The Loyola Blakefield wrestling program bottomed out during the 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 seasons.

The Dons went winless in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference in both seasons.

Things were worse in previous seasons when Loyola forfeited up to five matches.

But now Loyola's fortunes seem to be rising.

The Dons won the 19-team Parkville Invitational Tournament last weekend, crowning five individual champions, including Jessie Perseghin (103 pounds, 5-0), Colin Schuster (119, 5-0), Ron Mister (125, 5-0), James Davies (135, 5-0) and Alex Tiernan (140, 4-0).

Schuster, a freshman, won by pin in the final and Mister, a senior, pinned his way through the tournament, recording four altogether.

Loyola (257 points) finished ahead of six-time defending champion Owings Mills (224.5).

The tournament crown meant a lot to Loyola third-year Coach Steve Truitt, who, as a middle school student, wrestled for two years under Owings Mills boss Guy Pritzker in a junior league program he ran.

"It's nice to show him how far Loyola has come," Truitt said. "He was my mentor."

Winning the Parkville tournament should give the Loyola wrestlers a big dose of confidence.

"It's a really big step for us," said Tiernan, who won the Parkville tourney by pinning three straight opponents before recording a 4-0 decision over Catonsville's Dean Lally in the championship. "It shows everyone to watch out for us.

"We want to show we can hang with the top teams like McDonogh, St. Joe and Curley," he added. "I think we are coming up there, but will still have a couple more things to do."

Loyola's depth may enable the Dons to accomplish more than they did in the past two seasons when the team posted a dual-meet record of 9-8 in 2004 and 19-9 last year.

The team had three wrestlers place second: Brian Frantz (130, 5-1), Dan Peters-Rodbell (171, 4-1) and Pete Prosser (215, 3-1).

Three other Dons placed in the top six: Ben Garbart (3rd, 189, 5-2), Danny Smith (4th, 160, 4-2) and heavyweight Owen Duffy (6th, 5-2).

Loyola's overall number of winners at the Parkville tournament really impressed Perry Hall Coach Kirk Mateer.

"It was just unbelievable," he said. "I think they will be a winning force all season."