Four Hornets Place at Patriot Classic

Provided:

Against one of the best fields of any in-season tournament, Herndon placed four wrestlers at last weekend’s Patriot Classic. H.T. Elston (145) and Tommy Carnogursky (170) led the way, outwrestling their seeds and finishing 2nd. Sam Milligan finished 3rd at 152 and Cole Cooksey finished 4th at 196.

As a team, Herndon placed sixth in the 22-team field with 109.50 team points. Oakdale of Frederick, MD took home the team title, followed by Old Mill, Walt Whitman, Roosevelt, host Northern and then the Hornets.

Throughout his two days in Owings, and as he has all season, Elston looked like one of the Hornet’s best at 145 pounds. Elston cruised to the finals after reeling off three straight victories by pin. Elston pinned Duval’s Prosper Ubah in 51 seconds of the first period in the round of sixteen. He followed up that performance with a pin over Bowie’s Melvin Mallory, and then another first period fall over Harrisonsburg’s Jesus Carcamo in the semi-finals. Elston fell to the #2 ranked wrestler in Montgomery County, Hamoom Shokoohinia of Walt Whitman in the championship finals.

After opening his day with two straight pins, Carnogursky defeated the #2 seed from Calvert, Ricky Sesso, 6-2 in the semi-finals to reach the 170 pound finals. There he faced the #19-ranked wrestler in Maryland, Ryan Shubert of Oakdale. After an exciting first period, where both wrestlers exchanged several flurries of activity, Shubert was able to catch Carnogursky in a bad position and earned the fall.

Following a defeat in the semi-finals to #12-ranked Chase DeMaille of Oakdale, Milligan clinched a third-place finish by storming back through the consolation bracket. He advanced after winning by medical default over Lee’s Kye Colza in the consolation semi-finals, and then secured the third-place medal with an exciting 5-4 victory over Northern’s Lance Adriani. Milligan was losing the match 0-4 and in the bottom position with 30 seconds left in the third period. Proving his mettle, Milligan was able to gain a two-point reversal and lock up a cradle to seal the win with three last-second back points.

Cooksey advanced to the semi-finals after earning a pin in the round of sixteen and a close 2-1 decision in the quarter finals over C.H. Flower’s Anthony Wiliams. He dropped a 10-2 major decision to the #2 seed and fourth-ranked wrestler in Maryland, Steven Armentrout of Northern. Cooksey’s conditioning proved to be the deciding factor in the consolation semi- finals, as he outlasted Suitland’s Marquel McCoy, with a 7-6 quadruple overtime victory. Cooksey found himself wrestling for third place against Oakdale’s Bryce De Maille, who took control early and earned a fall in the first period.

Herndon will return to action this Saturday, where they will compete in the Judge’s Invitational at Handely HS in Winchester.