Green Hornets Wrestlers Take Down Opponents At State Championship

Wrestling is one of the oldest sports in history. Two competitors use strength, technique and strategy to defeat each other. The sport requires both physical and mental toughness. Athletes must be strong, fast and strategic while enduring intense training.

Wrestlers also need discipline to manage their weight, maintain endurance, and compete with minimal breaks. The athletes learn that their bodies are more powerful than they could imagine.

Few understand the demands of wrestling better than Green Hornets wrestling coach Jeff Eveleth. Eveleth had outstanding wrestling careers in high school and at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from college in 2005, he returned to his alma mater, Chesapeake High School, where he stayed as the wrestling head coach for seven years. He started coaching for the Green Hornets in 2021, a full-circle moment as Eveleth was a Green Hornets wrestler at age 5 under his father, Brian Eveleth Sr.

A decade ago, 52 youth were in Green Hornets wrestling, Greater Severna Park Athletic Association executive director Josh Banks shared. The 2017 season was cancelled due to low enrollment. Tom Wheeler took over as league commissioner in 2018 and the program has been growing ever since.

“More than 100 youth registered for the Green Hornets wrestling program this year, one of the largest enrollments in program history,” Eveleth said. “Eight wrestlers qualified for the Maryland Junior (Wrestling) League state tournament, including Daniel Morgan, Conrad Kuhn, Holden Rothenbecker, Grayson Terrill, Gabriella Gauthier, William Abboud, Nolan Lyons and J.D. Moran.”

Overall, Abboud finished first in the 120-pound class; Rothenbecker finished eighth in the 65-pound weight class; Kuhn finished sixth in the 60-pound weight class; Moran finished sixth in the 190-pound weight class; and Lyons fifth in the 190-pound weight class. Eveleth said everyone wrestled with maximum effort to put five Hornets on the podium.

Some of the Green Hornets’ strongest leaders are eighth-graders heading to high school next year. Eveleth said he has a strong core of young athletes who continue to get better every year and will no doubt take on leadership roles to ensure the success of the wrestling program next year and beyond.

“Severna Park High School is building their team and has some young talent that will hopefully do well in state tournaments in the next few years,” Eveleth added. “They took two boys to the state tournament, with Michael Queen placing second. My goal for the Green Hornets is to build a strong wrestling team that can feed into the high school. We are preparing our boys and girls so they can step up to the high school level when they reach that point.”

To better prepare his wrestlers for the tournament, Eveleth partnered with other Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks athletic clubs to share space and provide practice matches. The state tournament takes place after the recreation program’s season has ended, which causes space constraints against spring sports. The partnership allowed better preparation for all involved.

“The heart of our program is the kids themselves. Their enthusiasm, determination, and willingness to work hard inspire everyone around them,” Wheeler added. “Watching these young athletes develop — not just as wrestlers but as confident, respectful and disciplined individuals — is what makes this program truly special. They bring an unmatched energy to the mat, supporting and pushing each other to be their best.”

If kids are the heart of the program, Wheeler calls the coaches the backbone because they have created a positive and nurturing environment where young athletes can thrive.