4A-3A State Championships (The full run down!)

Photo Credit: Jeff Randall (Thanks Jeff - you rock!)

Saturday’s Class 4A-3A state championships were about improvement if not redemption for six title-winning wrestlers.

Second-ranked sophomore Austin Hayes (106) of Roosevelt completed a 39-0 season a year after losing his state title match by two points and finishing at 40-1.

Linganore’s sixth-ranked senior Josh Arthur (113) made his third trip to states, having finished second as a sophomore following a 4-0 championship loss, and third as a junior after losing his semifinal match to Hayes, 11-9 in overtime.

Having transferred from St. Mary’s Ryken where he was a three-time Washington Catholic Athletic Conference champion, third-ranked senior Austin Wood of North Point’s title-winning effort was an upgrade from his third, second and fifth place finishes in the Maryland Independent Schools State Tournament.

Leonardtown’s seventh-ranked senior AJ Kuntz (157) entered states a year ago having won three Southern Maryland Athletic Conference titles and placed third once, and earned a pair of regional titles after being third as a sophomore.

But Kuntz was decked in 43 seconds of his first bout at states last year, which forced him to wrestle back through the consolation brackets to a third-place finish.

Broadneck’s 13th-ranked Linx Lawless (165) had to settle for fourth place last year after losing his semifinal and third-place bouts by a combined three points.

And on Saturday, sixth-ranked Tavon Barnes (285) avenged an overtime, 3-2 regional semifinal loss to fifth-ranked senior Elijah Boston of Glen Burnie with a 4-2 state semifinal victory to reach the finals.

Barnes also qualified for states as a sophomore fourth-place regional finisher only to go 0-2 at states, with his second loss coming, 4-1, against Boston when the latter was at North County.

In the end, Barnes became the Hornets’ third state champion and their first since 1980 when there were title-winners in William Harris and Everett Castle at 167-pounds and Heavyweight, which back when the division was called “Unlimited” and literally meant that a wrestler could weigh whatever amount they wanted to.

No. 2 Austin Hayes, Roosevelt, by 10-0 major decision over No. 10 Damien DuChez, Urbana:

Hayes exploded out of the gate with a 50-second fall and an 18-2 technical fall before winning his semifinal bout by 4-1 decision over ninth-ranked freshman Quin Greenstreet of Chesapeake.

Greenstreet is an Anne Arundel County and regional champion who wrestled back to third place, ending his season with a record of 37-2.

Hayes controlled his championship bout from start to finish, rolling to a 10-0 shutout of 10th-ranked Urbana freshman Damian DuChez, a Frederick County runner-up and regional title winner whose record slipped to 41-4.

“I messed up in the first period last year and had to try to play catch up. It was hard for me to accept that fact, so I really wanted to come back this year and win it. For the past 365 days I’ve been going everywhere and training, making sure that when I come back here, I will make no mistakes,” said Hayes, whose career record is 79-1.

“For the finals match, I was able to get three takedowns. I stayed in the neutral position because I wanted to get the largest point-differential that was possible, and I knew I could take him down and ride him over and over again for the entire match. It feels great to accomplish what I set out to do last year, and to finish what I started.”

No. 6 Josh Arthur, Linganore, by 9-3 overtime decision over No. 8 Isiah Brewster, Seneca Valley:

Arthur ran his record on the year to 39-3 starting with a fall in 3:09 and an impressive 14-3, quarterfinal major decision over 10th-ranked freshman Bentley Schmidt of Chesapeake, a runner-up in the Anne Arundel County and regional tournaments who wrestled back to third place.

Arthur won his seminal bout, 8-2, over North Point’s 14th-ranked senior Dylan Robey, who was second and third in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference and regional tournaments.

Awaiting Arthur in the finals was the wily eighth-ranked senior Isaiah Brewster of Seneca Valley, whose record of 38-5 included third-place finishes in the Montgomery County and regional tournaments, and, most importantly, an 8-7 semifinal decision over ninth-ranked defending Class 4A-3A state champion Jackson Peeples.

Their bout was tied at 3-3 in the second overtime period when Arthur reversed Brewster for a 5-3 lead and tacked on four near-fall points in the third for the 9-3 decision.

“In overtime, (I) got a second-period reversal and in the third period, four near-fall points. He was doing a lot of the shooting from neutral in regulation, but I didn’t want to back up, so I just kept cutting him off and hoping the referee would hit him for stalling, and he eventually did. I’ve been putting in the work, and I fought back,” Arthur said.

