Early season team rankings can be a crapshoot, especially when you have yet to see these teams take to the mat. Based on what happened last year and expectations for this season, Landon (No. 9) and Bullis (No. 10) came into Magruder’s Mad Mats Tournament as top ten teams in the state of Maryland by Legacy Wrestling.
At the conclusion of the final whistle on Saturday evening, a glance at the standings showed the unranked hosts sitting in the top spot trailed by Landon in second place and Bullis in third. It wasn’t a landslide victory, but Magruder outpointed Landon by 7.5 points (202-194.5).
“Landon and Bullis have great coaching and great teams so to be in the same conversation as them is humbling,” said Magruder coach Andrew “AJ” Tao. “The team race was a fun one. Coach (Andy) Katz and I talked a little bit during the consi medal rounds that we were tied, and it was going to be a fun finals. It’s more fun when it is a tight race, and the matches have a little extra meaning to them. It gives the team and spectators someone to root for and against. I have a lot of respect for those programs, we’re happy they attend every year, and I wish both of their programs luck for the rest of the season.”
The Colonels’ six finalists paced the field. Half of them completed title runs on two first period pins and a major decision. Pins were put on the brackets by Collin Murphy (113) and No. 20 Sava Makarov (126).
Murphy’s pins came with just two seconds left on the clock in the opening frame, 1:58, over Landon’s Teddy Abramson in a battle of unranked freshmen.
“The team win was a great example of how the effort you put in reflects the outcome,” remarked Murphy.
Makarov didn’t make it past the one-minute mark before flattening his Landon foe, Domingo Escudero, in 41 seconds. Makarov had a small bracket and only wrestled one other match, which resulted in a 42 second pin in the semis over Easton Rossell (Broad Run, VA).
“The work is starting to pay off, but this is just the beginning,” offered Makarov.
No. 9 Neil Sharma, a state runner-up last year and state champ two years ago, blanked Washington D.C.’s Morgan Lloyd (St. Anselm’s Abbey School), 12-0. Two tech falls pushed Sharma into the finals at 138lbs.
“This was cool,” said Sharma. “But my focus is to get another state title.”
Settling for silver for the Colonels were No. 17 Hunter Herz (106), No. 12 Jimmy Messer (132), and Tony Keene (157). Shane Kelly placed fourth at 215, while Jayson Hinojosa (144) and Joshua Pana (285) were sixth.
“I constantly tell my team that even though the ultimate goal is to win, our staff only really looks to see that our wrestlers are improving each day, wrestling smart, and scoring points,” added Tao. “We do our best to judge each wrestler on how they wrestle instead of the outcome of the match. To get six wrestlers in the finals was pretty cool for us. When we introduce the finalists and the guys can stand next to each other in force, it brings a sense that this team and their individuals can do big things.”
Landon crowned one champion out of four finalists with No. 20 Elijah Adams rolling to an 18-1 technical fall of Herz at 106. In addition to Abramson and Escudero, No. 2 Tiller Smith (215) was a runner-up for Landon.
The Bears placed seven other grapplers throughout the brackets with Judah Brown (120) and Jason Hinton (285) grabbing bronze. Placing fourth were Max Murray (144) and Louis McNamara (150). Taking sixth for Landon were No. 18 Joe Papalia (138), Connor Koegel (157), and Hector Knox (165).
Bullis’ five champions paced them to 189 points and were the most of any squad. They reeled off four in a row from 144 to 165. At 144, No. 5 RJ Bucknor posted a 13-3 major decision of Preston Orlander (Washington Latin, D.C.). Soshiant Ahanj-Elias captured the 150lb gold with a 12-5 victory over Blake’s Zahid Shujaee.
No. 4 Noah Tucker locked down the 157lb championship with a first period fall of Magruder’s Keene, 1:45. No. 1 Salah Tsarni, who is also ranked 12th in the nation by Sports Illustrated at 165lbs, used a first period pin as well to claim his gold in 1:23 versus Blake’s Mohammed Lahai. Fellow nationally ranked teammate (No. 24 in the country) and No. 1 in Maryland, Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (190) blanked Bo Sulc (Gonzaga, D.C.), with a 16-0 tech fall.
