Two of Maryland’s private high school conferences determined their champions this past weekend. Teams at the top again dominated their conferences as St. Mary’s Ryken in the WCAC, and Landon in the IAC dominated. St. Mary’s Ryken won its third straight championship in dominating fashion. Ryken scored 276 points — more than a 100 ahead of DeMatha, the next closest Maryland team. St. Mary’s had champions in 9 of the 14 weight classes. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/02/04/st-marys-ryken-wcac-wrestling-champions/ In the IAC Landon won for the 4th time in the last five years. The Bears had 252.5 points far ahead of 2nd place Georgetown Prep’s

The 2023 Maryland High School Wrestling season began in November and there is a new wrinkle this year as teams in the state will have to contend with new weight classes. For The National Federation on High School Sports  has given schools the option of weight classes to follow. The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Association has chosen this year to stick with the old weight classes. The weight classes for the Maryland Public Schools will be 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220, 285. On the other hand, Maryland privates schools that follow the

There were a number of firsts for National Prep Wrestling this weekend. The most notable perhaps was that the tournament was held in Maryland for the first time at the Showplace Arena in Prince George’s County. The other was St. Mary’s Ryken finishing in 4th place with 114 points, their highest ever placement at the national tournament. However if there was any home cooking to be had for Maryland teams it was not apparent. Maryland teams did earn 22 individual All-American honors, but there was only one finalist from a Maryland team– Richard Fedalen of McDonogh, and no individual champions.

This past weekend may be the busiest one in the state for wrestling officials and coaches. The private school state championship is held at the Harford County Community College while every county, and the large conferences like the SMAC, UCBAC, and Baysides, hold their championships. Most of the brackets and results from these are now located on on the 2022 Brackets and Results page. Of course, the junior and rec leagues are wrestling this weekend as well.

The MIS, private school state championship, will be held this year at the Harford County Community College and they will follow a covid protocol that includes Covid testing for all coaches and wrestlers. This event is a qualifier for the National Prep Tournament the following week which probably will be following at least as strict a protocol. All wrestlers and coaches must meet one of the below criteria: • fully vaccinated; • receive a negative PCR test within 72 hours of the tournament; • or have tested positive within 90 days of the tournament. o If they have tested positive