The Starting Five

Williamsport’s Robbie Mies (215 pounds) and Kemper Baker (119) both won Class 2A-1A state titles last Saturday night at the 40th annual Maryland State Wrestling Tournament at the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House.

My colleagues here in the sports department can tell you that I had predicted Mies would win. But who could have guessed the Wildcats senior would dominate his bracket the way he did with three pins and a 6-0 decision? … Good golly! … In the finals, he pinned Easton’s Cavlin Rookard in the third period. Here’s the video of it. … Mies had a 7-2 lead on Rookard before the pin. Those were the only two points he allowed all weekend. Just total domination.

Then there’s Baker, whom I accurately predicted would place. But I never thought it would be first. I know I wasn’t alone either.

Baker, a sophomore, finished fifth at 112 in the West region last year, failing to qualify for states. Meanwhile, last year at states, River Hill’s Cameron Kirby placed second at 103, Pikesville’s Ben Baker took third at 112 and Landsdowne’s Earl Eppard placed third at 119.

Baker beat all three of those guys, in that order, to win the title. Here’s the video of his 10-9 thriller over Eppard in the finals. … Baker finished the season with a 36-2 record, leading Washington County in victories. His two losses this season were to Glenelg’s Zack Gerber (in the Damascus tourney finals) and Brunswick’s Tyler Bartholomew (in the West region semifinals). While he never got the chance to avenge those losses at states, he did the next best thing by beating Eppard, who beat Bartholomew in the quarterfinals and Gerber in the semis.