Posted on 14 December 2008 by .
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By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com
Magruder sophomore Jordan Tolbert measures himself against his brothers, Zach and Alex.
It’s a high mark considering Zach won a state title not too long ago and Alex graduated as Magruder’s all-time wins leader.
But now, after winning the 112-pound title at the Mad Mats VI tournament at Magruder Saturday, Jordan can add another bullet point to the resume he has over his brothers.
“It’s already more wins than both my brothers at Mad Mats,†said Jordan, who also won the tournament at 103 pounds last year.
And that’s where he draws his pleasure. Tolbert is the youngest boy of the three, but he may just be the most talented too – only further proven by his championship Saturday.
“I would think it would put a lot of pressure on him, but I don’t see the pressure,†Magruder Coach Max Sartoph said. “He’s beat the accomplishments of both his brothers and we continues to do as well.â€
Zach is the eldest brother. He graduated as a two-time county runner-up and had 115 career wins. Alex, who graduated last year, notched a program record 126 career victories, a 4A/3A regional title and a fourth-place state finish.
“I’ve just got a lot to live up to; I’ve got to fill up their shoes,†Tolbert said. “It’s kind of challenging because they have so many achievements.â€
But Tolbert, who defeated a tough Catoctin wrestler, Jon Sweeney, 3-0 in the finals Saturday, notched his first accomplishment over his brothers last year when he placed fourth at states as a 103-pound freshman. Neither brother placed at states as a freshman.
Sartoph said he has never openly talked about filling in for his brothers with Jordan. They see the names up on the practice room walls and that’s reminder enough.
Occasionally the brothers return home to roll around in their old gym and of course the brothers sometimes get into some scrums – which Jordan says go back-and-forth.
Jordan said Zach coaches his moves more while Alex is more of a motivational boost. Jordan loves taking their advise because they both know what they’re talking about, he said.. And now he’s turned that into his own style.
Zach was more of a finesse wrestler while Alex was a hard-nosed tough wrestler. Jordan is a mixture of both, Sartoph said. And that’s just the right blend.
“Jordan’s a very technical wrestler and he’s very confident and he gets out there and gets it done,†Sartoph said. “He doesn’t care what it looks like. He wrestles.â€
When talking about his goals for this season, Jordan focuses on his shortcomings from last year. He lost at counties and regionals to Blake’s Rashiem Smith and has intentions on atoning for that this year.
But in the long run, there’s two wrestlers Jordan has his sights set on.
“They tell other people I’m the best,†Jordan said. “But talking to me they say they had a harder weight class or a harder opponent. But I don’t know, I’ll take it.â€
WHITMAN WINS IN A LANDSLIDE
Whitman won Mad Mats VI for the second straight year, but it certainly was different.
Last season Whitman needed and got a couple pins in the finals to beat Damascus by just one point.
This year the Vikings had it locked up before the finals even began and won by 40.5 points over second-place Quince Orchard.
“We have five or six guys in the finals and that’s the way it should be,†171-pound junior Taylor Leighton said. “We’re a real strong team this year and this is where we show it.â€
To be exact, Whitman had seven wrestlers in the finals, even more than Leighton thought.
Eric Harder was in his first-ever finals, Eric Beverly won the 145-pound title, Steven Fisher was runner-up at 160, Leighton repeated as champ at 171, Aaron Norris won the 189-pound crown, Danny Lee repeated at 215 and first-year heavyweight J.D. Hamilton pinned his finals opponent in 44 seconds.
In case that was a little too much to take, that’s five champions. Whitman certainly proved how good a duals team it is with a blowout duals win over Damascus earlier this week. This showed the Vikings have the top-notch talent to dominate at tournaments as well.
“That’s what’s great,†Lee said. “That’s what’s more important to me. The team is what’s most important and we got that big.â€
Perhaps the only shocker of the group was J.D. Hamilton’s pin in the finals. Hamilton is a first-year wrestler who joined from the football team. He faced another first-year wrestling football player from St. John’s, Kevin McReynolds, who entered the match with nine straight pins after being disqualified from his first bout for poking his opponents’ eye.
Hamilton got McReynolds in a top headlock, stepped behind him and whipped him to his back. He then pounced and cinched McReynolds in tight to get the pin with the crowd going wild. It was only one of three pins in the finals and was by far the quickest.
“Awesome, dude,†Hamilton said. “First year wrestling, to get this far, I can only attribute this to my coaches and my teammates teaching me all they know.â€
Hamilton has been working out with Lee, a state placer last year, for much of the season. He has all the physical tools – quick, strong and durable from football – but his greatest attribute may be his willingness to learn this season.
