With the QO Wrestling season now complete we congratulate the team on a great season! The team finished with fantastic dual regular season record of 12-2, qualified eight wrestlers for Regions and three for the Maryland State Tournament.

Congratulations and best wishes to all our seniors!

The QO team advanced three wrestlers to the State Tournament at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House. Congratulations and good luck to these seniors at States!

Ty Danforth 3rd Place 113 lbs.

Kyle Bollinger 2nd Place 145 lbs.

Fernando Ryes 4th Place 170 lbs.

 Final Brackets

Congratulations to all the following wrestlers for placing at the Montgomery County Tournament.

Ty Danforth 6th Place 113 lbs.

Kyle Bollinger 2nd Place 145 lbs.

Hunter Bunai 6th Place 182 lbs.

Tyler Enceneat 6th Place 220 lbs.

All Final Results     Photos

Congratulations to all of the JV wrestlers for a hard fought season.

Three JV Wrestlers advanced to the finals of the JV Tournament with two bringing home championships! Congratulations to our three finalists seen below: Jack Hanson (1st Place) 197 lbs.,  Richard Chibuwe (2nd  Place) 147 lbs., and  Bret Williams (1st Place) 162 lbs! A special shout to Richard for finishing in 2nd place in his first year of wrestling! Edwin Portillo made it to the 120 lb semifinal match before losing two hard fought matches and finished 5th/6th. 

 More County JV Tournament Photos  

Hats off to all of our 13 varsity wrestlers who competed at Hub Cup in Hagerstown this weekend. There were 21 public and private school teams from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and a lot of high caliber and highly ranked wrestlers.  Our Cougar wrestlers finished in a respectable 10th place overall.  All of our wrestlers fought hard and wrestled well.  While we made a few mistakes here and there it was a great opportunity to be challenged against a higher level of competition which will definitely pay huge dividends for us throughout the rest of the year.
Congrats to placers:  Kyle Bollinger (3rd), Eisley Kim (4th), Ty Danforth (5th), Fernando Reyes (5th) and Tony Wimmer (6th).

Quince Orchard's varsity wrestlers returned from the break right where they left off as they won 10 of 14 matches against host Gaithersburg HS which ended with a 59-20 final score.  Senior Ty Danforth (113 lbs) put the first points on the board with a 2nd period pin.  Junior Antonio Lopez (120 lbs) followed suit in his match pinning his opponent after moving out to a 10-0 lead.  Senior Co-Captain Kyle Bollinger (145 lbs) got his 20th win of the season with a first period pin of his Trojan counterpart.  Senior Henry Canova (152 lbs) won his 8th in a row also with a first period fall.  Senior Hunter Bunai (182 lbs) had an 11-1 lead before pinning his foe.  Junior Eisley Kim played "let 'em up and take 'em down" and racked up 25 points before his matched ended by technical fall 25-10.  Junior Jack "The Giant Killer" Hanson (285 lbs) got his first period pin against a Gaithersburg wrestler who outweighed him by 71 pounds.  Freshman Gaines McKnight ended the match adding six more team points to the Cougars total with his win by fall in the first period.

The JV Cougars had nine match-ups with the Junior Trojans in which they won eight.  Six of these wins were by fall including:  Freshman Reina Danforth, Sophomores Matt Volkov, Blake Adkins, Leland Thomas, Jarret Kowalski and Senior Richard Danforth.  Sophomore Edwin Portillo won his match with a 15-0 technical fall.  Christian Neylon was on the winning side of a 7-5 decision.

A depleted Seneca Valley wrestling squad made a short visit to QO on Saturday afternoon as they departed the gym around 4:30 for a match that started at 4.  The Screaming Eagles forfeited 8 of the 14 weight classes which guaranteed the varsity Cougars a win before the first whistle blew.  Quince Orchard won 4 of the 5 actual matches that were wrestled.  Freshman Gaines McKnight got a 2nd period pin to get the Cougars first points on the board.  Senior Payton Johnson earned a 7-4 decision followed by Senior Co-Captain Kyle Bollinger's 1 minute 4 second pin of his opponent.  Senior Tony Wimmer ended the match with a pin.  QO forfeited the 285 lb match to avoid having their 215 lb wrestler face Seneca's 281 lber.

