Guilford Park juniors Leandro Saravia (120) and Elijah Fields (285) made history on Saturday for the Panthers' wrestling program, becoming their first Howard County champions at the second-year school.
“The moment was incredible,” said Panthers’ coach Dave Roogow. “I couldn’t be more proud of these two wrestlers and of the whole team for that matter.”
Saravia used a semifinal 3-2 decision over River Hill’s Laith Zaghari to reach the finals, where his 7-3 decision over Atholton senior Johnathan Maslan avenged an earlier 3-2 loss.
“It feels good to avenge the loss,” said Saravia, whose record on the year improved to 34-8. “But I didn’t really pay much mind to it going to the tournament because my thought process was to wrestle my match given that I know what I’m capable of.”
In victory, Saravia improved on his record-setting fourth place finish at counties from a year ago, when he became the first Panthers' wrestler to place in that event. Guilford Park opened last year, combining students from Hammond and Long Reach.
“For Leo, I know how much this has meant to him and how hard he works. He had great leaders at Hammond when he was a freshman,” Roogow said. “He has brought that leadership and work ethic to Guilford Park. His moment was amazing. To want something that bad and work so hard to achieve it is truly incredible.”
Saravia became the Panther’s first male to qualify for states a year ago, winning his Class 2A-1A South Region semifinal, 10-0, over LaPlata sophomore Deegan Woomer, who finished third at regions.
Saravia finished as a regional runner-up following a title bout loss by fall to Huntingtown freshman Landen Vercoe, a two-time Southern Maryland Athletic Conference champion.
“It feels great winning counties after having always been so close and always constantly cracking the podium,” Saravia said. “I was always falling short of my goals, but I believed in myself, my team and my coaches, so it feels great to be finally reaching my goals.”
Fields used falls in 14 seconds and 4:30 to reach his title bout, where he gutted out a come-from-behind, 8-6 victory over Reservoir junior Kalen Mackall.
Mackell had scored a semifinal fall in 4:56 against Howard Jay Masterson, with whom Fields had split bouts earlier in the season. Masterson finished third at counties after falling to Mackell, who took an early lead over Fields, at one point, nearly pinning Fields.
“In the third period, the only thing I could think about was all the people who believed in me and wanted me to win and be better. Whether that was my friends, my family, teammates, or my coaches,” said Fields, whose record improved to 27-12. “Without them I wouldn’t be where I am today. I also thought about how much work I put in to get where I am. I thought about my prior practices and all the conditioning I put in for this.”
Fields is a transfer from Long Reach, where he placed fourth at counties last season.
“It feels amazing to have won first place in counties this year,” Fields said. “I feel as though I have put in so much work to get here. And been through a lot just for this moment.”
Roogow formerly coached at Centennial, being an eight-year assistant through 2007, and a six-year head coach until 2013.
“For Elijah – for ‘Big-E’ – it was just as awesome. He was at Long Reach last year and broke his ankle in the consolation finals,” Roogow said. “I know how important it was to him to come all the way back and make it to the finals. For him to then win the championship was just the icing on the cake.”
On the girls’ side, the Panthers have 120-pound junior Ruby Lenkey, who undefeated at 6-0 and will be the No. 2 in next weekend’s Class 3A-4A South Regional tournament.
Last season, Lenkey pinned LaPlata senior Lauren Ladd in 3:24 of their championship bout to win the Class 2A-1A South Region title, becoming the Panthers' first regional wrestling champion after having placed fourth at regions as a freshman at Hammond.
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