Brunswick High School is a small town school located in Brunswick, Maryland. The school is the oldest in Frederick County and one of the few schools that do not have a wrestling room. Wrestling was never a super popular sport, but the numbers and popularity have increased recently. This small-town team has made a big noise in the wrestling world, ranked top 10 in the state. These rankings are updated often and Brunswick has been ranked 9th in the state for the majority of the season. Many may think that isn’t impressive, but these rankings include all divisions of high schools (1a-2a-3a-4a). The divisions are based on the number of students in the school. The higher the rating, the bigger the school. Brunswick is a small school, which means we are a 1a/2a school. To be ranked in the top 10 in the state as a 1a/2a school that doesn’t even have a wrestling room is quite an achievement. This team at Brunswick is on track to be the best wrestling team that has ever been at Brunswick. The Brunswick wrestling team ended the season with only four team losses and 33 team wins with two tournament wins and one tournament placement in the top 5.
Astonishing Season
To start the season, the Roaders hosted Smithsburg and South Hagerstown, where they were able to defeat both teams. The final score was 78-3 versus Smithsburg, and the final score was 73-6 versus South Hagerstown.
Following the dual meet, they had two two-day tournaments at Boonsboro; Battle in the Boro. This was both a team and individual tournament, meaning that they wrestled individually in weight brackets in which they gained team points for every match won. Brunswick came out victorious with a team score of 361, followed by Boonsboro with a score of 300, and Tuscarora with a score of 271. There were 14 teams at the tournament, and small-town Brunswick set an early tone, defeating all teams by at least 61 points.
Carter Mullen placed 2nd at 106, Evan Mullen placed 2nd at 113, Jake O’Conner placed 2nd at 126, Cayden Boedecker placed 3rd at 132, Seth Crawford placed 2nd at 138, CJ Watts placed 1st at 157, Ben Guyton placed 3rd at 190, Austin Curry placed 3rd at 215, and Lane Riggleman placed 1st at 285. Having 9 out of 14 people place in the top three of their class allowed Brunswick to dominate the competition.
The next challenge for Brunswick was a match against Middletown where Brunswick fell short of the win. The final score was 43-19, which was a big match since both teams were within the same region and would have to compete later in the season (if both teams made it far enough). Middletown has a solid lineup with many great wrestlers that put them just ahead of Brunswick. This is where Brunswick will decide to either take the loss as what it is or be able to use this as motivation for the rest of the season. The next challenge was a match against Frederick in which Brunswick was victorious with a score of 50-27.
Next was a tri-meet with Governor Thomas Johnson, Walkersville, and Brunswick. The score of Brunswick versus Governor Thomas Johnson was 60-22 with Brunswick winning; the score of Brunswick versus Walkersville was 47-29 with another victory for Brunswick.
The next event was a duel tournament at Tuscarora High School. This is where many teams go to battle each other in a two-day tournament. This tournament differs from the tournament from earlier in the year; it is team versus team, and the team with the most wins, wins the tournament. Brunswick faced one loss during the entire tournament, with the team defeating them, which was Boonsboro. It was a tight match, but Brunswick fell short of the match and remained at the top of the tournament. The team won the tournament with only one loss, bringing the trophy home for Brunswick.
The next match was against the team they lost to in the previous tournament, Boonsboro. This was a good match but Brunswick was able to secure the win 47-29, proving that the last match was just a fluke for Brunswick.
Now Brunswick has decided to go to an invite-only tournament consisting of the top teams in MD, PA, WV, and any other surrounding states; also including private schools. Brunswick was invited due to the team’s previous performances and attended to test their limits. There were a total of 18 teams at the Iron Horse Tournament with three dropping out before the start. This is one of the toughest tournaments in Maryland given that there are schools from all around and it includes private schools. Brunswick set a statement by defeating top-ranked teams in the state and placing fourth by defeating Linganore in the 4th place match. This was shocking to the entire state in the wrestling world, now gaining a rank of 9th in the state. Now they need to perform well to maintain the ranking and prove that they are worthy of that ranking.
After that astonishing performance, Brunswick wrestled Francis Scott Key next, winning the match 51-21. The next challenge was Liberty where they came out on top with a score of 63-14. Next was a Tri-match between Catoctin, Urbana, and Brunswick; Brunswick won both with a score of 57-12 against Urbana and 59-18 against Catoctin.
The next matchup was against Williamsport, where Brunswick defeated them 54-21 on their senior night. The season soon ended with Brunswick’s senior night against Oakdale in which Brunswick won 43-24.
The final match of the regular season was against Jefferson where Brunswick dominated with a score of 71 to 3, nearing a perfect match. The next event for Brunswick was the regional quarterfinals where Brunswick faced Southern Garrett. Brunswick was victorious with a final score of 34-33.
