Old Mill High wrestling coach Jim Grim is never one to get overly confident in his team before the season. But he really has no reason for the annual case of pessimism since the Patriots are always in the mix for the Anne Arundel County, regional and state championships. This year should be no different, as Old Mill, the reigning county dual-meet champion, returns nine starters overall and four who finished in the top four of last year?s state tournament.
But Old Mill will get lots of tough matches from other county schools, such as county tournament champion Broadneck (20-2 in 2005-06), Chesapeake (12-10) and Severna Park (11-4). Arundel and South River are also among the county?s top teams.
“On paper, it looks like we could be very good,” Grim said. “But I?ve beaten a lot of teams over the years that looked good on paper, and I?ve lost matches where it looked like we were the better team on paper.”
In Howard County, Hammond is the king of the mat as it goes after its third straight county title. Glenelg, River Hill and Atholton are among the other contenders out to take down the Golden Bears.
North Carroll (15-2) is the defending Carroll County champion, while runner-up South Carroll (12-3) and Winters Mill (9-5) should give the Panthers strong competition.
Harford Tech (13-3), the reigning Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference and Class 2A/1A tournament champions, should be the top team in Harford County. Aberdeen (17-4) should provide the top competition there.
Poly enters this season as the top team in Baltimore City after winning last year?s dual-meet and tournament titles.
In Baltimore County, Hereford (17-1) returns eight starters from last year, when it won the county championship and finished as 2A/1A state dual-meet runner-up. Teams expected to challenge the Bulls are Milford Mill (12-3) and perennial state power Owings Mills (14-3). Franklin (11-1) and Eastern Tech (10-3) are also usually tough to beat.
“We are a pretty good team, but I want us to do better,” said Milford Mill coach Damon Royster, who has four state and seven regional qualifiers back this season. “I expect us to be right there in first or second place.”
