By Keith Mills

Once again some of the premier high school wrestlers on the East Coast soon will gather at Catonsville Community College for what has become a huge part of the local high school season -- Mount Mat Madness.

"We started it to give the area public school kids a chance to go against some of the really good private school kids in the area," said tournament founder and organizer Neil Adelberg. "Because of some of the rules regarding travel and not being able to compete on Sundays, the public school kids were missing out on some really good competition." 

More than 30 years ago Adelberg was the wrestling coach at Mount St. Joseph, where he led the Gaels to the first three of the school's national prep championships while producing some of the greatest local wrestlers (John and Andy Hefner, Paul Triplett, Rico and Louis Chiapparelli, Keith Dixon, Greg Peery and Harry Barnabae).

The list goes on and on.

Now, he is getting ready to put on his seventh Mount Mat Madness tournament Jan. 15-16. The wildly popular two-day event he started back in 2004 gives local wrestlers a chance to take on some of the best in the region.

"It's all about the kids for me," said Adelberg. "It's difficult at times to get a  lot of public schools involved because the competition is so good they don't want to risk not qualifying for their region tournaments. That's based on a point system depending on how many matches you win. But the teams and the kids who do come here, I think really benefit."

Wyoming Seminary of Kingston, Pa., returns to defend its championship and is one of 30 teams taking part in the tournament. Last year's national prep runner-up, Wyoming is coached by John Gordon.

Gordon's son Nicky led Seminary to a 50-point win last year over McDonogh and is the only four-time winner of the Mount Mat Tournament. From 2006-2009, Nicky Gordon won championships in four different weight classes -- 103, 112, 130 and 135 pounds -- and is now a freshman at the University of Virginia.   

Dominick Malone and Chris Moon return for Wyoming this year while senior Karl Green returns for a Mount St. Joe team that is ranked first in the state and once again coached by Paul Triplett, also the school's athletic director and a member of Adelberg's national powerhouse teams of the late 1970s.

Green is defending champ at 285 pounds and is the fifth-ranked heavyweight wrestler in the country. He is coming off a tough loss to Tyler DeMott of Benton, Pa., in last week's prestigious PowerAde Invitational in Pennsylvania and could meet Wyoming's Mike McMullen in the finals. McMullen is ranked No. 1 nationally.

Green leads a balanced Gaels team that also includes Benny Schaufele, ranked No. 1 in the state at 145; Bobby Bowman, who finished third in the prestigious Beast of the East Tournament at 171; Brady Massaro (140 pounds) and state finalist Kevin Johnson (119).

Sean Boylan of St. Mark's High in Delaware, Frank Cagnina of Queen of Peace High in North Arlington, N.J., Codey Combs of Sussex Central High in Delaware and Jakob "Bubba" Scheffel of Southern Garrett High are other returning Mount Mat champs.

Archbishop Curley, McDonogh, Loyola and John Carroll will join Mount St. Joe in representing the MIAA A Conference. Mount St. Joe ended McDonogh's three-year championship run last year while the two teams have combined to win nine of the last 10 A Conference championships.    

McDonogh also won Mount Mat titles in 2007 and '08 as coach Pete Welch got outstanding performances from two-time champ Shane Milam and Nick Schenk in '07, and Schenk, Josh Fitch and Lane Clelland in '08. Shenk transferred to St. Mark's this summer and will compete at 130 pounds for the eighth-ranked team in the country.

Nicky Gordon is the only four-time Mount Mat champ while Mack Lewnes and Jake Bohn of Mount St. Joe have won three each. Lewnes led the Gaels to the inaugural 2004 Mount Mat championship and followed it up with titles in '05 and '06. He is now a junior All-American at Cornell University and ranked No. 1 in the country at 174 pounds. Bohn won tournament championships in 2005, '06 and '07 and now plays football for Army.

Archbishop Curley is the last team other than Mount St. Joe or McDonogh to win the MIAA A Conference championship, having won the title back in 2002. Coach Gregg Kessler's Friars are primed for a strong showing in this year's Mount Mat tournament, thanks to a big 37-26 dual meet win over McDonogh in mid-December.

Vince Scarinzi is ranked No. 1 in the state at 103 pounds while Brett Przywara won a state championship last year and will wrestle at 130. Joe Nelson (125), Brent Brigman (145) and Avery Williams (160) are also part of a strong Curley lineup that will contend for both the Mount Mat title and the A Conference crown later in February.

Loyola is coached by Steve Truitt. The Dons are led by David Mohler (103), who was an All-American this summer at the Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D.; Gus Moreno (160), who was a state finalist last year; Kevin Frantz (125); Mike Zito (140) and Matt Hnatiuk (189).

The trip to Fargo is another example of Adelberg's involvement in a sport he grew to love. With an assist from Cary Kolat, a former national champion at Lock Haven State University, and former Olympian Lloyd "Butch" Keaser, 54 area wrestlers competed last summer in the Junior Nationals in Fargo with 15 earning All-American status, including Green as well as Frank and Tyler Goodwin.

"It was an unbelievable experience," said Adelberg. "Butch Keaser spoke to the kids and Cary Kolat worked with them for a month before we left. We took 54 kids to workouts at McDonogh, Navy, University of Maryland, Cary's gym in Cockeysville and all the way out to Fargo and did not have one problem. And then to come home with 15 All-Americans -- the previous record was 12 for Maryland wrestlers. It was just an unbelievable experience."

Keaser, a 1969 graduate of Brooklyn Park High School, went on to the Naval Academy. In 1976 he earned a silver medalist in the Montreal Olympics and is considered one of the greatest wrestlers ever in the United States. He will assist Adelberg with the team next year.

"Cary is heading back to North Carolina," said Adelberg, "and Butch has agreed to help out. I'm a big believer in including the past in everything we do. I think the kids need to see and hear from guys who've gone on and done great things. They need to see that it's possible now."

And that's why at this year's Mount Mat tournament at Catonsville Community College, Ernie Fischer, who won a national championship in 1956 at the University of Maryland, will help hand out the awards.

"He's Maryland's first national champion," said Adelberg. "He began wrestling at the YMCA in Baltimore with his brother Bobby and my uncle Joel and went down to Maryland and won the national championship. We're real excited to have him come out."

John Carroll is coached by Keith Watson and will feature Mathew Miller (160), a national prep contender last year; Sam Chell (140) and Stephen St. Clair (215).

Centennial, Harford Tech and Severna Park are the other local teams in the event. Harford Tech, coached by Gary Siler, won the public school Class 1A-2A state championship in 2006 and finished second in 2003 and '04.  

DeMatha, coached by Dick Messier, is ranked No. 3 in the state and could also contend for the team championship while Urbana of Frederick County, ranked right behind the Stags at No. 4 in the state, and LaPlata of Charles County are two of the other premier Maryland public school teams in the tournament.

Posted: January 6, 2010