Other Bulldogs bringing hardware home were Stephan Mason (3rd at 215), Solomon Clark (4th at 126), Jacob Burton (5th at 175) and Kesi Tsarni (5th at 138). Tsarni is the top-rated girl at 140lbs in Legacy Wrestling’s Maryland Girls Rankings.
Albert Einstein’s two defending state champions won gold here with No. 4 Stone Yuen (132) pinning Messer in the first period, 1:10. No. 3 Isaac Ogunlade (215) pulled off a mild upset of No. 2 Smith from Landon with a surprising, 15-5 major decision.
“It was a tough match,” Ogunlade reflected. "I knew what I had to do, and I executed. The job is not finished. I still have another state title to win.”
Good Counsel’s Bryton Brown earned the heavyweight title with a 13-2 major decision of Gaithersburg’s Barry Ituka.
Washington D.C. claimed two championships with Aloysius Fitzpatrick (Model Secondary School for the Deaf) beating No. 15 Brody Matson (Blake), 13-6, at 120lbs. At 175, Gonzaga’s Matt VanSice used a major decision, 17-5, to defeat Einstein’s Omid Shirzoi.
Team Scores (Top 10):
1-Magruder 202
2-Landon 194.5
3-Bullis 189
4-Blake 164.5
5-Good Counsel 163.5
6-Broad Run, VA 121.5
7-Gonzaga, D.C. 102.5
8-Albert Einstein, 94.5
9-Model, D.C. 83.5
10-Washington Latin, D.C. 66.5
106
1st Place Match
Elijah Adams (Landon) 3-0, Fr. over Hunter Herz (Magruder) 2-1, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:52 (18-1))
3rd Place Match
Jackson Trinca (Washington Latin) 3-1, . over Juliete Chin (Kennedy) 2-2, . (Fall 2:43)
5th Place Match
Idris Abdeen (Broad Run) 2-2, Jr. over Alistair Maul (Gonzaga) 1-3, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:18 (18-2))
113
1st Place Match
Collin Murphy (Magruder) 3-0, Fr. over Teddy Abramson (Landon) 1-1, Fr. (Fall 1:58)
3rd Place Match
Eli Moy (Blake) 3-1, So. over Kayode Elion (Washington Latin) 2-2, . (Fall 5:00)
5th Place Match
Spencer Jones (Jackson-Reed ) 3-2, . over Ilan B. Menasce (Einstein) 1-3, . (Fall 2:43)
120
1st Place Match
Aloysius Fitzpatrick (Model) 3-0, Sr. over Brody Matson (Blake) 2-1, Jr. (Dec 13-6)
3rd Place Match
Judah Brown (Landon) 3-1, So. over Ahmed Al Barrak (Broad Run) 2-2, Jr. (MD 22-9)
5th Place Match
Ethan Donovan (Good Counsel) 3-2, Fr. over Joseph McPherson (Gonzaga) 1-3, Fr. (Fall 5:28)
126
1st Place Match
Sava Makarov (Magruder) 2-0, Jr. over Domingo Escudero (Landon) 2-1, So. (Fall 0:41)
3rd Place Match
Easton Rossell (Broad Run) 3-1, Jr. over Solomon Clark (Bullis School) 1-2, Jr. (TF-1.5 3:17 (16-1))
5th Place Match
Abdul Shakeri (Blake) 2-2, Sr. over John Keogh (Gonzaga) 1-3, Fr. (Fall 3:24)
132
1st Place Match
Stone Yuen (Einstein) 3-0, Sr. over Jimmy Messer (Magruder) 2-1, Sr. (Fall 1:10)
3rd Place Match
Quinn Weaver (Blake) 4-1, Sr. over Bella Sowards (Good Counsel) 3-2, Sr. (Fall 1:56)
5th Place Match
Javon Johnson (Model) 4-2, . over Nikita Andrew (Jackson-Reed ) 3-3, . (Fall 0:25)
138
1st Place Match
Neil Sharma (Magruder) 3-0, Sr. over Morgan Lloyd (St. Anselm`s Abbey School) 3-1, . (MD 12-0)
3rd Place Match
Andrew Tawadrous (Broad Run) 4-1, Jr. over Niko Rakis (Good Counsel) 4-2, Fr. (Fall 3:50)
5th Place Match
Kesi Tsarni (Bullis School) 2-2, Fr. over Joe Papalia (Landon) 1-3, Jr. (For.)