Hamilton’s pin came just seconds after Lee notched a pin of his own. Lee took down Seneca Valley’s Bernard Wolley in 4:19 to repeat as a Mad Mats champion as just a junior.
“It’s the first time I’ve been a first seed in any tournament,†Lee said. “It’s a good feeling to fulfill the expectations.â€
One of the best finals appearances came from Norris. After beating Catoctin’s Chris Schildt, 11-3, Manon told Norris that he couldn’t be any happier as the senior captain walked off the mat.
Norris was facing a hard-nosed wrestler who was stockier and seemingly stronger than himself but was still relentless in pushing the action.
“I was real happy with the way I wrestled, especially against a bigger, tougher guy like that,†Norris said. “[Coach Manon] has been preaching to us to get takedowns and work hard and not stop moving. We were both real happy with how it turned out in the end.â€
Leighton had a tough matchup of his own as he squared off against Blair’s Alhaji Janneh.
Both wrestlers were cautious for much of the match but exploded near the end. Janneh had the lead at the end of the third period but Leighton got three back points as time expired to send the bout into overtime. Once there, Janneh tried to pull a difficult trip but landed on his back and Leighton took advantage for the win.
“I feel like I’m better and a lot of my competition has graduated,†Leighton said. “It’s safer for me out there.â€
In perhaps the most anticipated bout of the tournament, Beverly beat Quince Orchard’s Arthur Holland, 5-3, in overtime. Beverly scored a quick takedown at the start of the first period but was hit with stalls that tied the match. He picked up the pace in overtime, though, got a double and finished in 21 seconds for the victory.
In his first varsity tournament, Harder upset the 119-pound top seed, Northwest’s Page Sevilla, in the second round by pinning him with one second remaining in the first period. However, he lost in his final when he got behind Magruder’s Max Schneiderman early and couldn’t overcome the deficit despite a comeback.
Fisher had a tough opponent in Quince Orchard’s Reed Neubaum and fell 3-2.
A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Wrestling is unlike many other high school sports in that freshmen often make the varsity because there are low weight limits just tailor-made for bodies still going through plenty of growth.
Thus, when a wrestler reaches his senior year, there has been plenty of experience. But that doesn’t always mean there’s been plenty of wins.
On Saturday, a few of those wrestlers finally saw their day. Magruder senior Max Schniederman won his first career tournament over Whitman’s Eric Harder, 10-5.
Schneiderman had never placed higher than fourth but felt that he had a good chance this time when looking at the bracket. He pinned his way to the finals, winning his quarterfinals and semifinals matches in a combined 1:57.
“Winning it feels really good,†Schiederman said. “I’ve been waiting a while.â€
Northwest’s Tyler Luckett has waited his turn as well, but he didn’t get it without a scare.
The 140-pounder defeated Wheaton’s Sarantos Tripoulas via pin with 51.1 seconds left in the third period when Tripoulas essentially pinned himself.
Luckett was winning at the time, but Tripoulas had Luckett on his back. But as Luckett was squirming to get away, Tripoulas didn’t realize that by leaning backwards his own shoulders were flat on the mat. Within seconds, the referee slapped the mat.
Luckett couldn’t see Tripoulas’ shoulders, however, and jumped up in disbelief thinking he was the victim of a quick pin. With a smile, the referee told Luckett he had just won.
“I’m completely shocked right now,†Luckett said right afterwards. “Four years on varsity and finally get my first varsity win. I’m excited.â€
Luckett said his goal for the season is to make it to states and place.
“At the beginning of the year I knew this was a completely different year,†Luckett said. “I knew this was going to be the year where I was going to make a difference. I’ve been working really hard and it paid off today.â€
Gaithersburg’s Tyler Warren also won his first career tournament at 135. He was dominant in the final against Churchill’s Colin Whitaker, winning via technical fall, 14-3. Warren had also never before reached a tournament finals and said he had butterflies before going out on the mat.
“It feels good, I’ve been working hard,†Warren said. “It means a lot.â€
WHEATON’S TRIPOULAS KEEPS LEARNING
Wheaton doesn’t typically have many wrestlers in tournament finals.
Sarantos Tripoulas is a perfect example. He’s been a Knight for four years and Saturday was his first finals appearance.