“The whole point of the sport is to be dominant, I just really needed to wrestle my match. I wasn’t just going to go into overtime and stall for 30 seconds every period. I wanted to show that I’m the best wrestler in the state, so when we went into the rideout, I got the job done. There’s no feeling like winning and being a state champion after all I’ve been through at this tournament.”

No. 3 Austin Wood, North Point, by fall in 5:05 over No. 12 Brandon Whyte-Taylor, Broadneck:

Wood looked nearly unstoppable on the way to achieving his record of 44-1, reaching the finals after a 57-second pin, a 17-0 technical fall and an 11-0 major decision in his semifinal against 21st-ranked Magruder junior Sava Makarov, a Montgomery County tournament runner-up and third-place regional finisher who wrestled back to fourth place.

Entering his title match, Woods had not been scored upon throughout the tournament, and had yielded just one takedown all season long.

But Wood’s title-match opponent was 12th-ranked senior Branden Whyte-Taylor of Broadneck, who was in the finals for the second consecutive year.

Whyte-Taylor scored the second and third takedowns of the year against Wood, who trailed by as much as 6-1 entering the second period, where he chose the neutral start.

But Whyte-Taylor’s third attempt at a double-leg takedown was deftly countered by Wood, who began his improbable comeback.

Wood was still behind, 6-4, entering the third period, where he chose the bottom position. After executing a match-tying reversal, Wood slapped a tight cross-face cradle on Whyte-Taylor, pulled him backward and flattened his shoulders to the mat for the fall in 5:05.

“Down, 6-1, I wasn’t nervous at all. I trust in my training, and I’ve been in situations far worse than that. I knew I had plenty of time on the clock to turn the match around like I did. I felt that the more pressure I applied, the worse that it was going to get for him,” said Wood, who placed sixth at National Preps as a sophomore.

“So, I trusted my endurance, and when it was 6-6, it’s just like being zero-to-zero, and I knew that we were back in it. But even though I had the match tied up, I knew that the match was not over. The thing is, though, I could feel the hopelessness within him, and I could feel that he was breaking. So, I knew that when I put him in the cradle that he was done.”

No. 7 AJ Kuntz, Leonardtown, by 13-4 major decision over No. 17 Raul Rodriguez, Oakland Mills:

Kuntz improved his record to 44-2, beginning with pins in 50 seconds and 3:32 and a 2-1 overtime semifinal victory over 15th-ranked sophomore Logan Brown of Northwest, a Montgomery County runner-up and regional champion who wrestled back to third place for a season-ending record of 42-4.

Kuntz’ title match was against Oakland Mills’ 17th-ranked Raul Rodriguez, a two-time Howard County and regional champion.

Kuntz dominated from the start on the way to a 13-4 major decision, joining former state champions for the Raiders in Sean Vosburgh in 2017, John Podsednik in 2018, and Trevor Crowley in 2019.

“I knew that I was a better wrestler in neutral, and I know being taken down in a match puts a lot of pressure on a wrestler with it being three points this year,” said Kuntz. “So, to go out there and get that first takedown was definitely something I planned to do, and as long as I didn’t go to my back, I would win. I knew he wasn’t going to take a legitimate shot at my legs, he was trying to throw me to my back. So, I just played it smart and tried not to let him get anything.”

The victory was the 143rd of Kuntz’s career, tying Vosburg.

“I actually just tied Vosburg’s win record with 143 wins, and he’s my idol. He’s the reason I started wrestling. It’s pretty surreal that I was able to tie my favorite wrestler’s win record,” Kuntz said. “But when I started out my freshman year, I never thought this would happen, but I’ve dreamed of this. To accomplish what he accomplished, this feeling is unreal, and I can’t describe it in words.”

No. 13 Linx Lawless, Broadneck, by 11-7 decision over No. 6 Ian Tumi, Frederick:

Lawless improved to 40-3 on the season, starting with a 17-2 technical fall and a 10-3 quarterfinal decision over Linganore’s seventh-ranked senior Peyton Pickett, who wrestled back to repeat his third-place finish of a year ago.

A 59-second fall pushed Lawless into the finals, where he ground out an 11-7 decision over sixth-ranked junior Ian Tumi, whose 40-2 record included consecutive victories over Pickett for titles in the Frederick County and regional tournament.