After the match, Kyle Bollinger was honored for earning his 100th win which he got during the Cougar Claus tournament on Monday.  His career win total now stands at 105.  He became the 12th member of the Cougar Wrestling Century Club.  5 of the other 11 were on hand for the ceremony:  David Chee ('95), Aron Dorsey ('99), Ignacio Diaz ('04), Reed Neubaum ('10) and Connor Tilton ('14). 

Quince Orchard's Varsity wrestlers brought their 6-0 record to Clarksburg for a mid afternoon match.  The Coyotes were also undefeated but that fact changed as the Cougar wrestlers gave them their first blemish with a 48-27 rout. Seniors Alex Blackman, Kyle Bollinger and Fernando Reyes all earned six team points by pinning their Coyote opponents as did Juniors Eisley Kim and Jack Hanson.  Jack tossed his heavyweight opponent who outweighed him by over 50 points and held him on his back for the fall.  Senior Henry Canova won an exciting overtime match with a last second takedown.  Senior Tony Wimmer added 3 more team points with his one point win.  Clarksburg forfeited the final match of the day to Senor Antonio Lopez to add six more team points to QO's total.

The JV Cougars got falls from  Senior Richard Chibuwe, Junior Ali Manan and Sophomore Jarret Kowalski.  Sophomores Leland Thomas and Larry Hinson added decisions for QO. First year wrestler Richard Chibuwe remains undefeated at 7-0.

The varsity Cougar grapplers took their 4-0 record to Rockville High School on Saturday afternoon for a tri-meet with the Rams and the Cavaliers from Kennedy.  After watching Rockville easily defeated JFK, Quince Orchard faced up with Kennedy's squad.  This is clearly not your father's (or our AD's) Kennedy as the Cougars shut them out while putting 81 points up on the scoreboard-  just 3 points shy of the maximum possible.  Kennedy forfeited 7 of the 14 matches and so was down 42-0 before the match even started. QO added wins by pin from Seniors Fernando Reyes, Tadiyah Danforth, Alex Blackman, Kyle Bollinger and Henry Canova along with Junior Eisley Kim. Freshman Gaines McKnight earned three team points with a 7-2 decision.  This was Quince Orchard's first shutout since blanking Kennedy 71-0 four seasons ago and the most points scored in at least a decade.

The next match against Rockville was also supposed to be a relatively easy one but with a few regular starters out of the lineup because of illness and injury, this turned out to be a little too close for comfort.  The Rockville wrestlers will probably be telling their grandchildren about the match where they almost took down an undefeated Quince Orchard but fortunately that's all they'll be able to tell them.  QO won 8 of the 14 matches, getting pins from Eisley Kim, Gaines McKnight, Ty Danforth and Henry Canova.  Kyle Bollinger would have had a pin had they not chosen to forfeit to him.  Senior Hunter Bunai was feeling under the weather but gutted out an important 8-7 win. Fernando Reyes was even more courageous as he was in a lot of discomfort due to a sternum injury he received last week.  He had the option of stopping the match and losing by default but refused to let the team give up an easy loss and toughed his way to an 8-3 decision.  The last match of the day was at the 160 lb weight class where Senior Tony Wimmer was faced with a must win situation with QO leading 36-33 and Rockville having the tiebreaker advantage.  Tony proved himself to be a clutch performer as he cruised to a 13-2 major decision which added 4 points and giving Quince Orchard the "W" by a final score of 40-33.

The JV Cougars spent the day wrestling in Blake High School's JV Dual Tournament.  Details to follow.

It's been at least a decade since the Quince Orchard wrestling team has bettered their Northwest rival but on Tuesday night one streak ended and another began.  QO took down favored Northwest 36-23 in a very hard fought and exciting match.  The Cougars won 8 of the 14 pairings:  3 by fall, 1 by technical fall, 1 by major decision and 3 by decision.  Almost as impressive was the fact the Quince Orchard only gave up one pin in

