SCHENK, FENTON & SAADULAEV EARN ALL-AMERICAN HONORS AT FARGO

McDonogh star takes fifth; Curley’s Saadulaev and Fenton each eighth as 16 MIAA wrestlers compete nationally

Nick
Schenkâ??s left shoulder still ached, his ears were swollen and the
inside of his upper lip still was raw from the friction against his
braces.

â??Iâ??m
all beat up,â? Schenk said yesterday, 24 hours after having wrestled to
a fifth place finish nationally at 112 pounds. â??I had a rough draw [on
Tuesday] against the No. 2 guy in the country and lost my first match.
But I showed a lot of toughness, I guess, by winning some more matches.â?

The
effort of Schenk, a rising sophomore at McDonogh, produced an overall
14-2 record along with All-America status for finishing among the top
eight in his weight class in the freestyle portion of the 37^th
annual Accelerated Cadet Nationals at North Dakota State Universityâ??s
Fargo Dome in Fargo, N.D.

At
McDonogh last winter, Schenk posted what is believed to be a
school-best 43-0 record for victories by a freshman on the way to
winning titles in the MIAA, Private Schools States and National Preps
tournaments.

â??No
one likes to lose, but I look at this as gaining a lot of experience
because my side of the brackets was stacked with a lot of talented
guys,â? said Schenk, who entered high school as the most decorated
wrestler in Maryland’s junior league history. â??It taught me that you
just have to keep your composure and maintain a tough mindset through
everything.â?

MIAA champion Mitch Fenton, who graduated from Archbishop Curley this year, receives some last minute coaching before taking earlier this week in Fargo.

An eighth place finisher
among the cadets was Archbishop Curley junior Ali Saadulaev, a 135-pounder
whose performance â??was considered a surprise,â? according to team director, Will
Whitelaw.

â??He was amazing,â? said
Whitelaw, whose son, Kramer (152), also competed in the July 20-26 Fargo events and will be among 12
returning starters to McDonoghâ??s MIAAâ??s returning A Conference dual meet and
Tournament champs. â??Instead of taking breaks between rounds, he continued to
work hard.â?

Rider University-bound
Mitch Fenton, who graduated from Archbishop Curley, earned All-American honors
with an eighth place finish in the Greco-Roman discipline at 130 pounds in the
Asics/Vaughan Junior Nationals.

Fentonâ??s effort followed
up a senior season during which he earned titles in the MIAA private schools tournaments
â?? his second in the latter.

Other MIAA
representatives among the cadets were McDonoghâ??s Mitchell Bode (98 pounds), Eric
Filipowicz (130) and Shane Milam (145); Mount St. Josephâ??s Frank Goodwin (112),
Ben Schaufele (125) and Bobby Bowman (152); John Carrollâ??s Matt Miller (135); and
Calvert Hallâ??s Ethan Keiser (152).

McDonoghâ??s Josh Fitch
(130), Ben Levin (130), Ben Sataloff (140) and Alex Pagnotta (189) competed among
the juniors, as did Calvert Hallâ??s Owen Smith (171).