Advertisement

Here are 42 Washington County high school boys to watch in 2023-24 winter sports

daniel kauffman, the herald-mail
·7 min read

The Washington County high school winter sports season soon will be in full swing with basketball, indoor track and field and wrestling. Here are 42 boys to watch:

Aidan Alvarez, Sr., Williamsport, wrestling — Alvarez finished 32-10 at 106 pounds as a junior.

Nicky Anderson, Sr., Williamsport, wrestling — Anderson won a county title at 126 pounds last winter, finishing the season 38-4. He is 64-17 in his prep career.

Donovan Baldwin, Jr., North Hagerstown, indoor track and field — As a sophomore, Baldwin finished second in the 400 and third in the 800 in the county outdoor meet last spring. He was third in the county 500 indoors last winter.

Rishi Bhat, Jr., North Hagerstown, indoor track and field — Bhat was the county's top performer by time in the state cross country meet, finishing 30th in Class 3A. As a sophomore, he won the county 1,600 title indoors last winter and county 3,200 gold outdoors last spring.

Will Bonds, Sr., North Hagerstown, basketball — Bonds averaged 10.5 points, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game for the Hubs last winter.

Peter Ciardiello, Sr., Grace Academy, basketball — Ciardiello averaged 13.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game as a junior.

Nick Cullember, Jr., Clear Spring, indoor track and field — As a sophomore, Cullember placed third in the county outdoor meet in the shot put.

Jakob Davidson, Jr., Boonsboro, indoor track and field — Davidson is coming off a cross country season in which he won Smithsburg's Don Stoner Invitational, placed second in 1A West, finished fourth in the county meet and was sixth in Class 1A at the state meet. He's also a talented pole vaulter.

Isaiah Demory, Sr., Hancock, basketball — Demory averaged 9.6 points, 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game for the Panthers as a junior.

Xavier Douge, Sr., Smithsburg, indoor track and field — A standout hurdler, Douge finished second in 1A West in the 55 hurdles last winter and won the 1A West 110 hurdles title outdoors last spring.

Nate Elliott, Sr., Boonsboro, wrestling — Elliott won a county title and placed fourth in the Class 2A-1A state tournament at 220 pounds last winter, finishing the season 46-4. He is 79-11 in his prep career.

St. Maria Goretti's Caleb Embeya shoots a jump shot.
St. Maria Goretti's Caleb Embeya shoots a jump shot.

Caleb Embeya, Sr., St. Maria Goretti, basketball — Embeya was The Herald-Mail's player of the year last winter after earning Baltimore Catholic League defensive player of the year and all-BCL first-team honors. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 13.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.

Jacob Faith, Jr., Clear Spring, indoor track and field — Faith won the Class 1A state title in the high jump indoors last winter, clearing 6-2.

Lance Ford, Sr., South Hagerstown, basketball — Ford averaged 9.3 points, 2.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game as a junior.

Brycen Fraley, Sr., Williamsport, wrestling — Fraley finished 26-11 at 182 pounds as a junior.

Tanner Halling, Jr., Boonsboro, wrestling — Halling won the county title and placed second in Class 2A-1A in the state tournament at 120 pounds last winter, finishing the season 45-1. He is 82-2 in his prep career.

Jacob Hart, Sr., North Hagerstown, wrestling — Hart finished 22-9 at 195 pounds as a junior.

Williamsport's Adin Hastings won the Maryland 2A-1A state title in the 195-pound weight class.
Williamsport's Adin Hastings won the Maryland 2A-1A state title in the 195-pound weight class.

Adin Hastings, Jr., Williamsport, wrestling — Hastings won the Maryland Class 2A-1A state title at 195 pounds last winter, finishing the season with a 44-1 record. He is 81-5 in his prep career.

Manny Hill, Sr., South Hagerstown, wrestling — Hill returns to the mats after missing his junior season with a torn ACL. He finished 24-6 as a sophomore.

