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The regular season kicked off with another return to the alma matter of head coach Joe Hawkins, where the Cougars would once again quiet the beaks of the Seneca Valley Screaming Eagles.  The match was bookended by significant matches - at its beginning was freshman Chris Hower's first match against a returning State Qualifier, and at its end was Terrence Stephens in a rematch against a wrestler who'd pinned him last season in under a minute.

Chris Hower took a page from Terrence's experience last year and didn't make it out of the first period - however Chris would refuse to put his head down after the loss and would later show just how much he'd improved when he faced the same wrestler again later in the season.  And Terrence would not only avenge his first-period pin from last season but do it in the thrilling and dramatic last-second fashion that would define his season on the mat.  For this match, at least, the words Coach Sirotkin would be yelling and screaming after one of Terrence's matches would largely be G-rated.

The Cougars took the momentum from this dominating 65-12 win into the weekend and the trip east to one of Maryland's toughest dual meet tournament - the Bowie Duals.

Just before hitting the road the coaching staff made a decision that would in many ways illuminate the character, dedication, and talent of its senior class, when both Spencer Neubaum and Rob Dudley were asked to drop yet another weight class down to give the team the strongest possible starting line up.  After arriving at the hotel they got to work, and the hotel's cardio room was turned into a make-shift sauna with the help of an ice-bag on its heater.  The heated room quickly grew thick with the wrestlers' pain and pounds, staying that way for hours until the last-second rush over to the high school.

Tension grew as the team soon discovered that all of the scales seemed to be weighing them in heavy, but after a little bit of seasoned gamesmanship on the scales both Dudley and Neubam made weight and the team was able to settle its mind on the task at hand.  The first match would prove to be the decisive one of the tournament, as Quince Orchard squeaked by in a one-point decision over Westlake, which ultimately would seal the title for the Cougars.

However, they had no idea that that'd be the case at the time, and as the first day came to a close knew they'd have to face the returning 1A/2A State Champion Hammond Bears on Saturday morning.

After rattling off two wins to begin Saturday's wrestling, the Cougars new that their tournament championship would hinge on their performance against Hammond, who entered the tournament undefeated in dual meets and with all the swagger a returning State title holder brings.  The Cougars and the Bears traded matches, but with only a few match-ups left things looked grim for the Cougars as Mike Hinman was down by five points with less than fifteen seconds to go - a loss that seemed like it would seal up the victory for Hammond.  However with less than ten seconds to go in the match, Hinman hit a reversal and then cradled up his opponent for three near-fall points - forcing the match into overtime.  And then in overtime Hinman did the unthinkable and stuck his opponent, gaining a nine-point swing in points from what had looked like it would be a three point loss for QO.  Unfortunately this would be one of Hinman's last matches of the year, as although he was able to defeat the Bear he faced a tick would in a few weeks give him Lyme Disease and end his season.  But, the rest of the year would show, ticks don't always work against the Cougars.

In their last real test of the tournament Quince Orchard wrestled North Hagerstown.  In a match that would hint at what the rest of the year would bring and that raise the bar for the rest of his season, Mike Mascio won an exciting match in OT that permanently put the momentum on QO's side.  Towards the end of the match the coaching staff decided to shift their line-up around, and shift first-year varsity wrestler and former JV butterball Phil Valencia up a weight class to take on an aggressive North Hammond opponent.

Despite having arms that would make a T-Rex look like Wilt Chamberlain, Valencia somehow managed to catch his opponent in a series of cradles that, as he was hitting them, hide his entire body from the view of a befuddled coaching staff that was only able to see his little legs kicking in the air and the ref counting back points for QO.  With under a minute to go Valencia had a narrow lead, and again defied all wrestling logic and convention and threw legs in for the first time in his official wrestling career and rode out the rest of the match that way.  This combination of fearless unconventional wrestling and an ability to seemingly defy the laws of physics would serve Phil well for the rest of the season, and bring "The Tick" just to the edge of making States.

After the jubuliant win at the Bowie Duals, the Cougars went home and picked up some momentum for the upcoming tri-meet against Damascus and Northwest, the top two teams in the County, with a solid 77-6 thumping of a young Clarksburg team.

In what would turn out to be the decisive day of the team's dual meet season the Cougars lost two tight matches to the Jags and Hornets, and as the chips fell those two losses were enough to keep the team from the State Dual Meet Tournament.  It would not, however, be the team's defining day, nor would it keep Quince Orchard Wrestling from being home a state title.