“We really spent a fair amount of time preparing for Pickett, who has a long body and is super defensive and dangerous from the front headlock position. We knew Tumi was tough, but we thought that our matchup was great for Linx, style-wise,” said Broadneck coach Reid Bloomfield. “Linx did not wrestle his best match, but he had a refuse to lose attitude and found a way to win late in the third period. That’s the same characteristic shared by the two state champions before him.”

A two-time Anne Arundel County and regional champion, Lawless became the Bruins’ third straight state champion following Liam DeBaugh and Austin Combs in 2023, and 2024, and their 13th overall.

“I don’t think about the people you’re gonna go against, you just think about wrestling your best and trying your hardest,” said Lawless, a wrestler who hungered for victory but who was also starving for food afterward. “That was a tough match, so this feels great, but I’m ready to eat some tacos. Maybe I’ll go to Heroes’ Pub in Annapolis.”

No. 6 Tavon Barnes, Great Mills, by 4-2 decision over No. 2 Busayo Balogun, South River:

South River’s second-ranked senior Busayo Balogun had maintained his quest to improve on his state runner-up finish of a year ago, having vanquished Glen Burnie’s fifth-ranked Elijah Boston in the finals of each of his Anne Arundel County and regional championship-winning efforts.

Boston lost, 8-2, to Balogun in the county finals, and 6-1, to Balogun in the Class 4A-3A Regionals, where Boston also handed Barnes his only loss of the year, 3-2, in their overtime semifinal.

Barnes was bent on revenge, winning his first-round bout by fall in 3:49, and his semifinal bout in overtime, 4-1, over 11th-ranked Gaithersburg junior Nayenecke Ituka, a Montgomery County runner-up and regional champion.

After defeating Boston, 4-2, in their semifinal bout, Barnes scored a takedown in the final 20 seconds to upend Balogun, ending his season with a record of 39-1.

“It felt great to avenge that loss to Boston in the semifinals,” Barnes said. “I had to come out to be aggressive in the finals [against Balogun.] I just kept pressuring him and I think I just got into his head.”

Class 4A-3A State Tournament Results

106-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Austin Hayes (Eleanor Roosevelt) 35-0, So. over Damian DuChez (Urbana) 41-4, Fr. (MD 10-0)

3rd Place Match

Quin Greenstreet (Chesapeake-AA) 37-2, Fr. over Paul Fitzpatrick IV (Oakdale) 34-5, Fr. (Dec 4-2)

5th Place Match

Miles Molina (Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) 39-4, So. over Zackary Scarborough (Chopticon) 34-9, Fr. (MD 10-0)

113-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Josh Arthur (Linganore) 39-3, Sr. over Isaiah Brewster (Seneca Valley) 38-5, Sr. (TB-1 9-3)

3rd Place Match

Bently Schmidt (Chesapeake-AA) 37-5, Fr. over Dylan Robey (North Point) 39-5, Sr. (Dec 9-5)

5th Place Match

Jackson Peeples (South River) 35-8, 2nd. over Jabasie Trice (Walt Whitman) 40-7, So. (Dec 6-3)

120-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Austin Wood (North Point) 41-1, Sr. over Branden Whyte-Taylor (Broadneck) 35-9, Sr. (Fall 5:05)

3rd Place Match

David Dansou (Clarksburg) 41-7, So. over Sava Makarov (Col. Zadok Magruder) 36-5, Jr. (Dec 6-2)

5th Place Match

Drew Eveleth (Catonsville) 28-5, Fr. over Carson Roberts (Chesapeake-AA) 40-8, Fr. (M. For.)

126-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Solomon Randall (Walt Whitman) 42-2, Jr. over Michael Queen (Severna Park) 42-3, Jr. (MD 8-0)

3rd Place Match

Brennan Considine (Linganore) 45-3, Sr. over Brayden Roberts (Chesapeake-AA) 43-7, Jr. (Fall 1:40)

5th Place Match

Jaden Cheung (Montgomery Blair) 37-8, Sr. over Nolan Wood (Leonardtown) 32-14, Sr. (Dec 16-12)

132-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Stone Yuen (Albert Einstein) 40-0, Sr. over Mike Groszkowski (Annapolis) 40-2, So. (MD 10-2)

3rd Place Match

Ethan Makle (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) 41-6, Sr. over Cooper Cammarata (Tuscarora) 46-5, Sr. (Fall 3:49)

5th Place Match

Yasir Ruffin (Great Mills) 35-12, Jr. over Jaden White (Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) 34-8, Jr. (Dec 11-7)