Camden Hull, Sr., Williamsport, wrestling — Hull won the county title at 113 pounds last winter, finishing the season 39-9. He is 71-19 in his prep career.

Ryder Johnston, Sr., North Hagerstown, indoor track and field — Johnston, who excelled as a sprinter, hurdler and jumper for the Hubs outdoors last spring, is participating indoors for the first time.

Nas Keyes, Sr., North Hagerstown, basketball — Keyes was the leading public-school scorer at 17.7 points per game last winter. He also averaged 4.1 steals, 2.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds.

Cole Kriner, Sr., Williamsport, basketball — Kriner averaged 6.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game for the Wildcats as a junior.

Dayvion Martin, So., South Hagerstown, indoor track and field — As a freshman, Martin placed second in the shot put in the county meet last winter.

Walker Mason, So., North Hagerstown, indoor track and field — Mason won the county cross country title in October. As a freshman, he was the county 3,200 champion indoors and placed second in the county 1,600 outdoors.

Aiden McCarty, Jr., Hancock, basketball — McCarty averaged 13.3 points and 4.0 steals per game as a sophomore.

Tyce McConnaughey, So., Clear Spring, indoor track and field — As a freshman, McConnaughey finished fourth in the county meet in the 55 dash last winter.

Sean Mongan, Sr., Heritage, basketball — Mongan averaged 17.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.0 assists for the Mason Dixon Christian Conference champion Eagles last winter.

Garcia Ndosa-Kadiobo, Sr., North Hagerstown, wrestling — Ndosa-Kadiobo finished 23-14 at 220 pounds as a junior.

Corry Nelson, Sr., Williamsport, basketball — Nelson averaged 8.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the Wildcats last winter.

Caleb Owusu-Ayim, Sr., North Hagerstown, indoor track and field — Owusu-Ayim placed second in the county meet in the 55 last season and tied for the county's second-best time in the event (6.75). Outdoors last spring, he won the county title in the 100 and ranked second in the 100 (11.23), third in the long jump (20 feet) and fourth in the 200 (23.18).

Patrick Rhoades, Sr., Williamsport, indoor track and field — As a junior, Rhoades placed third in the 300 in the 1A West meet indoors.

Kalel Salifou, Sr., North Hagerstown, indoor track and field — As a junior, Salifou finished third in the outdoor county meet in the high jump.

Richard Sanon, Jr., Williamsport, indoor track and field — As a sophomore, Sanon was the county champion in the 55 hurdles indoors and the 110 hurdles outdoors. He placed fourth in the Class 1A 55 hurdles at states indoors.

Trevor Sowers, Jr., Boonsboro, wrestling — Sowers was the 2A-1A West runner-up at 145 pounds last winter and finished the season 43-6. He is 71-15 in his prep career.

Brady Walters, Sr., North Hagerstown, basketball — Walters averaged 9.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game for the Hubs last winter.

Moses Warui, Sr., Saint James, wrestling — Warui finished 26-12 at 113 pounds as a junior.

Ah'Ryan White, Sr., Smithsburg, indoor track and field — As a junior outdoors last spring, White placed second in the county and third in 1A West in the 300 hurdles. He finished fifth in the county 300 indoors.

Jarvis Wright, Sr., St. Maria Goretti, basketball — Wright scored 14 points against Burlington, 23 points against Virginia Academy and 19 points against Mt. Zion to start the season.

Michael Wynkoop, So., Smithsburg, indoor track and field — Wynkoop is coming off a cross country season in which he finished second in the county meet and CMC small-school division, fourth in 1A West and fifth in Class 1A at states.

Jayden Yates, So., Saint James, basketball — Yates led the county with his scoring average of 19.4 points per game as a freshman. He also averaged 8.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals.

Tyler Younker, Jr., Smithsburg, indoor track and field — As a sophomore, Younker placed third in the county 1,600 outdoors and was fourth in the county 3,200 indoors.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: 2023-24 Washington County winter sports boys athletes to watch