Sadly, the last match of the season was the regional semifinals against Northern Garrett where Brunswick came up 1 point short of the win. A devastating loss ended the team’s season of the Brunswick Railroaders. This was an astonishing season with a record-breaking season at Brunswick. They had the best record ever at Brunswick being 33-4, even if they came up short at the end of the year. Their only losses were to Middletown, Boonsboro, Sexton, and Northern Garrett, which all were ranked teams in the state. The only loss that shouldn’t have happened was Boonsboro, which they beat later in the year.
However, the team season is over, there are still individual tournaments for counties, regions, and states. Brunswick had a dominating performance this season, with 4 losses and many major wins coming close to perfect clean sweep matches. The legacy of this team will be remembered at Brunswick since this team has had the highest ranking and best record ever at Brunswick.
Some members of the Brunswick Wrestling team were interviewed about the season. Varsity 165lb, Alex Haste, shared his involvements with the team and how being on the team was. “My favorite part is the community and friendship we created, as well as performing well.”
Were there any differences between last session and this season? If so, what were those differences?
Haste said, “The prep definitely differed from last year, with shorter, more intense practices. Additionally, for me, I was no longer hard cutting and I was able to perform better since I wasn’t cutting as hard.”
Varsity 132lb, Cayden Boedecker also shared his challenges faced throughout the season.
Boedecker said, “Some challenges I think I’ve faced this year are bumping up a weight class at the beginning of the year, and making some mistakes during some of my losses I responded by getting back in the wrestling room and making sure I’m working on things I need to improve on and practicing to my fullest.”
Were there any differences between last session and this season? If so, what were those differences?
Boedecker replied, “I think we came into this season much more prepared than last season, last season we didn’t do as much offseason practice, this year we came into the season with lots of practice under our belts.”
Varsity 106, Evan Mullen shared some of his challenges he faces throughout the season.
“I’ve wrestled a little underweight a couple of times both at 113 and 120 but everyone on our team does that. We each stand up and make sacrifices for the betterment of the team and so that makes me sacrificing easier sometimes when I know everyone is as well.”
Hearing from two members of the team, it is easy to conclude that this year’s wrestling team put forth the effort necessary to have a sustained season. Alex highlighted that the practices were shorter but higher intensity. Additionally, Cayden pointed out that there was a lot more off-season work which helped better prepare them for the season. Not only was it about being better and putting in work, but it was also about the community and friendships built throughout the season. Yes, they were good and put in the work, but Alex highlighted that his favorite part was “…the community and friendship we created” which could also contribute to the impressive performance. Evan also described how he made sacrifices for the team; this proves that the team will make sacrifices for each other. This shows unity; teams with great unity, who would make sacrifices for each other, will have better chances at success. A strong, hardworking, and cohesive team is what Brunswick Wrestling is all about, and it goes to show that no matter the size of the school, anyone can compete at a high level.
Day in the Life of a Wrestler at Brunswick High
Being a part of the team—a day in the life isn’t too demanding—yet challenges everyone on the team. First, school is a priority for all wrestlers, thus if you don’t attend school or have failing grades, you are unable to practice or perform. Therefore, all wrestlers attend school, and straight after school, we have practice. Practices are usually an hour and a half long. This may seem long or short depending on your background with wrestling. It is a short practice when it comes to wrestling, but that does not mean we are unprepared in any way for opponents.
Before practice, we have to roll out mats and use mat tape since Brunswick does not have a wrestling room. Then we practice for around an hour and a half; during that hour and a half, we warm up for around 20 min, doing light cardio and stretches to get loose for the remainder of practice. After the warmups, we grab a partner and do various drills to ensure we have our arsenal ready for our opponents. Practices differ from one another and we change up what we do every day; but after drilling for 10-20 minutes we usually go live in groups of four. This drill works with everyone in the group challenging one another to push and become stronger and improve. This drill is usually live wrestling, meaning: wrestling like it is a match, giving it everything you have.
Then, we number off in groups and each person remains “in the middle” for 5 min at a time. The coach blows a whistle every 45 seconds so we switch with another member in the group; we repeat until everyone in the group has been in the middle. This drill lasts 20-30 minutes, which we may do again for the remainder of practice. Additionally, we do hard conditioning for the last segment of practice consisting of: running, up-downs, pushups, sit-ups, stance in motion, planks, mountain climbers, etc. We change up the conditioning every practice in order to remain in shape and gain better conditioning in all areas.
Additionally, outside of practice, wrestlers who have to cut weight need to watch what they eat and drink so that they can make weight. Being one of the wrestlers who needed to cut, I would often run to make weight and go to great lengths in order to make weight for the team. For instance, I would run miles at a time, even after practice, to make weight the next day; and also remain on a strict low-calorie diet. Not only are the practices hard, but wrestlers have to do many things outside of practice that translate to the team and the match. That is usually a day in the life of a wrestler on the Brunswick Railroaders’ wrestling team.