When Einstein’s muscular, senior Ogunlande siblings engage in practice, it can truly be a Clash Of Titans.
The second-ranked Isaac (215) is a 6-foot, defending champion in the Montgomery County, Class 4A-3A North Region and Class 4A-3A state tournaments. The 12th-ranked Josh (190) is a stocky 5-foot-7 specimen who has placed second and fourth at counties, and fourth and sixth at regions.
“At practice, Josh and I are always going live,” said Isaac, 18, who played fullback and defensive end on the Titans’ football team. “Even when it’s not live, we’re trying to spend most of our time on our feet to see who can get the most takedowns at every practice.”
The Ogunlades’ intensity was on display at last weekend’s Seahawks’ Invitational at South River High, where each went 9-0 and was named Outstanding Wrestlers for his weight. Josh shared OW honors with 19th-ranked junior Bailen Boutz of Archbishop Curley, whom he did not meet.
“Practice is very competitive with my brother,” said Josh Ogunlade, 17. “It’s to the point where we’re always increasing the pace, pushing each other to be better and finding new ways to finish takedowns.”
Isaac totaled five pins and a technical fall at South River, improving his record on the season to 15-0 with six pins and five technical falls. Isaac has also placed first and fifth at counties, first and second at regions, and sixth at states. Josh had six pins and one technical fall at South River helping to raise his mark on the season to 14-2 with nine pins.
“Seeing my brother in front of me, I know what he’s accomplished. I’m very motivated to improve on last season,” Josh Ogunlade said. “I’m working hard to become a state champion. That achievement alone makes me want to work harder than ever to become great.”
The siblings return to action at this weekend’s Damascus Holiday Tournament, where Isaac is a defending tournament champion and Josh was fourth. The duo will be joined by fifth-ranked senior teammate Stone Yuen (132) and 11th-ranked junior Omid Shirzoi (175).
“The great thing about these guys is that they wrestle their own styles. No two are alike in their approach. As they have all developed individually, they are to the point where they are learning from each other. Josh has great fireman’s carries and arm-bars, and now the rest of the boys have added that to their game,” said Titans' coach Oscar Salazar, a 2009 graduate of Einstein. “Isaac has great slide-bys, and now Josh and Omid are starting to score with slide-bys. Omid has plenty of offense from under-hooks, and they’re all now picking up on it. Having Omid at 175 also allows him to wrestle with Josh and Isaac, but also, to work with the lower weights, like Stone, as well.”
A defending Class 4A-3A state champion, Yuen went 9-0 with seven technical falls and one pin at South River, improving his record on the season to 14-0 with 13 technical falls and one pin. Named Outstanding Wrestler for his weight at South River, Yuen is after his third straight titles in the county and regional tournaments, as well as his second state title after being a runner-up as a sophomore.
At South River, Shirzoi posted an 8-1 mark that included six technical falls and a pin against then fourth-ranked senior Tyler Hayden of Huntingtown, who was third at last year’s Class 2A-1A state tournament, and is currently ranked fourteenth. Shirzoi has a record of 13-2 with five pins and seven technical falls on the year.
“Over the last seven years, I have continued to learn and grow in the sport as a wrestler and coach,” Salazar said. “Coaching wrestlers to a state championship has been my goal since I took over as head coach. Having three or more state champions in one year would be such an honor, and these boys really deserve it.”
The Ogunlades were encouraged to wrestle as freshmen by their older brother, Clifford Carter, a 25-year-old former football player who graduated from Blair and Towson University but who never wrestled.
Isaac has a 3.26 grade point average, desires to wrestle in college and major in accounting. Josh has a 2.5 grade point average and wants to major in fire science.
“We worked so hard year-round to get them to this point,” Salazar said. “These boys are an inspiration to our school and a testament to the larger wrestling community that if you just dedicate yourself, even without any prior wrestling experience, you can become a champion.”
As a sophomore, Isaac Ogunlade went 26-13, placing fifth at counties, second at regionals and sixth at states. Isaac went 34-1 last season, earning his state title with an overtime, 3-1 decision over previously unbeaten senior Dominic Queen of North Point. A third-place finisher at 182 pounds as a junior, Queen slipped to 42-1.
Isaac had won his first bout at states last year by 18-3 technical fall before reaching the finals following narrow decisions victories by 5-3 and 3-1 in overtime, the latter against eventual third-place finishing senior Charlie Trenkamp of Churchill, who slipped to 47-3.
