Richard Montgomery’s sixth-ranked junior Isisah Womack was already an explosive, dominant wrestler with the penchant and proficiency to end his matches swiftly.
But thanks to the newly instituted “one point of contact” inbounds’ rule, the 138-pound Womack acknowledges being more effective scoring on the edge of the mat.
Womack has embraced the inception of the directive, which has been implemented by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Wrestling Rules Committee along with the “three-point takedown” and the “four-point near-fall.”
“I’m always trying to be aware of what I’m doing and where I am,” Womack said. “Since that rule came into existence for this season. I’ve been using that almost every match.”
That was the case during Saturday’s Class 4A-3A state title bout at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, where Womack faced 10th-ranked senior Gable Pauole of North Point, a returning fourth-place state finisher.
Armed with a season record of 44-0, Pauole is also a defending champion in both the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference and Class 4A-3A East Region Tournaments.
With the clock winding down to less than about 10 seconds nearing the end of the first period, Womack was applying pressure against a retreating Pauole as both wrestlers approached mat’s edge.
But that’s when Womack executed an underhook pinning maneuver, slinging an out-of-bounds Pauole to his back while his own feet landed just inside of the inbounds circle.
“I’m big on using underhooks, so once I got my underhook in, I knew I could throw it,” Womack said. “I saw that I still had one foot in, so I kept that one foot in and dug my shoulder into his chest and dug with my chin into his near shoulder.”
With one second showing on the clock, Womack was credited for the fall and the state championship victory in 1:59.
“When the action takes me near the edge of the mat, a lot of times, my opponents don’t adjust to it. This was one of those times, and that’s what happened,” said Womack, who improved to 40-0. “I think he was just trying to move my head and to put pressure on me, but I wasn’t worried about that. I was more focused on doing what I wanted to do and continued to just focus on my attacks.”
Womack had already shocked the crowd with a dominant semifinal, 20-5, technical fall victory over fifth-ranked senior Andrew Dolezel of Reservoir High, who had placed third, second and third over the course of his three previous appearances at states.
Dolezel was two weeks from having earned his third Howard County title in four championship berths, and a week from having earned his third regional crown in four title match appearances.
In addition, Dolezel had won his regional crown match by 15-5 major decision over 11th-ranked senior Daniel Wu of Montgomery Blair, whom Womack had vanquished by scores of 5-4, and, 11-4, earlier this season.
“Andrew Dolezel is a good wrestler,” Womack said. “But it comes down to the fact that whoever works harder gets the win, and I just pushed harder.”
Dolezel entered his match against Womack with a record of 43-0, rebounded to earn third place with a 15-2 major decision over Wu, and ended his season with a record of 45-1 and a career mark of 161-9.
Wu has twice finished third in the Montgomery County Tournament, placed second and third at regions, and fifth and fourth at states. During Friday’s quarterfinals, Wu defeated Magruder’s ninth-ranked defending Class 4A-3A state champion junior Neil Sharma, 6-5.
“No one thought Isisah was going to beat Andrew Dolezel, let alone pin Gable Pauole in the finals, and today, I think he proved a lot of people wrong,” said first-year coach Edgar Cruz, a 2016 Richard Montgomery graduate who placed sixth at states after having twice placed fourth in county and regional tournaments.
“I was thinking that the Dolezel match probably should have been in the state finals, but when Isisah tech-falled him, he made a statement heading into the state finals that he’s not out here to win by a slim margin, but to dominate. Isaiah has always had the mindset that he’s just going there and is going to be wrestling his hardest, even if it’s against a multi-state champ or state placewinner.”
Womack’s clash with Dolezel was preceded by his pins in 3:21 and 1:56, the latter in his quarterfinal bout with Chesapeake’s 19th-ranked sophomore Rex Graves, an Anne Arundel County champion and regional runner-up.
Womack became the Rockets program’s ninth individual state champion and their first since three-time title winner Nadia Estrada, a female winner of crowns at 122, 135 and 145 pounds in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
Richard Montgomery’s first state champion was Dave Hopkins, winner of crowns at 105 and 112 pounds in 1972 and 1973 during the single-tournament format.
After the state tournament split into separate programs in 1980 – AA-A for larger schools and B-C for the smaller ones – Hopkins coached champion Mike Nguyen to titles at 98 and 105 pounds in 1981 and 1982.
Scott Church earned the program’s fifth individual state championship in 2003, doing so on the Class 4A-3A side at 160 pounds.
“First of all, I am very proud of the accomplishments our former state champions at Richard Montgomery have achieved,” said Hopkins, who is living in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “Secondly, I would like to congratulate our newest state champ, Mr. Isaiah Womack. Congratulations young man on an outstanding tournament and year: Dave Hopkins, 1972-73 state champion.”
Womack began the postseason by dominating his path toward a Montgomery County Tournament crown, culminating with a championship match victory by 20-3 technical fall Sharma, an earlier, 16-3 major decision loser to Womack.
A week later at the Class 4A-3A North Regionals, Womack earned that crown following a pin in 3:25, a 23-7 technical fall and another of 21-1 in his championship match with Dundalk junior Clayton Fraser, who was third in the Baltimore County tournament.
Womack transferred from Saint Frances Academy of Baltimore back to his home neighborhood school and the Rockets’ program, where, as a freshman, he placed third at counties before winning a regional title and placing fifth at the Class 4A-3A state tournament at 113 pounds.
At December’s Knightmare Invitational at Parkville High, Womack used a 16-1 technical fall and a pin in 2:35 to reach the Knightmare Invitational finals, where he edged sixth-ranked senior Luca Brown of Arundel, who has won a pair of Anne Arundel County titles, placed second and third at regions, and twice finished fourth at Class 4A-3A states.
Womack enjoyed a season of success at Saint Frances, compiling a record of 46-6, finishing first at last year’s Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament and fourth at the Maryland Independent Schools’ State Tournament.
In doing so, Womack became the Panthers’ first ever MIAA champion with a 7-6 win over Mt. St. Joseph’s Jake Tamai, improving his record at the time to 2-1 against a wrestler who was a defending Maryland Private Schools state champion.
Womack is on pace to join Hopkins and Nguyen as the Rockets’ only two-time state champions.
“I’ll think about that next year and get into that when the time comes,” Womack said. “I’m just taking it one match at a time, and right now, I’ll just focus on enjoying these wins and being a state champion.”