Maryland Represents @ Journeymen

On April 5th, four Marylanders traveled to Union College in Schenectady, New York to compete in the Journeymen World Classic, a Freestyle tournament that pairs some of the nation’s best with wrestlers from around the globe. A brother and sister, a Punisher, and a Headhunter repped Maryland as Salah and Kesi Tsarni reached the finals, as did Victor Marks-Jenkins, with Chad “CJ” Votta finishing 13th overall, after placing second in his pool.

Kesi, who is ranked 9th in the country at 135lbs in USA Wrestling’s April 2025 update, won the crown at 138lbs with ease, keeping her opponents off the scoreboard in every match, winning all four by 10-0 counts. A ten-point margin is needed in FS for a technical fall instead of the customary 15 in Folkstyle.

Kesi’s finals foe, Makenzie Harbour, was third at the New York state tournament for Shenendehowa at 120lbs, and lasted 1:33 seconds before the tech was achieved. Kesi was second at National Preps for Bullis, falling to Archbishop Spalding’s national No. 1 Taina Fernandez. Kesi and Salah were both competing under the Capital Wrestling Club umbrella.

None of Kesi’s Pool B bouts lasted longer than 1:40 and that was with Daisy Bennett (Gps, Scarsdale, NY), who did not place at states. Her other two matches in the pool were also versus New Yorkers with Shenendehowa’s Kaitlyn Young (Journeymen) being handled in 39 seconds. Young did not place at states and Kesi’s last victim Alina Estevez (Copiague, NY), whom she turned the lights out on in 1:23, did not compete at states.

Salah was hoping to add the 170lb Journeymen Title to the NHSCA one he won recently, but Germany’s 2024 U17 World Silver Medalist, Manuel Wagin, had other plans and claimed the gold for himself with a 7-1 decision. Once in the four-man championship bracket, Salah was holding an 8-5 advantage over Armenia’s Narek Nikoghosyan when he decked the U23 European Championships 11th place finisher with 27 seconds left, 5:33.

Salah, who is ranked No. 10 nationally at 165 by High School on SI, dominated his Pool D action, posting three techs as Kesi did, but only two shutouts. The biggest win came in 1:44, 10-0, over DII New York state runner-up, Gabriel English (Berne-Knox-Westerlo). Ziko Majidov wrestles for Poly Prep in New York, was injured in the round of 16 at National Preps and did not place. Majidov was the only wrestler to earn points against Salah in the pool, falling 13-3 in 2:53. Georgia’s Kvashilava Davit was discarded in 3:30 by a 10-0 tech.

Perry Hall’s Victor Marks-Jenkins competed for the Punisher Wrestling Club at Journeymen and moved up from 175lbs, where he is ranked 25th in the country by High School on SI, to test the waters at 190. Marks-Jenkins, the top-rated 175lber in Maryland, also excelled at the Journeymen Fall Classic in 2024 up at 190lbs.

The junior continued that trend here with an upset in the pool rounds and another in the championship bracket. VMJ began pool competition with a win over No. 11 Tanner Hodgins (Shore Thing WC/Howell, NJ), who placed third at his single class state tournament. Hodgins suffered a knee injury and had to default while the Punisher was holding a 13-8 lead late in their meeting. A 26 second pin, while winning 4-0, put down Kaz’s Zhunaet Aguilar. A forfeit was received from Kyrgyzstan’s Zhylkbaev Osmonbek.

In the bracketed portion, Marks-Jenkins was positioned across from No. 9 Maximus Konopka (Simsbury, CT), a state and New England Champ, who he throttled with a 15-2 tech fall in 3:45. That was it for Marks-Jenkins’ good times, though, as his finals match with Armenia’s Yepremyan Razmik came to a crashing halt, 10-0, at the 1:05 mark. Razmik was a 2023 U17 European Silver Medalist that placed tenth in the World and finished 10th in Europe in the U20 brackets in 2024.

Votta, who placed 4th in the state and is ranked 7th at 120, went 1-1 in Pool H at 132lbs which landed him in the ninth-place bracket where he ended up placing 13th by pinning New York’s Drew Schiavo (Journeymen), 1:27, while up 7-2. A 13-2 tech of another Journeymen grappler, Wyatt Rock, preceded the placement match. Scotty Moreau (Belmont Hill/Doughboy WC) went 0-2 at National Preps with a loss to Votta’s teammate, Jake Tamai, 7-0, but won a crazy bout with Votta, 23-16.

In the pool, Votta lost to Kansas’ 5A state champ, Cael Puderbaugh (Basehor-Linwood/Bobcat WC), by tech, 16-5 in 2:00. Votta was ahead of New Rochelle, New York’s Matteo Crino, 8-0, in his other pool match when he registered a 26 second pin.