their 6 defeats. The match started at the 285 lb weight class where Junior Jack Hanson courageously filled in for injured Junior co-captain Zeph Titus as Jack was outweighed by about 35 pounds to an opponent that pinned him over the weekend at the Mad Mats tournament.  Although Jack lost he limited the damage to a 7-0 regular decision.  Freshman Gaines McKnight was next up and also face a Northwest opponent who pinned him at Magruder on Saturday.  Gaines wrestled well in a close hard fought match and was at the short end of a 2-0 score this time.  Due to an injury at 126, Ryan Lampos was inserted in the lineup at 113 and pinned the Northwest wrestler.  Ty Danforth faced Northwest's state runner-up for the 2nd time in four days and did his job by avoiding losing 6 team points with a fall.  Antonio Lopez wrestling up at 126 easily defeated his Jag opponent.  Senior co-captain Kyle Bollinger got his 93rd career and 7th win (all by fall) of the season.  Senior Henry Canova shut out the Northwest 152 pounder to add three points to the Cougar tally.  Sophomore Bret Williams took on Northwest's very tough 160 pounder an managed to avoid being pinned helping to keep Northwest's scoring to a minimum.  Then at 170 lbs, Senior Hunter Bunai was again paired with a Northwest grappler who had beaten him decisively twice this past weekend.  Hunter was all heart and was able to come from behind and turn the tables with a 15-14 win.  Senior Fernando Reyes, who was still a little dinged up from last weekend's tournament, toughed it out with a 2nd period pin.  In the 195 pairing, Eisley Kim sealed the deal with an 8-0 major decision to clinch a Cougar "W".   Junior Tyler Enceneat finished off the day with a total domination of his 225 lb counterpart as he ended the match with a 18-3 tech fall which added five more points to the Cougar win.

 
Northwest got the best of our JVs but there were a few notable performances.  Sophomore Edwin Portillo notched his first Cougar win with a pin.  Senior Richard Chibuwe moved his JV record to 2-0 with a 7-2 decision.   Also, Senior Ricky Chavez made his wrestling debut with a well fought effort against his Northwest opponent albeit in a losing effort.

Congratulations to all the varsity wrestlers who competed in the Mad Mats tournament at Magruder this weekend. Overall, it was a great team effort enabling us to finish in 6th place in a very competitive field of 22 public and private schools from Maryland and Virginia. Antonio Lopez and Kyle Bolllnger both won their first three matches and made it to the championship final match losing to the 10th and 2nd ranked wrestlers in the state respectively. Tadiyah Danforth lost to last year’s state finalist in the quarterfinals but won his next four matches to earn a 3rd place finish. Gaines McKnight got 4 wins over the weekend and got the 5th place medal. Hunter Bunai and Fernando Reyes each earned 6th place honors.  Fernando won his first two matches to make it to the semi-final round but wisely decided to default the rest of his matches in the tournament due to injury. Alejandro Lopez, Bret Williams and Tony Wimmer also provided wins for team points to help advance us in the overall standings.

QO Place Winners at Mad Mats
106 lbs: Gaines McKnight 5th Place
113 lbs: Tadiyah Danforth  3rd Place
120 lbs: Antonio Lopez 2nd Place
145 lbs: Kyle Bollinger 2nd Place
170 lbs: Hunter Bunai 6th Place
182 lbs: Fernando Reyes 6th Place

Final Brackets    Team Scores   Photos

This is the 4th time in the past 8 years that QO has paid a visit to the gym on Valley Brook Road in Silver Spring and the in the last three the Cougars had come up short.  That trend was bucked this year as the 2014-15 varsity squad squashed the Blue Devils in 9 out of the 14 matches earning a comfortable 46-24 victory to go 3-0 on the season. 

The match started off with the 170 lb weight class where Senior Hunter Bunai ended his match early in the 2nd period earning six team points with a pin.  Senior Fernando Reyes (182 lbs) went toe-to-toe with Springbrook's best wrestler but came out on the short end with a loss by decision.  QO then went on a six match winning spree.  Junior Eisley Kim (195 lbs) got caught on his back right off of the opening whistle but fought hard to avoid a pin.  He then returned the favor and did what his opponent wasn't able to do finishing him off with a pin before the first period buzzer sounded.  Neither Junior Tyler Enceneat (220 lbs) nor Junior Jack Hanson (285 lbs) had to wrestle for a minute as they pinned their opponents in 43 and 41 seconds respectively.  Freshman Gaines McKnight (106 lbs) was ahead4-0  in the 2nd period when he got caught on his back and bravely fought hard to avoid being pinned.  Once the 3rd period began Gaines again dominated going on to win 11-5.  Junior Ryan Lampos (113 lbs)  made his varsity debut this year sealing the deal with a win by fall midway through the 2nd period.  Junior Antonio Lopez (120 lbs) earned 4 team points with a 19-5 major decision.   Springbrook then earned three straight wins by fall before Senior co-captain Kyle Bollinger spent 1 minute and 15 seconds on the mat before the referee signaled a pin with the slap of his hand on the mat and then raising Kyle's arm.  Senior Henry Canova completed the Cougars scoring for the day with 3 team points in a 7-1 decision.

