Southern crowded the edge of the mat, waiting with baited breath. Bulldogs’ coach Jeff Schrumm glanced at the scoreboard behind him — which had just gone to overtime — and back at the mat.

It came down to this – Jack Baxter taking Mateen Kareem down in the third-place match at 287 pounds, handing Catonsville the loss – for the Bulldogs to win the Severna Park Scuffle wrestling tournament on Saturday. When the referee flashed two fingers, Southern erupted in cheers.

Even though Baxter doesn’t attend Southern High – his points counted toward Marriotts Ridge’s total – his victory over the Comets meant the Bulldogs were suddenly in the tournament leader by one point.

“I’ve never been so stressed before they got the win. I didn’t think he was going to get it,” Bulldog senior Averum White said. “He got it at the last second – me and my teammates were very excited about it.”

With three champions and a handful of other placements, Southern (8-2 in dual meets) headed back to Harwood with the first-place trophy, amassing 279 points. Catonsville trailed with 278 to claim second while Severna Park followed with 261 to take third.

“We knew we were built more for tournaments than duals because we have new kids in the lineup,” Schrumm said. “When you’re giving up pins in the duals, that hurts you, but here you don’t have that. That helped us.”

If White had given an inch in the 172 class, all would have been lost. He’d be walking out of Severna Park’s gymnasium with the silver, which is not what he nor the Bulldogs came for.

Perryville’s Nathan David gripped White’s leg and pushed him to the circle’s line. All David needed to do was slam White down, and he’d close the gap between each other’s points. He’d maybe even get a gold for the Panthers.

“When he had my leg, I knew what he was going to do just by his movements,” White said. “I just set him up for a spladle and won the match that way.”

White, as well as victors Justin Knapp (108) and Andrew Ruel (115), weren’t the only reason the Bulldogs won, of course, but they helped. While other finalists from North Caroline, North Point, Annapolis, and so on twisted on the championship mat, there were Bulldogs snatching up wins in the other placement bouts, steadily upping Southern’s score. Four wrestlers placed between third and eighth alone.

“I like to see the guys that won,” Schrumm said. “We’re working towards counties, regions, states, and the bracket tournament helps them see how it works and know what it takes to win.”

As for Catonsville, assistant coach Tom Ferrell was pleased to see his Comets (10-0 dual meets) place as high as they did. The young team with only three seniors on the roster saw one runner-up in the 154 class and six earn bonus points in the placement bouts.

“You get 10 points if you won over here [on the champ mat] with a pin, but you got seven if you won for seventh and eighth,” Ferrell said. “So it’s really important that we had the number of kids we had to be able to place.”

If tiny moments had turned a different way, the hosts may have placed even higher. Despite a 3-6 dual meet record, Severna Park more than held its own on Saturday, with four silver medalist Falcons. Senior Conor Saladin nearly pinned Howard’s Ritchy Pierre (287) before the Lions senior flipped Saladin and received the fall himself. Had Saladin gotten it, it would have been the Falcons in second place and not the Comets.

“I think there’s a lot of positive things that we’re doing right now,” Severna Park coach Trevor Bryden said. “I think the boys are starting to buy in what as a coaching staff we’re trying to get them to do. It’s a long season. Guys are hurt, guys get sick – we took third in this tournament and one of our best wrestlers is out with illness.”

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Championship round results

108 – Knapp (SO) dec. Garvin (RS), 7-4; 115 – Ruel (SO) fall Chadwick (SP), 3:01; 122 – McGuire (MH) dec. Ball (SO), 7-0; 128 – McIntyre (NC) dec. Scott (AN), 10-4; 134 – Bauer (NC) dec. Ditmars (AN), dec. 3-1; 140 – Davis (CA) dec. Silsley (NC), 6-4; 147 – Bohan (MR) dec. Kampert (MH), 10-3; 154 - Kassiri (HO) dec. Frederick (CA), SV-1 3-1; 162 – Hillard (NC) dec. Muhammad (NP), 6-5; 172 – White (SO) fall David (PE), 3:51; 184 – Rivera (NC) fall Day (GB), 1:43; 197 – Dennis (SH) dec. Broadway (SP), 4-1; 222 – Jackson (AN) dec. Bowes (SP), SV-1 6-4; 287 – Pierre (HO) fall Conor Saladin (SP), 1:02

Team standings

1. Southern 279; 2. Catonsville 278; 3. Severna Park 261; 4. Mount Hebron 230; 5. Marriotts Ridge 229; 6. Annapolis 219; 7. North Caroline 203; 8. Northeast 172; 9. Howard 167; 10. Perryville 145; 11. North Point 121; 12. Bowie 111; 13. Rising Sun 110; 14. Glen Burnie 99; 15. Snow Hill 70; 16. Calvert, 50