Northern-Calvert’s top-ranked senior Drew Montgomery (144) won his third straight Class 4A-3A state title on Saturday, becoming the first Patriots' wrestler to do so in a feat accomplished at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro.
Montgomery ran his record to 39-0 during the state tournament, dominating his first couple of bouts on consecutive falls of 17-2 and 19-2.
Montgomery earned his third victory by a pin in 3:01 over Roosevelt's 13th-ranked junior Leo Foreman, a Prince George's County champion and regional runner-up with a record of 32-2 who rebounded to finish third at states.
Montgomery won his title match by a fall in 1:47 over 12th-ranked junior Jose Lazo of Reservoir, a Howard County champion who defeated Foreman, 10-7, in overtime of their previous weekend's Class 4A-3A South Regional title match.
A state runner-up as a freshman, Montgomery became the first sophomore from Northern to win a state title, tied three others by winning his second crown as a junior, and surpassed any previous Patriots' wrestler by becoming a four-time state finalist as a senior.
“It feels good, and it means a lot to me to have made history, but I don’t think it’s fully hit me,” Montgomery said. “It can be outdone, but right now, I’m the only one at Northern who has won three state titles.”
The Patriots’ other two-time state champions are Jason Gabrielson in 1996 and 1997, Collin Leadbeter in 2006 and 2007, and Brant Leadbeter in 2012 and 2013.
Northern's second-year coach Cam Watkins is a former champion in the MIAA, private school states and Class 4A-3A State tournaments who was once a National Preps Tournament runner-up.
“There are obviously a good group of guys on that list, so this is pretty cool,” Watkins said. “For Drew to take this step above says a lot about Drew and who he is. Drew expects to dominate every time he wrestles, no matter who it is.”
As a junior, Montgomery won his third of an eventual four straight Southern Maryland Athletic Conference crowns with a 10-1 major decision over third-place Class 4A-3A state place winning senior Brian Davis of Calvert, who went on to complete his season with a record of 21-1 that included regional and Class 2A-1A state tournament titles.
Montgomery’s victories also include 16-1 technical fall victories over Arundel’s sixth-ranked senior Luca Brown, a two-time Anne Arundel County champion who has placed second and third at regions and twice finished fourth at states. Foreman finished third at states on Saturday after defeating Brown, 6-2.
“I was kind of tired of having close matches,” said Montgomery, who has 175 career victories. “I just got more confident this year, trained really hard and upset some people.”
Montgomery’s “upset” statement referred to the finals of January's War On The Shore Tournament, where he entered as the second-ranked 144-pounder before winning an overtime, 4-1 decision over then-top-ranked junior Jo Jo Gigliotti of South Carroll, a winner of three each in Carroll County, regional and Class 2A-1A state tournaments.
The score was tied at 1-1 when Montgomery countered Gigliotti’s overtime shot for a three-point takedown to avenge a 4-2 dual meet loss of a year earlier.
Watkins doesn’t consider it to be an upset that Montgomery defeated Gigliotti.
“Not in my eyes,” Watkins said. “But I guess as it relates to the rankings, it was. It was a good, fun match to watch.”
The victory represented the school-record 150th for Montgomery, while the loss was the first in the high school career for Gigliotti to a Maryland public or private school wrestler during the high school regular or postseason.
Montgomery and Gigliotti had a common opponent in third-ranked junior Beau Schmidt of Northeast, a two-time state runner-up who has won three Anne Arundel County titles as well as one regional title in three title match appearances.
Last season, Schmidt lost, 4-2, to Gigliotti as well as, a pair of regional- and state title-bout setbacks to Montgomery, by 5-1, and, 2-0, respectively.
Montgomery credits Watkins for their relationship on and off the mats.
“As a coach and as a person, [Cam Watkins] has been amazing,” Montgomery said. “He’s helped me a lot in my personal life also, and I’m forever thankful to have him.”
Northern's three-time state champion
Drew Montgomery
Norther's two-time state champions
Jason Gabrielson
Collin Leadbeter
Brant Leadbeter
Northern's Individual Champions
1996 Jason Gabrielson
1997 Jason Gabrielson
2004 Randy Oates
2006 Collin Leadbeter
2007 Collin Leadbeter
2009 Jeff Williams
2012 Brant Leadbeter
2013 Brant Leadbeter
2013 Eric Hoffman
2014 Brendan Coughlin
2022 Emma Hardeman
2022 Brianna Holcomb
2023 Brianna Holcomb
2023 Drew Montgomery
2024 Emily Boling
2024 Drew Montgomery
2025 Drew Montgomery