Relentless drive leads Linganore wrestling to Class 3A West duals championship
Feb. 9—Four years ago, as a freshman wrestler in Linganore's varsity lineup, Garhett Dickenson was happy to take on all comers.
"I wrestled some of the best kids in the state and didn't even know it. I was just going out there and wrestling," he said. "I may have lost some of them, but it's whether you have the [guts] to go out and wrestle whoever to try to win."
Dickenson personifies the relentlessness that coach Ben Arneson said carried the Lancers to the Class 3A West regional duals championship before a raucous crowd in their own gym Thursday night.
"Absolutely relentless," Arneson said after Linganore improved to 16-0 in duals outside of regular-season tournaments with wins over Springbrook (52-16) and 10-time state duals champion Damascus (44-24) in the championship match.
"No matter what happens, we just continue to battle. ... They constantly push each other. It doesn't matter who wins in the room or who loses in the room. The loser comes back and keeps pushing and pushing. It's all the way through [the lineup], all the JV guys right up through the varsity guys. They just continue to push until we got to here."
The Lancers advanced to Saturday's state duals at North Point High School in Waldorf for the first time since their only other appearance in 2019, when they lost by a point (35-34) to Stephen Decatur in the 3A championship match.
According to Arneson, there will be a coin flip at 8 a.m. Friday between Linganore and the host Eagles, who are also 16-0 this season, to determine the top seed in 3A.
If the Lancers win the toss, they will wrestle fourth-seeded Bel Air at 2 p.m. in one semifinal. If they lose the toss, they will face third-seeded Marriotts Ridge.
Linganore beat Bel Air 58-13 earlier this season.
"It means everything," Dickenson said of getting the chance to wrestle in another state duals semifinal. "We got a good team taken away from us by COVID. This is our shot."
Even with victory well in hand in the final bout of the evening at 132 pounds, Dickenson was relentlessly chasing every point possible on his way to a 19-4 technical fall in 4 minutes and 54 seconds over Damascus' Porter Gruner, marking the 96th win of his high school career.
But it wasn't just Dickenson displaying Linganore's trademark characteristic.
Nathan Husted twice fought off his back before pinning Damascus' Tanner Harman in 4:27 at 145 pounds.
Fellow seniors Chase Witmer (170 pounds) and Trevor Jenkins (220) made aggressive moves to score pins in the third period of their matches.
And senior heavyweight Joel Hopkins outlasted Damascus' Bryan Silva in four overtime periods at 285 to pull out a 3-2 win.
"In the room, everyone pushes each other as hard as we can," Hopkins said. "We never teach defensive wrestling. We never teach stalling or anything. We are always on the attack no matter what. I would agree with Coach that we are just a relentless team."
Earlier Thursday in the semifinals, Tuscarora fell to Damascus 39-30 after the Swarmin' Hornets forfeited the final five bouts with victory in hand.
It was an educational experience for the young Titans, who have eight freshmen in the starting lineup.
"It's just the experience of being here," Tuscarora coach Trey Coates said. "That way, next season, we can say next year that we have been here before. We get a little bit awe-struck when it's a big show. So, it will be business as usual next year."
Follow Greg Swatek on Twitter: @greg_swatek
