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

In a year of change here is another one. Teams in Maryland long had to qualify for the Dual meet championship and that is a big change this year as every team qualifies, but not every team has elected to participate. The MPSSAA Dual Meet Championships will be a single elimination tournament with four regional champions who will be reseeded into a championship series after the regional championships. Here are the regional dual meet brackets as determined by the MPSSAA: 4A Dual Meet Brackets 3A Dual Meet Brackets 2A Dual Meet Brackets 1A Dual Meet Brackets  Dual Meet Tournament Schedule

This past weekend saw many of the Maryland’s high school teams competing in tournaments throughout the state. Fortunately the MPSSAA has allowed teams to make changes to their schedules after the season has started so dropped tournaments and matches can get rescheduled. While much of the state has moved to dual meet tournaments many bracketed tournaments remain. As the season goes on I will post as many of their results as I can gather on the 2022 brackets and results page. One bit of news was Gilman School winning their own dual meet tournament for the first since since 1987.