“It’s a different feeling,†Tripoulas said. “The usual feeling is trying to make it into third place.â€
Tripoulas ended up losing, but technically he didn’t get beaten. Tripoulas pinned himself by accident with 51.1 seconds left in the third period of his finals bout against Northwest’s Tyler Luckett.
It’s just another lesson to learn for Tripoulas, not like he hasn’t learned enough already. His older brother, Zach Tripoulas, is Wheaton’s head coach. So the younger brother gets plenty of input.
“It’s kind of like practice all the time,†Sarantos said. “He’s always watching what I’m eating and telling me to do stuff.â€
Sarantos attributed his success this year to more hard work in the offseason and the fact that the coaches have really pushed him. He has the goal or reaching states.
ENJOYING THE FIGHT
Blair’s Alhaji Janneh is a mid-manner, quiet kind of guy.
Yet he enjoys wrestling because it’s like a fight.
Janneh is in just his second year wrestling but has already become one of the county’s top threats. He placed second at Mad Mats VI Saturday, falling to Whitman’s Leighton, 10-8, in overtime.
“It’s fun being able to wrestling people, it’s almost a fight,†Janneh said.
Janneh played football for two years before giving it up this past season. He has focused on his wrestling, which he got an interest in from watching the Worldwide Wrestling Federation.
“At least I can depend on myself in wrestling,†Janneh said. “I don’t have to depend on anybody else. It all depends on me. I’m in my own spotlight.â€
Janneh reached the finals for just the second time in his career Saturday. He had Leighton behind late in the match but gave up three critical back points to send it into overtime and then took a chance that bit him in overtime. He tried to trip Leighton but fell on his back instead.
Thus, it was the perfect example of how Janneh has the tools to be successful but is still learning how to wrestle. But that process is already well on its way.
“This year I understand more the concept of wrestling,†Janneh said. “I’m more in control of my own wrestling style. Last year I was still getting used to wrestling, knowing my moves and knowing what I’m good at.â€
THE REPEATER
All four of last year’s champions who returned this season won another Mad Mats VI tournament. The one who had perhaps the toughest time repeating, however, was Damascus’ Zeke Gammill.
Gammill reached the finals with two pins but ran into Catoctin’s Mason Francis. His 5-3 victory demanded the kind of gritty Damascus wrestling that the Hornets are known for and left Gammill nearly speechless afterwards from exhaustion.
“It feels good; it feels like I accomplished something,†Gammill said. “He was strong. I couldn’t do much on him.â€
CADETS REPRESENT FOR THE WCAC
St. John’s sophomore heavyweight Kevin McReynolds is not bashful about saying he is only wrestling to stay in shape for football season.
But McReynolds has perhaps gotten more than he bargained for.
“I’m learning about pain — a lot of pain,†McReynolds said. “It’s a lot more pain on your upper body and neck and stuff.â€
McReynolds also felt the emotional pain of losing in a tournament finals appearance as he fell to Whitman’s J.D. Hamilton when he got caught on is back just 44 seconds into the match.
But despite the setback, McReynolds certainly looks to have many more good days than bad in the wrestling room ahead.
McReynolds entered the match having won his last nine meetings all via pin. He only lost once previously when he was disqualified when facing Good Counsel’s Devin Gordon-Hamm in his first-ever bout.
“I just overpower a lot of people,†McReynolds said. “I’m a little surprised [at how well I’ve done] but I just go out there and wrestle and don’t worry about anything else.â€
McReynolds joined the team at the behest of Coach Josh Waxman. Waxman convinced him by telling him that former NFL players such as Conrad Bolston, were excellent wrestlers as well. Of course, it all had the blessing of football coach Joe Patterson as well.
“He’s not a wrestler but he’s a pretty good athlete and a pretty hard worker so he’s making up for some of the techniques he’s not good at,†Waxman said. “He’s really really strong, very agile and quick for a guy that weighs 260.â€
St. John’s had one other top performer in his first-ever varsity tournament on Saturday. But this time there was quite a bit of experience heading into that tournament.
Freshman Tyler Dykes had trained in the same Magruder gym as where Mad Mats VI was held for eight years before going to St. John’s. He has also travelled to Europe to see other kinds of wrestling.
Back in his old stomping grounds on Saturday, Dykes finished third at 171 pounds. It was one of the toughest weight classes as well as every wrestler in the bracket was a senior and five are in the Montgomery County rankings.
“I felt like I could do my best and get fourth or fifth place, but I did better than my expectations,†Dykes said. “I have a belief that no matter how big they are there’s always someone better and there’s always an underdog that can beat them.â€
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