The Cougars faced a tough rebound opponent after that weekend, closing out the calendar year at home against an always scrappy Churchill team.  With the stands packed with alums from previous years all home to cheer on the Cougars, the team rose to the occasion and picked up a strong 48-23 win against the Bulldogs.  It was a night that belonged to sophomore standout Dake Williams, who took the County's top ranked 215-pounder into overtime and then to the mat for a thrilling bench-clearing win that put the Cougars ahead for good.

After dropping Churchill the team had the long winter break to look ahead at the remaining half of their schedule, and set their goals for the rest of the season.

Following the long break from classes the Cougars returned to the mat in another tri-meet, this time against Poolesville and Gaithersburg.  The team picked up two relatively ugly wins, once again creaming the Trojans and defeating the Falcons, and it would've been an unspectacular and wholly unnotable weekend except for one thing.  Mike Mascio picked up his first loss of the season to an unranked Poolesville opponent who he'd overlooked.  At the time it would seem like a catastrophe, but looking back it was the best thing that could've happened to him as it served as both wake-up call and reality check - forcing Mascio to reevaluate his commitment to the sport and the dedication that it would require to finish his high school career a State Champ.

The next weekend the Cougars begun the thick of their tournament schedule and first traveled up to North Hagerstown for their annual Hub Cup Tournment, which is consistently one of the best tournaments in Maryland.  Although several Cougars would shine this weekend and reach the finals, the day would be Rob Dudley's, as he hit a reversal with just a few ticks left on the clock to upset Magruder's Zack Tolbert and take home the title of tournament champion.  However several other wrestlers also placed well, including Spencer Neubaum, Reed Neubaum, Phil Valencia, Brian Crippin, and Terrence Stephens.  Dudley was joined in the finals by Mike Mascio and Dake Williams, however an extremely controversial early penalty point would cost Mascio the match and Dake would loose a tight match to Josh Fredricks of Damascus.  It would not, however, be the last time Williams and Fredericks would meet.

Just one week later the Quince Orchard wrestlers made their way down south for their first entry into the Delmarva Classic, which was hosted in a middle school that appeared to have been designed to house midgets.  Packed into the school's small and smaller gyms, the Cougars did their best to ignore the jammed surroundings and wrestle against two of Maryland and Delaware's toughest private school teams: DeMatha and Saint Mark's.

It was a tough draw for freshman Brendan Wills, whose first varsity match was against St. Mark's nationally ranked and extensively tattooed 103-pounder.  Although Wills was unable to pick up the win he'll likely outlive his opponent, whose most distinguishing characteristic was apparently that he "smelled like smoke."  Remaining undefeated in tournament matches, Robert Dudley again won all four of his matches on his way to his second-consecutive tournament championship.  The tournament also foreshadowed a trend in Dake Williams' season, as after loosing to an opponent Dake quickly made friends with him, found out he'd have to wake up early the next morning to plow his western-most field, and vowed to beat him if he got to face him again.  Which he did the next day, and in so doing took home 3rd place.

A strong team finish at the Delmarva Classic closed out the regular tournament season for the Cougars, who would next face the Sherwood Warriors in the dual meet they knew at that time would keep them alive in the hunt for the team post-season playoffs.  After easily the most intense rounds of line-up shuffling to prepare for every possible scenario that Sherwood might throw at them.  As match after match was decided at the last second and both teams worked to pick up every major decision or pin possible for extra team points, the dual meet hinged on two performances.

In his fourth and final year of wrestling for QO, Max Gorman had had to prepare for any one of three possible opponents that he might get thrown in against, and didn't know until the moment before the whistle who and when he'd actually be wrestling.  With the Cougars needing a win to stay alive in the match, Gorman, the last of his three brothers who'd all wrestled for Coach Joe Hawkins, stepped onto the Mat and took care of buisness - winning a decisive 10-2 major decision that completely changed the momentum of the match.  And then, a few matches later, senior Ryan Bentley turned a near-disaster into the match's final turning point when he fought off of his back and then went on to pin his Warrior opponent.  

The Cougars hoped that win would be enough to seal their place in the post-season, and they easily dispatched their last four opponents with a combined score of 253-57.  With most of the starters picking up relatively easy wins, many of the underclassmen now had a chance to shine.

One of the most memorable matches of the season came against Gaithersburg, where sophomore Arthur Holland set the standard for blood time, and for wrestling with heart.  After taking the final blood time allowed without penalty and bleeding through several gauze swabs and about a foot of pre-wrap, Thor was forced to finish wrestling his match with four sheets of papertowel taped around the front of his face.  He would later recount that as soon as his opponent dropped below his nose he lost all sight of him, and had to wrestle totally by feel.  Well, it worked, as he finished out the match with a cradle and a pin.  Then a few matches later, against Northwood, freshmen rookie Tommy McCartin picked up his first win of the year in one of many previous gutsy performances on the year.

