Clarksburg’s fourth-ranked senior Owen Pelaez completed an undefeated season that included becoming a four-time Montgomery County champion, winning his third Class 4A-3A West Region title in four championship berths, and also his first Class 4A-3A state title after having placed fifth and third as a sophomore and junior.
Pelaez was inspired by former teammate Johnathan Chang, who became the Coyotes’ first-ever state champion as a senior last year at 144 pounds.
Chang won the Class 4A-3A version with an 11-4 decision victory over sixth-ranked senior Christopher Nice of Bel Air, whom Pelaez already had pinned.
“I felt happy for Jonathan that he was able to become the first-ever state champion for Clarksburg High School,” Pelaez said. “But at the same time, knowing I had beaten Chris Nice, I felt like that could have been me.”
Things didn’t come easily for Pelaez on Saturday at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, where he required an overtime takedown for a 10-7 victory over Blake junior Zahid Shujaee, whose record slipped to 33-5.
A third place finisher in the Montgomery County and Class 4A-3A West regional tournaments, Shujaee had lost an earlier 1-0 decision to Pelaez.
“This is the second time I’ve wrestled him, but I tried to rely on what I know, and it paid off,” Pelaez said. “I had to beat him the first time, 1-0, in a tough match that was really hard. This time, he fought so much harder.”
Pelaez had reached the finals after a first round fall in 2:55, a 12-5 quarter final victory over third-ranked junior Beau Schmidt of Northeast-Anne Arundel County, and a semifinal pin in 3:05 over senior Gilberto Medina of Atholton, a champion from the Class 4A-3A South Region.
It was a year ago that Pelaez lost his quarterfinal bout by technical fall to Schmidt, a two-time state runner-up who has won three Anne Arundel County titles as well as one regional crown in three title match appearances.
“When I saw in the brackets that I had to wrestle Beau Schmidt in the quarterfinals, I was like, ‘good,’ because I wanted to see Beau early on,” Pelaez said. “It crushed me to lose to Beau Schmidt the way that I lost to him last year, but I didn’t show up, mentally, for that match, and it showed in the score in how he tech-falled me.”
In a show of sportsmanship, Schmidt offered some encouraging words to Pelaez in defeat.
“After the match, when Beau and I exchanged handshakes, Beau said, ‘Man, since you beat me, you’ve got to go on and win this,’” Pelaez said. “I had actually never made it past the quarters at states until this year, so I figured it must be my year since I did that. I followed Beau’s suggestions and I won it.”
Among the Coyotes’ most accomplished wrestlers with a program-leading career record of 170-14, Pelaez has far surpassed second-place Nick Gonzalez, an assistant coach with 138-career wins who placed third and fourth in the states in 2017 and 2018.
Pelaez became the Coyotes’ first four-time Montgomery County champion and only the fifth wrestler to ever accomplish that feat in the county. Pelaez has also placed fifth and third in the past two state tournaments and won three regional titles in four championship berths.
Pelaez’s regional finals loss was as a sophomore, 8-3, to Linganore senior Garhett Dickenson, the eventual state champion. Pelaez finished third in the states last year with a record of 48-1, his only loss being in the semifinals against Schmidt.
“It feels great to accomplish this,” said Pelaez, who ran his record on the year to 45-0. “If I didn’t win, I’d have been so disappointed in myself. I really had to work hard for this one.”
As a junior, Chang had placed second at states after having finished third as a sophomore, also winning his third straight county and Class 4A-3A West Region crowns.
“I’ve never won states before,” Pelaez said. “This has been a dream of mine to become our school’s second state champion right after Jonathan Chang.”
Among head coach Rob Pinsky’s assistants is Rich Pelaez, Owen’s father, a 1996 graduate of Gaithersburg High.
“You have to be mentally prepared,” said Rich Pelaez, who won counties and regions and placed third at states. “At the same time, it takes a lot to bounce back from adversity and disappointment. The big thing is that he’s grown from that.”
Pinsky is a 1986 graduate of Kennedy High where he was a two-time Montgomery County runner-up under then-Cavaliers’ coach Duke Beattie.
Pinsky and Beattie oversaw Chang’s reception of Montgomery County’s “Richard J. Monisera Award” last season “for Achievement.” The honor is bestowed annually upon “The Senior Wrestler who earned the most Career MCPS Tournament Points.”
Pelaez followed Chang by earning this year’s Monisera Award.
“I’ve always wanted to be a state champion and man does it feel so good to be a state champion,” Pelaez said. “I feel like I’ve accomplished what’s been my goal since I started this sport back in kindergarten.”