Isaac had developed a knack for winning close matches. He won his county title match, 6-4, over Trenkamp, and his Class 4A-3A North Regional title bout, 12-10, in overtime against Kenwood senior Chris Nwachukwu, who finished sixth at the states.
But Isaac has proven to be far more explosive this season, winning the December 6-7 Magruder Mad Mats tournament with a 15-5 major decision over Landon’s third-ranked senior Tiller Smith, who at the time was ranked ahead of Issac.
“I’ve really worked on my offensive capabilities by spending a lot of time on my feet during practice and pushing the pace at practice,” Isaac Ogunlade said. “I was able to put that on display against Tiller Smith, because I was getting take down after take down.”
Ogunlade's 2-3 record at states as a sophomore included winning an overtime quarterfinal bout, 2-0, over Chesapeake-Anne Arundel's Xander Dodd, and losing a semifinal bout, 4-2, to eventual champion senior Samire Brown of Northwest.
Dodd was last year’s state runner-up at 215-pounds after losing his championship bout, 5-1, to Bowie junior Jamil Morrow. Morrow finished the year with a record of 37-0 to Dodd's record of 41-3. Morrow is a senior who is top-ranked at 215, where Dodd is a junior and ranked fifth.
“All I think about is becoming a two-time state champion,” Isaac Ogunlade said. “The presence of Josh and Stone is important to me because, at practice, it’s always a race, and we are always pushing each other.”
As a sophomore, Yuen was a 113-pound Class 4A-3A runner-up to then-sophomore Drew Montgomery of Northern-Calvert, won his second straight title in three championship bout appearances with last year’s 2-0 decision over the previous season’s Class 2A-1A runner-up junior Beau Schmidt (38-4) of Northeast-Anne Arundel.
Yuen rebounded to go 38-1 last season, winning his state title match, 5-0, over the previous year’s champion, then-junior Neil Sharma of Magruder (34-4). Yuen improved to 2-1 against Sharma. Yuen reached the finals following a 16-0 technical fall, a 12-2 major decision and a 12-5 decision.
Yuen had lost an overtime match, 4-2, to Sharma during a regular-season dual meet, but gained revenge with a 6-3 decision in their county title bout. Yuen defeated Sharma at counties despite having suffered an injured right shoulder during the first period, according to Salazar.
"Stone's only loss to Sharma was in a regular-season dual meet. So, we game-planned around his mistakes in that first match and saw Sharma again in the county finals. But in the county finals, Stone's shoulder actually popped out in the first period. Stone had to use almost all of his injury time,” Salazar said. “We thought Stone was going to be done, but he came back and won the county championship wrestling with one arm because of a bad shoulder. Stone showed a lot of heart and determination by coming back and becoming a county champion, and to watch him beat Sharma for the second time in the states makes him all the greater."
Much of Yuen’s motivation to win last year’s state title came from his 10-4 championship loss as a sophomore to Montgomery.
"It really sucked for me after I lost to Drew Montgomery in the state finals [as a sophomore.] I was so down, emotionally, and so pissed at myself for losing that match that I didn't speak to anybody for about a week," Yuen said. "I just kept telling myself before the state finals match with Sharma, 'I'm not getting second at states again. There's no chance.' When I wrestled Sharma the final time at states, I was just in a different mindset.”
Yuen has been on fire from this season’s outset, winning the Magruder Mad Mats tournament by a 70-second fall in the title bout after winning a pair of bouts by technical falls of 17-2, and 19-4.
The following week, Yuen won a dual meet match by fall against fifth-ranked junior Solomon Randall of Walt Whitman. Randall went 43-1 last year on the way to winning a Class 4A-3A state title at 113 pounds.
“I wrestled Solomon Randall at 132 pounds,” Yuen said. “I was ahead, 14-3, before I pinned him with a cradle.”
Salazar has a good feeling about his fearsome foursome.
“All of this hard work has accumulated with two state champions and memories that Stone and Isaac will never forget. But now that we have two champions, I feel encouraged that we have the tools to do it again,” Salazar said. “However, the measure of success for a season can not simply be a state title. For me, it’s more about who my wrestlers become in pursuit of a state title. I value growth as a wrestler and human more than wins and loses.”
Einstein's two-time state champion
Tim Lowe
Einstein's five individual state champions
Tim Lowe 1999
Tim Lowe 2000
Matt Butler 2002
Isaac Ogunlade 2024
Stone Yuen 2024
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