Our JV wrestlers didn't fare as well but there were no losers only junior Cougars who learned more about how to win.  Sophomore Mason Avvisar and Senior Richard Chibuwe both earned wins in their Cougar wrestling debuts.  Mason ended his match with a 2nd period pin while Richard went the distance edging out his opponent 9-8.  Senior Ricky Chaves got his hand raised by the referee when he was awarded a win by forfeit.

Photos

As baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Banks was known to say before a double-header, "It's a great day for two."  This was the case for the Quince Orchard wrestling team as they opened
 up their season this Saturday with a tri-meet against Blair and Poolesville in Blair's gym. 

 
The Cougars faced Poolesville in the first match and pulled out a 42-37 win over the Falcons.   Each team won 7 of the 14 match-ups but each of the Quince Orchard win was by pin which accounted for the winning margin.  Freshman Gaines McKnight (106 lbs) was the first man out and notched his first high school victory of many to come with a 15 second pin.  Gaines was then given the silent treatment his teammates as a ritual for a first time winner.  Junior Antonio Lopez (120 lbs)  finished off his Poolesville opponent with a 2nd period pin.  Senior co-captain Kyle Bollinger (145 lbs) recorded his 87th career win with a first period fall.  Sophomore Bret Williams earned his first varsity win with a pin in the 152 lb weight class.  The Cougars clinched the overall win with three consecutive first period pins from Senior Fernando Reyes (182 lbs), Junior Eisley Kim (195 lbs) and Junior Tyler Enceneat  (220 lbs).  Junior Jack Hanson courageously agreed to fill in for injured co-captain Zeph Titus in the 285 lb match and put up a good fight to his much larger opponent. 
 
After watching Poolesville edge out Blair in the 2nd match of the tri, Blair and QO faced off in the finale.  Antonio Lopez and his brother Freshman Alejandro Lopez (126 lbs)  led off the match and each earned three team points with their decisions.  Senior Alex Blackman (132 lbs)  finished off his Blazer opponent with a 2nd period pin.  Blair waved the white flag when it was Kyle Bollinger's turn allowing Kyle to get his hand raised for 6 team points with a forfeit.  Senior Henry Canova (160 lbs) poured it on his Blair counterpart earning 4 team points with a 14-3 major decision.  Fernando Reyes, Eisley Kim and Tyler Enceneat again each sent their opponents back to the bench early with wins by fall.  Gaines McKnight got his 2nd first period pin of the day followed by Senior Tadiyah Danforth 113 lbs) doing the same in the last match of the day.  Final score QO 52 Blair 24.
 
Unfortunately, even thought there were two referees on hand to share varsity and JV duties, Blair did not have a second mat so our JVs spent the afternoon watching all three varsity matches

Photos
 
QO takes on the Springbrook Blue Devils on Wednesday  night.

It should be an exciting year for QO wrestling as the team returns a number of experienced and talented wrestlers.

Leading up the team this year is Senior Captain Kyle Bollinger (2014 138 lb. County Champion, Region Champion and 6th Place in the State)

2013-14 Season Summary

Win  QO 42 Poolesville 37

Win  QO 52 Blair 24
Win QO 46  Springbrook 24

6th out of 22 Teams @  Mad Mats Tournament

Win QO 37 Northwest 23

Win QO 81 Kennedy 0

Win QO 40 Rockville 33
Win QO 48 Clarksburg 27

3rd Place out of 9 teams Cougar Claus Holiday Dual Tournament (Record 6-2)
Win QO 75 Seneca Valley 6

Win QO 59 Gaithersburg 20

10th Place out 21 teams  Hub Cup Tournament

Win QO 37 Wootton 30

Loss QO 22 Magruder 44

Loss QO (little) Damascus (a lot) 

Win QO 66 Watkins Mill 9

Win QO 34 Paint Branch 33