rival giving a silent prayer.

White, the No. 2-ranked heavyweight in the state, according to BillyB’s state rankings, figured he’d pin Duncan, ranked No. 3 and the defending Class 4A/3A state champion in the second, maybe third period. But even White couldn’t have predicted he’d take down Duncan late in the first period and earned that fall he dreamed of with 13 seconds left in the first.

Spalding secured its 49-24 victory. Even as Old Mill’s upperweights started racking wins, the Cavaliers’ victory was never in doubt. As his teammates and friends piled into White, he could not stop smiling.

“I’m just so happy,” he said. “We’ve been working hard in the room every day preparing for this.”

Both heavyweights took separate paths when White transferred to Spalding in the offseason. The junior lifted with his brother, played championship football in the fall and carved his body into rocky muscle. Duncan, he said, grew stronger too; White could tell.

But neither took the other off their minds all winter. On Tuesday, White stood with his team, watching the bouts as it crept closer to his, glancing to his nemesis. Duncan, usually found in the seats, paced in the background, even disappearing sometimes.

Old Mill coach Jim Grim knew that wasn’t right.

“He put too much pressure on himself tonight, for this and for us,” Grim said. “But matches where RJ goes out and pins guys in 10 seconds don’t make him any better. This match will.”

This particular match is also fuel White needs with No. 1 heavyweight, Loyola Blakefield’s Luke Randazzo, possibly looming in the MIAA championships.

“Del’s come such a long way since coming here from the public side,” Spalding coach Mike Laidley said. “And I know he respects a ton out of RJ, who I’m sure will be the state champion heavyweight again.”

On top of senior night and a point of pride between old foes and rivalrous neighbors, this match will serve both teams as necessary improvements on their roads to the postseason.

The Cavaliers overpowered the lighter Patriots (25-3), but just not enough to earn pins

At 126, Spalding’s Taina Fernandez tweaked Omar Khan’s limbs swiftly but methodically, physically seeking his moment of weakness while deftly defending his own attempts. By the start of the second, she led the Patriot, 11-2, but she was hunting a pin. When the official’s hand slapped the mat next to her, the freshman rose victorious to raucous applause. Likewise at 132, Sean Garretson kneaded Dekhi Church around the mat to an 8-3 lead until it was time to finish things.

Senior Vincent Paolucci almost didn’t get the chance to pin Montrell Johnson, racking up too many points by such moves as picking Johnson up like a sack of potatoes and gently laying him down for a takedown. His led 17-4 before finally getting a pin.

And yet, as much as Grim wanted those wins, he felt pride in the losses.

“I’m happy with how those younger guys wrestled. Even though they were up against much tougher competition, they fought so hard,” Grim said. “They didn’t back down one bit. They gave up points but they held off getting pinned. That’s gonna help us.”

Only Old Mill’s 152-pound Ruben Salas could disrupt that trend by meeting Ryder Kolat blow for blow and skirting from Kolat’s two-point attempts just in time. Salas scrounged a lead by escaping, but when it was time for Kolat to do the same in the third period, Salas vice-gripped him, every muscle straining to earn Old Mill points by any means possible.

That is, until the final five seconds.

Kolat shouldered one limb free, then another. At three seconds, he flushed loose. At two, he spun onto Salas’ back. At zero, Kolat took his 2-1 decision to riotous cheering.

Because Laidley put Fernandez in at 126, he slated the rest (except White) to wrestle a class up. He wasn’t completely surprised, then, when his upper weights didn’t fare as well as they’re used to.

At 165, Old Mill’s Dominic Hurley gripped Josh Taylor with the last of his strength to hold out his 3-2 decision — the Patriots’ first win since a forfeit at 106.

Noel Norman Williams (175) trailed Zane Gorman well into the third period up until he molded the senior onto his back. Finally, with just seconds left, they got the pin and Old Mill broke double digits at 43-15.

But that was just the beginning.

Old Mill’s Deven Perry locked with Luke Emmons into overtime at 1. Perry looped an arm under the Cavalier’s and used it as leverage to hoist himself atop for a 3-1 decision. At 215, Old Mill’s Xxavien Mackell didn’t need to survive anyone, claiming the quickest pin of the night over Luke Jerdal.

“I would’ve wished [Jerdal and Gorman] would’ve won on senior night. I know it’s a big thing. But Luke just had a great tournament at Ocean Lakes over the weekend,” Laidley said. “He got caught in a headlock. That Old Mill kid — it was a good move. And we’ll bounce back quickly. We have to, with Gilman tomorrow.”