Nick Schenk accomplished nearly every goal for a high school wrestler ?by the end of his freshman year.
The McDonogh sophomore is coming off of one of the most impressive seasons ever for a Maryland wrestler as he went 43-0, which included winning the MIAA and State Private School Tournament championships before claiming the 103-pound title at the prestigious National Preps.
But Schenk experienced a growth spurt during the offseason and instead of competing in the next class ? 112 pounds ? he jumped it, and will compete in the 119-pound class this winter, where he will likely face many junior and senior opponents.
“I?m not worried about losing,” Schenk said. “There are a lot of great wrestlers out there and I know I?ll eventually lose one, but I?m always going out to the mat to challenge myself.”
Schenk?s biggest challengers this season may be his teammates, as McDonogh returns 13 of 14 starters from last year?s squad that finished 17-3 and won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference and Tournament championships. Schenk is part of a talented roster, which includes senior Josh Fitch, who will compete in either the 135 or 140-pound class, and 152-pound juniorShane Milam. Fitch is 92-22 during his career and is a three-time MIAA and Private School Tournament champion. Milam is 84-19 overall, including a fourth-place finish at National Preps last season.
After the Eagles won the past two conference titles, they are expected to be even better this season ? so good they are receiving national recognition by being ranked 19th in the country by Wrestling International Newsmagazine and 29th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News. Maryland is not known for producing great high school wrestling, as it traditionally lags behind Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
“I feel our team is stacked from top to bottom, but we also know there are a lot of great teams out there in our league,” Fitch said. “With so many wrestlers back for us, our expectations are high and we know we have to work hard if we want to accomplish all of our goals for the season.”
So far, McDonogh has lived up to the preseason hype. On Dec. 1, the Eagles won the St. Benedict?s Tournament in Newark, N.J. This past weekend, the Eagles had nine individual champions en route to first-place finish at their Ray Oliver Tournament. McDonogh finished with 268 points, 21.5 points better than Delaware power St. Marks. The tournament also included localpowers No. 3 North Carroll, No. 4 Glenelg, Old Mill and MIAA rival Calvert Hall.
“We have a lot of talented kids and now they have developed into experienced wrestlers and we are trying to find ways to challenge them and that includes a difficult tournament and non-conference schedule,” McDonogh coach Pete Welch said. “Still, the ultimate goal for us every year is to win the MIAA title.”
