Boonsboro’s Halling, Mikus and Moss win region wrestling titles

MANCHESTER, Md. — With only a week remaining in the high school season, Boonsboro sophomore Tanner Halling is the lone Washington County wrestler who has yet to meet his match.

At the Maryland 2A-1A West region championships at Manchester Valley, no one was even close.

Halling went 3-0 with three pins to win the 120-pound title. In the finals Saturday night, he led 10-2 before pinning Northern Garrett’s Devon Opel in the second period to up his season record to 42-0.

“I just had to attack, attack, attack and push the score,” said Halling of his approach to the tournament. “If they get on my leg, well then we get them off my leg, and I just keep scoring.”

Halling is 79-1 for his high school career, his lone loss coming in the quarterfinals of last year’s state tournament, where he finished third at 106 pounds.

When he returns to states Friday at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, he’ll be aiming to finish two places higher.

“The state title would be nice. It’s one of my goals in high school, and I haven’t done it yet,” Halling said. “I’m just going to go out there and do my best and just keep pushing the score, no matter who they are. It doesn’t matter who they are. It doesn’t bother me.”

Even nerves don’t seem to get to him.

“I can’t lie. I’m always nervous,” he said. “But as soon as I touch the guy, my nerves go away and it’s just having fun, going through the motions.”

Boonsboro girls dominate in finals

Washington County’s other two region titles Saturday also were captured by Boonsboro wrestlers.

In the girls division, junior Amelia Mikus was the champion at 135 pounds for the Warriors, while teammate Adriana Moss, a sophomore, won the title at 140.

Mikus received a bye to the finals, where she pinned Smithsburg senior Allie Grossnickle in 1:15. It was a rematch of last weekend’s county final, which Mikus also won by pin.

“I went in with a game plan and I did my game plan, just the moves that I’ve been practicing,” she said.

Last year, Mikus was the state runner-up at 125.

“I plan on getting first this time,” she said. “I know there’s a lot of tough competition and that it will be a fight.”

To win her region title, Moss went 2-0 with two pins. In the finals, she stuck Winters Mill’s Addie Vallandingham in 1:12.

Moss credited Mikus for much of her improvement over the last year.

“I work out with Amelia and she really pushes me,” Moss said. “She’s definitely helped me out a lot. I really wanted to win so both of us could place first.”

Last year at states, Moss went 0-2 after earning her spot there by being the only girl in her weight class in the region.

“I’m really excited for states,” she said. “I’m more excited now because I actually worked myself to states and didn’t get a free walk.”

In the girls division, the top two finishers in each weight class in each region qualified for states.

For Smithsburg’s Grossnickle, this will be her third trip. She placed fourth at 145 last year after taking second in 2020. There was no tournament in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Three Boonsboro girls placed third Saturday — freshman Emma Bryant at 105, sophomore Morgan Cook at 110 and senior Michaela Carney at 130.

Hastings suffers first season loss

Seven other Washington County boys earned state berths by finishing in the top four in their brackets Saturday.

For Williamsport, sophomore Adin Hastings was the runner-up at 195, while junior Camden Hull (113) and senior Mason Wolfensberger (285) each placed third.

In a wild title bout at 195 against Middletown’s Alex Hoy — featuring six lead changes — Hastings trailed 5-4 after the first period and then led 8-7 after the second, before getting pinned with one second left in the third.

It was the first loss of the season for Hastings (40-1).

“I was definitely beating him on his feet. I just got caught a couple times,” he said. “That stuff happens. I’ll learn from it. Now, I have things I can work on.

“I’ll bring the state championship home.”

For Smithsburg, senior James Brashears was the runner-up at 170, while senior Clark Smith placed fourth at 152.

Boonsboro also got second-place finishes from sophomore Trevor Sowers (145) and junior Nate Elliott (220) and a fourth-place finish from senior Sean Cornell (285).

Sophomore Aidan Alvarez (106) and junior Nicky Anderson (126) each placed fifth for Williamsport, while senior Logan Ryan (145) placed fifth for Smithsburg.

Two Rebels qualify for states

In the 4A-3A West regional at Damascus, two South Hagerstown wrestlers qualified for states.

Senior Vince Raynor placed fourth at 152, while in the girls division, sophomore Grace Reynolds was the runner-up at 110.

North Hagerstown had a trio of fifth-place finishers — senior Joseph McClellan (132), junior Jacob Hart (195) and junior Garcia Ndosa-Kadiobo (220).

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: washington county wrestlers compete in region championships