Delmar White could wrestle collegiately if he wanted.
The Archbishop Spalding senior defensive lineman was named the Capital Gazette Wrestler of the Year during his junior season with a 54-4 record that campaign. His 6-foot-1, 285-pound frame fits the mold for a collegiate wrestler.
Spalding wrestling coach Michael Laidley said White has the talent to compete in both sports. But the three-star football recruit, who committed to Maryland in June, has his focus on playing at SECU Stadium for coach Michael Locksley.
While neither wrestling nor football was the sport White first played, he developed into a standout throughout high school with interchangeable skills in each.
“The work ethic is relentless,” Archbishop Spalding football coach Kyle Schmitt said. “He loves to work out, he cares a lot about his craft … he cares a lot about just being really good and not all the stardom that comes with being really good.”
While White first enrolled at Chesapeake High School to play baseball, the Bayhawks’ football coaches pulled him aside early in his freshman year and invited him to join football. He then played about eight games that year on junior varsity, which earned him a spot on the varsity team for the next season.
Chesapeake’s wrestling coaches approached White with the same offer at the end of his first football campaign. White accepted again.
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Both sports were difficult for White at first.
White felt overwhelmed by players and coaches, reciting a plethora of plays in the huddle of his first football game — a concept he didn’t deal with in baseball. For wrestling, the heavyweight also had to learn about the point system, match length, what’s legal and what isn’t. He said it took his entire freshman season to grasp the sport.
“It was humbling,” White said. “I stayed patient with it, worked hard every day with it.”
White discovered that many of the same techniques used in wrestling translate into football. The same strength he uses to grapple with an offensive lineman is similar to how he engages an opponent on the mat.
White’s development expedited after transferring to Archbishop Spalding for his junior season. He formed stronger relationships with his football coaches, he said, who he credits for teaching him all of his footwork.
The defensive lineman capped his first season with the Cavaliers with 57 tackles, more than six tackles for loss and more than five sacks, according to The Baltimore Sun. As a wrestler, he won Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference and Maryland Independent Schools state championships. He also placed third at the National Prep Wrestling Championships, The Baltimore Sun reported.
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“The word I go back to [is] humble … you wouldn’t know the wrestling success, you wouldn’t know the football success,” Schmitt said. “He’s ferocious as a player, but then he’s got a great heart.”
Spalding junior Zack Philpott met White during summer workouts last year. Philpott was quickly impressed by White’s strength when he first saw him in the weight room. The two then became lifting partners.
At the end of a practice this month, White pulled off his jersey and shoulder pads and lined on the baseline. Even after a two-hour practice, he wasn’t done.
White sprinted 50 yards downfield and back as the sun set behind the trees outlining Spalding’s field. He repeated the sprint twice and ran another set. By the end, he leaned onto the water station by the baseline.
Philpott admires White’s work ethic — he said the future Terp doesn’t take any days off. White aims to bring that ethic to Maryland.
“I’m still learning now,” White said. “I’m gonna learn a lot more when I get to college.”
