4A/3A Upper Weight Wrestler of the Year... Congrats to VMJ!

When the going gets tough, Perry Hall’s Victor Marks-Jenkins wants to get involved.

That was the case on April 5, when Marks-Jenkins traveled to Union College in Schenectady, New York.

There, Marks-Jenkins compiled a record of 4-1 while competing in the Journeymen World Classic, a Freestyle tournament which pits some of the nation’s best wrestlers against world-wide contestants.

Top-ranked by Legacy Wrestling at 175 pounds where he is also rated 25th nationally by High School on SI, Marks-Jenkins rose to 190 pounds for the Punisher Wrestling Club for the Journeyman Classic, where he scored upsets in both the pool rounds and the championship bracket.

Marks-Jenkins led by a score of 13-8 against 11th-ranked pool-round opponent, Tanner Hodgins, of Howell, New Jersey, before the latter defaulted with a knee injury with 15 seconds left. Hodgins placed third at his single class state tournament.

Marks-Jenkins led his next bout, 4-0, before scoring a 26-second pin against Kazakhstan’s Zhunaet Aguilar, and received a forfeit from Kyrgyzstan’s Zhylkbaev Osmonbek.

In the bracketed portion, Marks-Jenkins scored a 15-2 technical fall over ninth-ranked Maximus Konopka of Simsbury, Connecticut.

A state and New England champion whose match with Marks-Jenkins ended at the 3:45 mark, Konopka is also a former 195-pound champion in the National High School Coaches Association Tournament and a 16-and-under runner-up at 190 pounds at the Fargo Nationals.

“It feels good to have reached the finals of the Journeymen World Classic,” Marks-Jenkins said. “Even though I wanted to win it all, I’m happy with my performance. I feel like I’ve continued to prove myself.”

Marks-Jenkins lost his title match, 10-0, to Armenia’s Yepremyan Razmik, a 2023 under-17 European Silver Medalist who placed tenth in both the World and Europe Under-20 brackets in 2024.

“Victor wrestled three foreign wrestlers and one European silver medalist in the finals who looked to be about 30 years old—hard to believe he was just 18,” said fourth-year coach Doug Yoakum, a 1990 Perry Hall graduate and former Baltimore County champion and regional runner-up. “But Victor also beat two highly ranked domestic wrestlers in Tanner Hodgins from New Jersey and Maximus Konopka from Connecticut, who just won NHSCA nationals.”

The Gators’ effort followed last month’s performance at the Class 4A-3A state tournament at Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, where Marks-Jenkins earned his second consecutive crown after being a 145-pound third-place finisher as a freshman.

Marks-Jenkins ran his record on the year to 48-0 with 34 pins and six technical falls, his career mark to 145-1 with 116 pins and 12 technical falls, and has been named The Class 4A-3A Upperweight Wrestler Of The Year by Legacy Wrestling.

“It feels great to be named Wrestler Of The Year,” said Marks-Jenkins, who carries a 3.32 grade point average. “I try to be a good example and to inspire my team. It’s great to know that I can do that for the entire state.”

Marks-Jenkins has a reputation for ending his matches quickly, and his state title-winning accomplishment was no exception.

Marks-Jenkins decked his first opponent in 3:00, and his second in 80 seconds, the latter being 25th-ranked junior Jordan Hicks of Henry Wise, a Prince George’s County champion and Class 4A-3A South Region runner-up.

Marks-Jenkins won his semifinal by 16-1 technical fall over 19th-ranked senior Josh Danso of Mount Hebron, a third-place finisher in the Howard County and regional tournaments who finished sixth at states.

But the championship match offered the closest challenge to date in fourth-ranked senior Jonah Obitz of Marriotts Ridge, who succumbed following a 5-1 decision victory Marks-Jenkins controlled from start to finish and never seemed in danger of losing.

The stocky Obitz entered their clash with a record of 49-0 following a 40-second pin in his semifinal bout with 17th-ranked senior Brenden Heyer of Sherwood, who finished fourth at states after having been a regional runner-up who was third in the Montgomery County tournament.

Obitz had placed second and first in each of his past two appearances in the Howard County and regional tournament, his runner-up finishes in both events coming in narrow decision losses to eventual Class 4A-3A state runner-up Joe Clark of Oakland Mills last year.

“[Obitz] wrestled a smart match to give himself a chance at the end, which is a credit to him,” said Yoakum. “Wrestling a smart match that way really was the way for [Obitz] to play it. [Obitz] is the first high school kid to make it the full six minutes with Victor this year.”

A three-time champion in the Baltimore County and Class 4A-3A North Regional tournaments, Marks-Jenkins had an even more dominant title run as a 157-pound junior, when he flattened all four state tournament rivals in 51 seconds, 2:54, 2:59 and 5:30 to complete a record of 47-0 that included 40 pins and two technical falls.

Last year’s title match was against senior Seth Weaver of Bethesda-Chevy Chase, who entered with a record of 42-1 after having won his Montgomery County and Class 4A-3A East Regional crowns by falls in 3:48 and 23 seconds respectively.

As a freshman, Marks-Jenkins went 50-1 with 42 pins and four technical falls, earning county and regional titles and finishing third at the state tournament. Marks-Jenkins was a repeat county and regional champion as a sophomore.

As a ninth grader, just 90 seconds separated Marks-Jenkins from a berth in the Class 4A-3A state championship match and potentially an undefeated season at 145 pounds.

Marks-Jenkins led his semifinal match, 1-0, against state runner-up, Aidan Rivenburg, when the senior from North Point High of Charles County scored a reversal and three near-fall points for an eventual 5-1 victory.

This season, Marks-Jenkins has risen in weight several times in order to dominate wrestlers from 175 to 215 pounds.

At 175, Marks-Jenkins owns a technical fall victory over fifth-ranked junior Carter Canale of Middletown and has pinned 11th-ranked junior Cregg Ngounou of Owings Mills.

Canale is a champion of the Frederick County and regional tournaments who was second at Class 2A-1A states, and Ngounou is a two-time Baltimore County titleist who has placed first and second at regions and fourth and fifth at Class 2A-1A states.

At 190 pounds, Marks-Jenkins owns a technical fall victory over sixth-ranked Class 4A-3A state champion senior Josh Ogunlade of Einstein, whom he dominated by a score of 22-4.

“[Josh Ogunlade] lost to Victor, 22-4, in 2 minutes, 30 seconds,” said Yoakum of Ogunlade, who finished with a record of 38-4. “I bumped Victor to wrestle him a couple of weeks [before the state tournament] at the regional duals.”

Marks-Jenkins also has 190-pound technical fall routs over 11th-ranked junior Adam Keever of Hereford, and ninth-ranked junior Bailen Boutz of Curley.

Keever has placed third at counties, fourth at regions and third at Class 2A-1A states, and Boutz has finished third in each of the past two Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournaments and fifth at this year’s Maryland Independent Schools State Tournament.

Marks-Jenkins owns a 39-second pin at 190 pounds against 15th-ranked senior Carter Alexander of North County, a two-time fourth-place finisher in the Anne Arundel County Tournament who has placed third at both regions and Class 4A-3A states.

At 215 pounds, Marks-Jenkins owns a technical fall over 15th-ranked senior Derek Owumi of The Saint James School, who was sixth at this year’s private school’s states.

Among Marks-Jenkins' offseason victories is one over third-ranked 215-pound senior Adin Hastings of Williamsport, who has won a pair of Class 2A-1A state titles in three championship berths, at the Journeymen Fall Classic.