144
1st Place Match
Rohan (RJ) Bucknor (Bullis School) 3-0, Sr. over Preston Olander (Washington Latin) 2-1, . (MD 13-3)
3rd Place Match
Calvin Traina (Model) 3-1, Jr. over Max Murray (Landon) 3-2, So. (Dec 15-11)
5th Place Match
James Pettiford (Good Counsel) 4-2, So. over Jayson Hinojosa (Magruder) 3-3, Jr. (SV-1 9-6)
150
1st Place Match
Soshiant Ahanj-Elias (Bullis School) 3-0, Fr. over Zahid Shujaee (Blake) 3-1, Sr. (Dec 12-5)
3rd Place Match
Darian Vega (Model) 3-1, Jr. over Louis McNamara (Landon) 3-2, Jr. (MD 11-1)
5th Place Match
Joe Fangmeyer (Good Counsel) 4-2, Jr. over Vaughn Avakian (Broad Run) 1-3, Sr. (Fall 0:38)
157
1st Place Match
Noah Tucker (Bullis School) 3-0, So. over Tony Keene (Magruder) 2-1, Sr. (Fall 1:45)
3rd Place Match
Thomas Keefe (Gonzaga) 3-1, . over Aiden Valencia (Gaithersburg) 4-2, . (MD 10-2)
5th Place Match
Sebastian Andino (Broad Run) 3-2, Jr. over Connor Koegel (Landon) 2-3, Sr. (Fall 4:46)
165
1st Place Match
Salah Tsarni (Bullis School) 3-0, So. over Mohamed Lahai (Blake) 2-1, Sr. (Fall 1:23)
3rd Place Match
Haitham Karim (Gonzaga) 3-1, . over Yiannis Rosenthal (Good Counsel) 1-2, Sr. (MD 15-6)
5th Place Match
John Cameron (St. Anselm`s Abbey School) 4-2, . over Hector Knox (Landon) 2-3, Sr. (MD 10-1)
175
1st Place Match
Matt VanSice (Gonzaga) 3-0, . over Omid Shirzoi (Einstein) 2-1, Jr. (MD 17-5)
3rd Place Match
Alex Ouzts (Jackson-Reed ) 3-1, . over Isaiah Yirenkyi (Good Counsel) 2-2, Sr. (Fall 1:19)
5th Place Match
Jacob Buxton (Bullis School) 3-2, Jr. over Yaughn Kim (Broad Run) 3-3, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:03 (17-1))
190
1st Place Match
Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (Bullis School) 3-0, Sr. over Bo Sulc (Gonzaga) 2-1, . (TF-1.5 3:05 (16-0))
3rd Place Match
George Tate (Good Counsel) 3-1, Jr. over Josh Ogunlade (Einstein) 2-2, Sr. (Dec 11-7)
5th Place Match
James Zimmerman (Blake) 3-2, Sr. over Darrion Clemons (Gaithersburg) 3-3, . (Fall 2:38)
215
1st Place Match
Issac Ogunlade (Einstein) 3-0, Sr. over Tiller Smith (Landon) 2-1, Sr. (MD 15-5)
3rd Place Match
Stephan Mason (Bullis School) 3-1, So. over Shane Kelly (Magruder) 2-2, Sr. (SV-1 4-1)
5th Place Match
Jack Ahlberg (Broad Run) 3-2, Jr. over Sam Parkhurst (Good Counsel) 3-3, Jr. (Dec 10-7)
285
1st Place Match
Bryton Brown (Good Counsel) 3-0, Jr. over Barry Ituka (Gaithersburg) 2-1, . (MD 13-2)
3rd Place Match
Jason Hinton (Landon) 3-1, Fr. over Alejandro Marquez Garcia (Blake) 2-2, So. (Fall 1:34)
5th Place Match
Andres Sevillano (Kennedy) 3-2, . over Joshua Pana (Magruder) 1-3, . (Fall 2:44)
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