Finishing the season at 18-2 and having knocked-off a defending state championship team the Cougars had high-hopes for making it into the State Duals.  It was not to be.  And so the Cougars were forced to prove their place in the County's elite at the County Tournament.

As a team, the Cougars peaked at exactly the right time, and up and down the line-up unforgettable performances were turned in.  Freshmen Chris Hower showed exactly how far he'd come when he was faced with a first-round match against the same Seneca Wrestler who'd pinned him in the first minute of the year's first match.  This time it would be different, as Chris racked up points off of escapes and takedowns - pushing the match into the final round and down the last ticks of the clock.  Brian Crippin, who'd years ago won the JV County title, again shined in the postseason, this time wrestling on a severely sprained ankle and turning in a ballsy performance without which the team would've fallen short of the title.

Senior Mike Mascio chose the perfect time to shoot out of his mid-season slump, running the table against all four of his opponents and winning the County title.  Sophomore heavyweight Terrence Stephens avenged earlier losses from the season and ended up with a key match against the Damascus heavyweight late in wrestle backs.  With the team title almost in grasp, Big T wrestled one of his best matches of the year and picked up not only the win but bonus points with a pin.  And freshmen wrestler stunned everyone in the County except perhaps himself by making it all the way into the finals, where he lost a tough match to Paint Branch's Steve Miller. 

But the most dominating performance of the entire tournament belonged to Dake Williams.  In the semifinals he faced a rematch against Damascus's Fredericks, he not only avenged his early loss - he did it with a pin.  And then in the finals, facing off the County's top-ranked 215-pounder, Andy Rampp, Dake broke out of his usual defensive style and took the match to Rampp - resulting in a second period pin for Williams who earned four pins in four matches. 

At the end of the night the Cougar's had earned the team's first County title in X years, and looked to carry their momentum into the Regional tournament.

However things don't always work out as you'd hope.  Illness and injury caught up to the Cougars, and the team was unable to repeat as Regional champs.  But that didn't mean that individuals still couldn't prove their mettle - as senior Spencer Neubaum fulfilled his career-long goal of qualifying for the State Tournament when he downed Paint Branch's heavily favored Churchilla to earn a spot at States and help the coaches win a bet they'd made with Mr. Neubaum.  The match wasn't pretty, but Spencer's rarely are - this time grit and determination and a hard-nosed determined style were enough to secure him a spot at States the next weekend.

There he was joined by Williams, Mascio, Dudley, Stephens, and Someone.  The State Tournament is never a given - no match is ever easy, and no opponent can ever be overlooked.  It's the epitome of what high school wrestling is all about - the pinnacle of four months of focus, sacrifice, and commitment.

Although not even ranked in the State's top ten, Mike Mascio knew that the only thing he'd be satisfied with would be bringing home the championship.  Up until the semifinals he was joined in that race by Dake Williams, who managed to beat an undefeated senior before eventually wrestling back to take a strong fourth place finish.  But when the end of the night and the finals came around, only one wrestler was left representing Quince Orchard. 

One of his coaches remembered him winning only eight varsity matches as a freshmen, for another he was not just a dedicated athlete but also a student - wrestling not for fame or money but for the love of the sport, and for another coach he'd always be the tough little grade schooler who'd try his best to take him down whenever he came over to hang out with his big brother.  Another Parade of Champions, another National Anthem, another series of nail-biting matches, and once again it was finally time for a Quince Orchard wrestler to fight for the title of State Champ.

An takedown for his Bowie opponent late in the first period put Mascio down 2-0, and after trading escapes to start the second and third periods Mascio was down 3-1 with just under a minute left in the period.  Pushing the pace and fighting to find any opening that might lead to a takedown, Mascio continued to press - seemingly oblivious to his coaches white-knuckled antics and anxious shouts at the side of the mat.

And then it happened.

As his opponent pressed back into Mascio to fight off another one of his shots, Mascio swept into a picture-perfect lat-drop that put his opponent onto his back - good for a two-point takedown and two more back-points.  The last forty-five seconds were a nervous and tentative as celebration, as everyone in the stands gasped each time it seemed like the Bowie wrestler worked to his feet and looked as if he might escape.  But he never did, Mike rode him out for the 4-1 win and his place at the top of the podium.

Although Mike Mascio is Quince Orchard's most recent State Champion, the next might already be a part of the team.  Although we graduate our largest senior class in recent memory, several gifted wrestlers remain to carry on the Cougar legacy.  As easy as it is to only remember Mike for how he finished his wrestling career - as a State Champ - it might be more telling to look at where it began.