138-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Isisah Womack (Richard Montgomery) 40-0, Jr. over Gable Pauole (North Point) 44-1, Sr. (Fall 2:00)

3rd Place Match

Andrew Dolezel (Reservoir) 45-1, Sr. over Daniel Wu (Montgomery Blair) 39-7, Sr. (MD 15-2)

5th Place Match

Neil Sharma (Col. Zadok Magruder) 39-4, Sr. over Rex Graves (Chesapeake-AA) 38-6, So. (Dec 4-2)

144-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Drew Montgomery (Northern-Cal) 39-0, Sr. over Jose Lazo (Reservoir) 37-4, Jr. (Fall 1:47)

3rd Place Match

Leo Foreman (Eleanor Roosevelt) 32-2, Jr. over Luca Brown (Arundel) 42-5, Sr. (Dec 6-2)

5th Place Match

Chase Wheeler (Tuscarora) 47-6, Sr. over Matthew Hobbs (Walt Whitman) 39-8, Jr. (Dec 3-0)

150-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Owen Pelaez (Clarksburg) 45-0, Sr. over Zahid Shujaee (James Hubert Blake) 33-5, Jr. (SV-1 10-7)

3rd Place Match

Victor Guerra (Frederick) 37-6, So. over Matteo Brown (Arundel) 42-5, So. (Dec 10-7)

5th Place Match

Gilberto Medina (Atholton) 32-9, Sr. over Beau Schmidt (Northeast (AA)) 12-2, Jr. (M. For.)

157-4A/3A

1st Place Match

AJ Kuntz (Leonardtown) 44-2, Sr. over Raul Rodriguez (Oakland Mills) 33-4, Jr. (MD 13-4)

3rd Place Match

Logan Brown (Northwest) 42-4, Fr. over Chase Lineberry (Aberdeen) 37-4, Sr. (MD 10-1)

5th Place Match

Malachi Patterson (Atholton) 34-8, Sr. over Ben Ford (South River) 37-9, Sr. (Dec 8-5)

165-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Linx Lawless (Broadneck) 40-3, Sr. over Ian Tumi (Frederick) 40-2, Jr. (Dec 11-7)

3rd Place Match

Peyton Pickett (Linganore) 43-6, Sr. over Lazaro Torralba (Parkdale) 8-2, . (Dec 7-1)

5th Place Match

Chase Swiger (Lansdowne) 26-5, Jr. over Carter Kuhar (Urbana) 38-13, Jr. (Dec 3-2)

175-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Victor Marks-Jenkins (Perry Hall) 48-0, Jr. over Jonah Obitz (Marriotts Ridge) 45-1, Sr. (Dec 5-1)

3rd Place Match

Davis Ruhf (Annapolis) 42-3, Sr. over Brendan Heyer (Sherwood) 28-9, Sr. (Dec 6-0)

5th Place Match

Ziya Khozhugov (Watkins Mill) 28-7, Jr. over Joshua Danso (Mt. Hebron) 30-10, Sr. (Dec 8-2)

190-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Joshua Ogunlade (Albert Einstein) 38-4, Sr. over Vince Corso (Urbana) 45-2, Sr. (SV-1 8-5)

3rd Place Match

Carter Alexander (North County) 45-5, Sr. over Noel Norman-Williams (Old Mill) 43-5, Sr. (Dec 4-3)

5th Place Match

Chilotam Ezeani (Franklin) 42-10, Sr. over Chris Millard (South River) 37-10, Jr. (Fall 2:00)

215-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Isaac Ogunlade (Albert Einstein) 39-2, Sr. over Jamil Morrow (Bowie) 36-2, Sr. (Dec 4-2)

3rd Place Match

Joao Guerra (Winston Churchill) 43-3, Sr. over Gasper Romero (Great Mills) 36-6, Sr. (Dec 14-13)

5th Place Match

Dajorn Smith (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) 26-6, Sr. over Juan Rodgers (Aberdeen) 31-10, Sr. (Dec 7-1)

285-4A/3A

1st Place Match

Tavon Barnes (Great Mills) 39-1, Sr. over Busayo Balogun (South River) 39-4, Sr. (Dec 5-4)

3rd Place Match

Taylor Brown (Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr.) 28-1, Sr. over Daniel Gershon (Walter Johnson) 39-7, Jr. (Dec 11-4)

5th Place Match

Elijah Boston (Glen Burnie) 43-7, Sr. over Owen Reilly (Bel Air) 24-4, So. (TB-1 2-1)