For Whitman junior Adan Magnas, Saturday’s tri-meet victory over the visiting Northwest Jaguars and the Quince Orchard Cougars was more than about winning against Montgomery County rivals: It was about respect.
Magnas has alternated this season between 126 and 132 pounds with seventh-ranked junior teammate Solomon Randall, who has placed first and third in each of the Montgomery County, Class 4A-3A East Region and Class 4A-3A state tournaments.
It has been Magnas’ experience that teams will often avoid Randall by either forfeiting to, or bumping away from him, often in order to take a shot at Magnas.
“So far this past season many teams have decided to flake on wrestling Solomon and instead have decided to wrestle me since me and him go between 126 and 132,” said Magnas, whose Vikings vanquished Quince Orchard, 59-22, and Northwest, 51-25. “This has put a chip on my shoulder because it’s a sign of disrespect. These teams think that Solomon is too hard to handle, so they decide not to wrestle Solomon and maybe forfeit to him in order to get to me. I take this personally and use it as fuel to take on my opponent. A great example of that was tonight.”
Randall had received his second forfeit of the evening before the Jaguars bumped senior Auggie Dandenault from 126 to 132 pounds to face Magnas, who flattened his man in 2:46 with a Peterson Roll.
“They forfeited Solomon at 126, so I wrestled Auggie and got a pretty easy pin in the second round with a Peterson,” Magnas said. “These situations have been happening throughout the season, and it just makes me better. I’m getting more experience, and I’m also learning how to win as the underdog.”
Magnas was among four double-winners for the 23rd-ranked defending Class 4A state dual meet champion Vikings, whose record improved to 9-0 in the league and 21-1 overall for an inside track toward their second consecutive county dual meet crown.
Junior Andy Boshnick (215) had pins in 71 seconds and 2:43. Junior Laird Ostien (175) also earned a pair of falls, one of them in 88-seconds. Senior Justin Rommel (144) contributed a technical fall and a major decision. Sophomore Jabasie Trice (120) earned a 37-second pin and received a forfeit. Sophomore Luke Monaco (150) had a technical fall and a decision.
“What also happened tonight was QO forfeited to Jabasie, Solomon and myself because they didn’t feel like putting guys out on the mat whom they believed would get crushed by all three of us,” Magnas said. “My mindset for my match was in making sure to show Northwest and everyone watching that I’m a dog just as much as Solomon is. I show up every time. Just because they’re going to forfeit to Solomon doesn’t mean that they’re gonna get an easy win.”
The Vikings were without injured 23rd-ranked junior Chris Lindstrom, 144-regular whose record is 21-1 following last year’s fifth and fourth-place finishes at counties and regions. Rommel wrestled in his place, down from 150 where he’s competed most recently.
“I was a bit out of my element because my coaches told me to wrestle 144, but other than that, it was a good day, and I just learned that I need to work more on better set-ups. I also need more practice time on top,” Rommel said. “That’s always important to win for me, because I’m competitive with each match. I’m just working on getting better set-ups in neutral and working on different pinning combinations, so tonight was a pretty good performance.”
Last year’s Vikings had their first-ever undefeated dual meet season, going 19-0 to become Class 4A state dual meet champions. The Vikings are guided by 18th-year coach Derek Manon, whose assistant, Will Sharbaugh, was a Class 4A-3A state champion with a 37-0 record in 2006.
Sharbaugh’s milestone happened a year after being a leader on a Vikings’ squad which earned Class 4A-3A state duals and tournament crowns in 2005 under coach Andy Wetzel. Manon spent a year as an assistant to Wetzel, who was at the helm from 1996 through 2007.
“My expectation this season is to hopefully place at states,” Magnas said. “And, also, for us to get that dual state champion title again.”
It was nearly a year ago that the Vikings won their state dual semifinal, 36-33, over county rival Springbrook, and their title match, 33-31 over Broadneck of Anne Arundel County.
Rommel contributed a pair of decisions – one each against Broadneck and Springbrook. Against Springbrook, Randall contributed a 22-second fall, and Ostien, a 34-second pin. Boshnick registered a pin against Broadneck, and Trice, a decision.
“I felt pretty good about my performance today as well as my team’s against QO and Northwest. They’re both really solid teams this year, so it is giving me and the guys hope and really cementing that fact that we’re going to come back to the state duals this year,” said Ostien, who has a record of 22-4 with 87 career victories.
“As an individual, I secured two pins, one in the first period and another with about five seconds left. Both wins are helping me to inch closer to my season goal of 100 wins, which is going to be a difficult feat considering I was injured my freshman year. I need 13 more wins to get to 100, so I’m now within striking distance of another milestone. Hopefully I can get after it, and we can bring back another state dual meet title.”
The Vikings entered Saturday’s tri-meet following a runner-up finish to seventh-ranked Chesapeake-Anne Arundel County at the previous weekend’s The Grapple of the Brook tournament, where Randall and Trice finished first, Rommel and Lindstrom were second, Boshnick and junior Matthew Hobbs (157) were third, and Ostien, fourth.
“It feels pretty good getting third at Grapple. I got fifth last year. I’m a little sad because I wanted to get first or second, but I’m happy and thankful for the progress,” Boshnick said. “As for my performance today, I feel that I was pretty dominant. I got sloppy in my Northwest match and gave up some points, but still came out with the pin, so it still feels great.”
Winning twice on Saturday for the Jaguars (5-4, 13-5), who defeated the Cougars, 41-31, were ninth-ranked sophomore Logan Brown (157/165), 17th-ranked senior Fernando Mejia (157/165), 24th-ranked junior Kyle Osborn (113), and freshman Cooper Bunting (106).
Bunting pinned twice, Brown and Mejia had a pin and a technical fall apiece, and Osborn had a major decision and a decision. Bunting and Osborn were fourth at The Grapple at the Brook.
Double-winners for Cougars (8-2, 19-10) were senior Tommy Peluso (138) with a pair of technical falls, and 23rd-ranked junior Tristan Cabugwas (285) with a pin and a forfeit.