There was a lot of happiness at the Maryland State Wrestling Tournament on Saturday night, but while happiness was plentiful, no one was more surprised by the final team standings than Perry Hall coach Jake Roche and his team.

The Gators finished third in Class 4A-3A behind La Plata and Reservoir.

"Unbelievable," Roche said. "We expected our guys to persevere. But to finish third? We thought maybe top 20 or, at best, top 10."

It was quite a performance given Perry Hall put no one in the finals. The Gators' Zeke Salvo, a freshman who went 30-3 this season, was the team's top finisher, earning third in the 103-pound class.

"We had a young team this year," Roche said. "We only lose two seniors, and we'll have guys coming in from our county junior varsity championship team."

Perry Hall lost just three times in 13 matches, to Dulaney, Towson and No. 5 Owings Mills. Roche said he and his team are making big plans for the offseason -- and next year.

"We're starting a mat club here at Perry Hall to get these kids year-round experience," Roche said. "We're hoping to see good results from that."

Owings Mills, who finished second in the 2A-1A competition, has dominated the Baltimore County scene for decades. It will be fun next year to see whether Perry Hall can challenge the Eagles.

Owings Mills' Demetrius Johnson (130) and Taran Carr (145) brought individual championships home.

While Winters Mill won its first state title and broke a 26-year drought for Carroll County teams, several other county wrestlers joined Winters Mills' Justin Kozera (285) at the top of their weight classes.

Chris Wampler (125) won for South Carroll, and Dan Markosky (135) won for Liberty,

Harford County got a champion in Patterson Mill's Zach Cullison (119), the Huskies' first state titlist. And Aberdeen's Shayduan Velez (112) got his school's first individual title since 1999.

Howard County got two exceptional winners in Centennial's Nathan Kraisser (125) and Oakland Mills' Tony Farace (119), who each won for the third time as juniors and will pursue the rare opportunity to become a four-time titlist next season.

Reservoir's Mark Colabucci (171) went 37-1 this season and celebrated his second title, while Wilde Lake's Zathy Ndiang (189), a senior, rolled up a 29-1 record and earned his first state title. Glenelg's Charles Walls (160) got to celebrate as a senior as well.

Anne Arundel County got to celebrate three times with Tyler Goodwin (130), Salaman Riddell (140) and Ron Vaughters (145). Vaughters won his third crown.

And then there was Carver, the city school that put two wrestlers in the championship round -- a first for a city school. It got the ultimate prize when Tyler Hinton (140) became only the fourth wrestler in the history of city schools' participation to win a state title.

All in all, it was a wonderful night for all the wrestlers who put in the work and showed the strength of character be part of the state tournament.