Mount Saint Joseph, McDonogh and St. Paul’s each crowned four individual champions and Archbishop Spalding won two titles at the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference wrestling tournament, but it was the host Gaels who piled up the bonus points and won the team title for the second year in a row.

The Gaels finished with 287 points and McDonogh (253), St. Paul’s (201.5), Spalding (173.5) and Loyola Blakefield (144) rounded out the top five Saturday.

“The entire team set the tone,” Mount St. Joseph coach Harry Barnabae said. “They’ve worked really hard this entire season. Our goal was to win the MIAA’s for the second year in a row and it’s a stepping stone to the states next week.”

The Maryland Independent Schools State tournament will be held at Harford Community College on Friday at Saturday.

In the finals, Mount St. Joe got first-period pins from sophomore Chris Barnabae (113), over Archbishop Spalding sophomore Mitch Garretson, and Austin Stith (195), over McDonogh’s Jackson Bonitz.

Stith won all four of his matches in the tournament with falls, including three in the first period, and that was his goal.

“There is no doubt about it,” Stith said. “McDonogh was closing in on us a little bit earlier in the tournament and we got all the guys together and we said ‘We’ve got to get some bonus points,’ and that’s all I was thinking all about, bonus points, bonus points, how many pins can I get, we had to get the bonus points, and everybody played their part and I’m proud of my team.”

His other motivation was last year’s MIAA tournament.

“Last year, I got second and I was just determined that I was never going to let that happen again,” Stith said.

He certainly impressed his coach.

“Austin has had a phenomenal year,” Barnabae said. “He’s really improved since last season and his work ethic is showing it. He came in to this tournament to dominate and he did just that, so we expect that.”

St. Joe’s other champions were Nathan Porter (126) and Justin Henry (170).

Porter won a 5-2 decision over Spalding’s Sam Smirnoff and Henry nipped McDonogh’s Garrett Kappas, 3-2.

The Gaels four other finalists lost in the finals.

Connor Strong (132) lost a 3-1 decision to McDonogh’s Ray Kable when Kable got an escape early in the third period to tie the match and takedown with 12 seconds left to win it.

Seth Fillers (138) lost a major decision to St. Paul’s Imran Heard, 17-7.

St. Joe’s David Schultz (182) lost to St. Paul’s Jack Parr, 1-0, and the Gaels’ Keegan Rill (220) lost in overtime to McDonogh’s Parker Robinson, 3-1.

Other top six finishers for the champion Gaels included: Frankie Antonelli (4th, 106), Clement Woods (4th, 120), Chris Roybal (4th, 145), Zach Phillips (4th, 152), Jonathan Short (4th, 160) and Isaac Righter (3rd, 285).

Righter pinned Loyola’s Bennett Traurig in 1:55 in the consolation finals, but the much-anticipated match between top-seeded Righter and second-seeded PJ Mustipher never happened because Righter was pinned by John Carroll’s Dru Van Der Werff in the first period in the semifinals.

“Any given day. Hopefully, next week we will get past the semifinals and PJ and Isaac will have a rematch that everybody is going to be excited to see,” Barnabae said.

“Wrestling is wrestling, it’s going to happen, so whatever happens, happens,” Mustipher said. “I always have to be prepared and ready to go and ready to win.

Mustipher captured his second straight MIAA title and talked about his love for the late season matches.

“The postseason is the best season. I love to compete in the postseason and I really feel that is when I am at my best,” Mustipher said.

Dominic Solis (160) was the fourth McDonogh champion as he defeated St. Paul’s Dylan Blau, 9-2.

In addition to Heard and Parr, St. Paul’s got individual titles from Wil Guida (106) and Kurt McHenry (120).

Spalding’s Ryan Garretson (145) defeated McDonogh’s Harrison Trahan, 12-6, for his second MIAA title and Garrett Fisk (152) decisioned McDonogh’s Alex LaVeck, 6-0.

Team results: Mt. St. Joseph 287, McDonogh 253, St. Paul’s 201.5, Spalding 173.5, Loyola 144, Gilman 78, John Carroll 68, Curley 67, Calvert Hall 49, Mt. Carmel 47, Pallotti 45, Boys’ Latin 38, St. Mary’s 38, Friends 29, Severn 23.5, Gerstell 11, Glenelg Country 8.

Individual results

106: Wil Guida (SP) dec. Cooper Flynn (McD), 1-0

112: Chris Barnabae (MSJ) fall Mitch Garrison (AS), 1:26

120: Kurt McHenry (SP) dec. Paul Truntich (AS), 10-4

126: Nathan Porter (MSJ) dec. Sam Smirnoff (AS), 5-2

132: Ray Kable (McD) dec. Connor Strong (MSJ), 3-1

138: Imran Heard (SP) dec. Seth Fillers (MSJ), 17-7

145: Ryan Garretson (AS) dec. Harrison Trahan (McD), 12-6

152: Garrett Fisk (AS) dec. Alex LaVeck (McD), 6-0

160: Dominic Solis (McD) dec. Dylan Blau (SP), 9-2

170: Justin Henry (MSJ) dec. Garrett Kappes (McD), 3-2

182: Jack Parr (SP) dec. David Schultz (MSJ), 1-0

195: Austin Stith (MSJ), Jackson Bonitz (McD), 1:45

220: Parker Robinson (McD) dec. Keegan Rill (MSJ), 3-1, OT

285: PJ Mustipher (McD) fall Druw Van de werff (JC), 1:02

MPSSAA dual championships: After three dominating semifinal performances from Sparrows Point, Glenelg and Mt. Hebron, all three fell in their respective state finals matches on Saturday at the MPSSAA state dual meet championships at North Point High School.

The Pointers fell in the championship for the second straight year to Southern Garrett, 47-20, in the 1A final, the Gladiators lost to Damascus, 49-16, in the 2A championship in a rematch of last year’s 4A/3A final, and the Vikings dropped the 3A final to Huntingtown, 46-18. Urbana of Frederick County won the 4A title with a 41-27 win against Montgomery County’s Winston Churchill.

Patterson Mill (1A), Owings Mills (2A), Bel Air (3A) and Old Mill (4A) lost in the semifinals.

— Tim Schwartz,

Baltimore Sun Media Group