County Wrestling: Corwine turns defense to offense yet again, Lancers claim another team title

Feb. 18—Morgon Corwine has always relied on offense to win wrestling matches.

Not his own, mind you. The Brunswick High junior said he's just become more comfortable with shooting in the past year, his 12th on the mat.

Rather, Corwine is so good at fending off shots and so difficult to take down that he's become very proficient at using his opponent's offensive maneuvers to his advantage.

"It's like he's telling people to shoot, and baiting them into it," Brunswick wrestling coach Scott Tilles said. "And he always gets the points. Sometimes, I get worried because it looks like he is in trouble, and he amazes me by getting out of it."

Catoctin sophomore Hunter Bradshaw found out the hard way Saturday night in the 152-pound final at the Frederick County Public Schools wrestling championships at Frederick High School.

Just when it looked like Bradshaw was going to secure an early single-leg takedown, Corwine used a common counter maneuver in such scenarios known as the spladle and pinned Bradshaw 58 seconds into the bout for his second county title.

"I have trained it for a while now," Corwine said of wrestling defensively. "That's all I do at practice. For a long time, that's all I did. I was in middle school, that's all I did. I never shot. So, I got pretty good at [defensive wrestling]."

Over the course of 14 championship bouts, Corwine's was one of nine pins at the county tournament, which was won by Linganore for the second time in four years.

The Lancers generated 226 points to complete the sweep of the team titles at the regional, state and county meets over the last two weeks. Teams points are no longer awarded at the regional and state individual tournaments, which will take place over the next two weekends, respectively.

After winning back-to-back team titles at the county tournament, Middletown finished second this season with 139 points. Urbana was third with 133, while Brunswick was fourth with 100.5.

"It's awesome," Linganore coach Ben Arneson said of the team title, one week to the day after winning the Class 3A states duals at North Point High School in Waldorf. "I was just talking to the boys about finishing perfect. As individuals, we were never going to be perfect, but as a team, if we worked hard enough, we had a chance to be perfect."

Though the Lancers, by far, had the most county finalists with nine — no other team had more than five — they did not finish with the most county champions.

Middletown and Urbana both matched Linganore with three champions apiece, while Brunswick and Catoctin each crowned two.

The other team with a champion was Tuscarora, as sophomore Cooper Cammarata rolled through the 113-pound weight class with three pins and was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler for the lighter weight classes.

Most of the finals were not that close, as the only one decided by two points or less was the final bout of the evening at 285 pounds between a pair of state place-winners from last season, Urbana senior AJ Corso and Linganore senior Joel Hopkins.

Corso earned a takedown with 30 seconds left in the third period and then hung on for an 8-7 victory to win his first county title, joining his younger brother Vince (145 pounds), who claimed his second earlier in the evening.

"He kind of made fun of me because I missed counties last year because I was sick, and he won it and I wasn't there," AJ Corso said. "He kind of gave me some crap for being a county champion. I am glad I could win one because he would have held that over me for the rest of my life if I didn't."

The event got a bit chippy during the 182-pound final between Catoctin senior Nathan Kovalcik and Linganore senior Chase Witmer, as Witmer was assessed numerous point violation for unsportsmanlike blows during the bout.

Kovalcik maintained his poise, though, and pinned Witmer in 5 minutes, 31 seconds on his way to earning the Outstanding Wrestler nod for the heavier weight classes.

"That means so much to me," Kovalcik said. "I have been working so hard all year. I have come from my freshman year, only winning three or four matches, to now being an Outstanding Wrestler at this tournament. It means so much just to have all my work pay off."

After placing fifth at 145 pounds in the Class 2A-1A state tournament last March, Corwine realized he was going to have to get more offensive if he was going to have a shot at the title this season.

So far, he is 36-0, primarily at 152, incorporating more offensive shots with his trademark blend of defense.

"It's been working," he said.

The wrestling championship is not the only state title he is seeking during this winter sports season. On Tuesday, he will take aim at winning a state indoor title in the pole vault in the Class 1A meet at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex in Landover.

"Sometimes, I am pretty sore when I come home from both practices," Corwine said.

But Tilles said he is balancing both sports beautifully.

"He hasn't missed a [wrestling] practice all season," the Brunswick coach said. "He practices with us, and then goes to train with the pole vault at an indoor facility in Frederick during the evenings. He is [pulling it off] perfectly."

Championship Finals

106: Seth Crawford (Brunswick) pinned Josh Arthur (Linganore), 1:39

113: Cooper Cammarata (Tuscarora) pinned Evan Mullen (Brunswick), 1:44

120: Brennan Considine (Linganore) dec. Jake Beaumont (Walkersville), 11-6

126: Alex Devriendt (Middletown) pinned Dylan Rohn (Linganore), 3:56

132: Garhett Dickenson (Linganore) dec. Stephen Stottlemyer (Middletown), 10-4

138: Brayden Bell (Catoctin) pinned Peyton Hollis (Middletown), :51

145: Vince Corso (Urbana) maj. dec. Nathan Husted (Linganore), 11-2

152: Morgon Corwine (Brunswick) pinned Hunter Bradshaw (Catoctin), :58

160: Cole Kuhar (Urbana) dec. Koen Burdette (Tuscarora), 5-2

170: Ethan Arneson (Linganore) pinned Jacob Bell (Catoctin), 1:26

182: Nathan Kovalcik (Catoctin) pinned Chase Witmer (Linganore), 5:31

195: Alex Hoy (Middletown) pinned Sean Foo (Thomas Johnson), 1:06

220: Kieran Hofgesang (Middletown) pinned Trevor Jenkins (Linganore), :48

285: AJ Corso (Urbana) dec. Joel Hopkins (Linganore), 8-7

Follow Greg Swatek on Twitter: @greg_swatek