Montgomery County Crowns Walt Whitman!

Photo Credit and Shoutout to Jeff Randall, AJ Lopez, Logan Brown!

Walt Whitman’s third-ranked senior Solomon Randall (126) won Saturday’s Montgomery County championship match by 7-3 decision over Clarksburg’s seventh-ranked junior David Dansou after reaching the finals at Gaithersburg High on pins in 64 seconds and 5:03.

Randall improved his record to 34-0 with 24 pins and four technical falls, earning his third straight county title as well as the event’s “Richard J. Monisera Achievement Award” bestowed annually upon “The Senior Wrestler who earned the most Career MCPS Tournament Points.”

Armed with the school’s all-time career victories mark of 156-7, Randall will pursue his third consecutive regional crown next weekend, and in two weeks, his third consecutive Class 4A-3A state title in a row.

Having become only the Vikings’ second repeat state champion, Randall can graduate having matched three-time state champion Eren Civan, a 2007 graduate who did not complete his senior year due to a season-ending injury. Civan held the previous career victories mark with 135.

Randall was among the six champions, nine finalists and 11 wrestlers who finished within the top three of their weight classes for the Vikings (256 points), who overwhelmed runner-up Sherwood (136.5) for their second consecutive county tournament crown.

Joining Randall on the victory podium were third-ranked senior Andy Boshnick (285), sixth-ranked senior Matthew Hobbs (150), seventh-ranked junior Jabasie Trice (120), 13th-ranked senior Chris Lindstrom (138) and 18th-ranked senior Adan Magnas (132).

Finishing second were fourth-ranked Zach Richards (215), sixth-ranked junior Noah Reising-Rubli (106) and 21st-ranked junior Luke Monaco (165), with a third-place effort from senior Jacob Sherman (190).

The tournament victory comes a week after the Vikings secured their third consecutive Class 4A state dual meet title under 19th-year Vikings coach Derek Manon, doing so by earning their 35th and 36th consecutive dual meet wins to complete a record of 23-0.

“It was a great weekend for our program,” Manon said. “The success is a product of all of the hard work these kids have been putting in all year long. We’re excited for the next two weeks of competition.”

Andy Wetzel coached Whitman from 1996 through 2007. Manon spent a year as Wetzel’s assistant in 2005 when the Vikings earned Class 4A-3A state duals and tournament crowns. Among Manon’s assistants is Will Sharbaugh, who was a Class 4A-3A state champion for the Vikings with a 37-0 record in 2006.

Last year’s county tournament triumph occurred a week after the Vikings had secured their second straight Class 4A state dual meet crown with a single-season school record of 30-1. That title-winning effort, in turn, happened a season after the Vikings had gone 19-0 for their first-ever undefeated dual meet season.

“Coming off of a great performance last weekend at state duals, it was really important that we all remained focused on the next objective,” said Randall, who placed third at counties, regions and states as a freshman. “The coaching staff did a great job of ensuring that we did this, and it was really great that our guys had tough matches. We’re all excited for the next two weekends.”

Boshnick is 36-1 with 26 pins, doing so with falls in 75 seconds, 2:32 and 4:21 of his title match with fourth-ranked Walter Johnson senior Daniel Gershon, a returning county champ who was third at regions and fourth at states last year.

“Looking at my bracket, I knew I was going to have a tough finals match,” said Boshnick, who was third at counties and fifth at regions last year. “I was up for the challenge and knew I had to wrestle smart. I trusted my coaching and I was able to get the win on a pin in the finals. I am very proud of myself.”

After placing third at counties, second at regions and sixth at states last year, Hobbs improved to 35-2 with 17 pins and 10 technical falls.

Hobbs used technical falls of 16-0 and 19-3 along with an 11-2 major decision to reach his title match, which he won by 9-6 decision over Poolesville’s 16th-ranked junior Asa Wexler.

Trice won his second straight county title, raised his record on the year to 35-0 with 19 pins and nine technical falls, and appears ready to improve on last year’s placements of second and sixth at regions and states.

Trice earned pins in 76 and 87 seconds to go with a third in 1:57 before winning his championship match by 16-0 technical fall over Blake junior Eli Moy.

“I didn’t train all season just to win,” Trice said. “I trained to dominate and that’s exactly what I did.”

After being fourth at counties and second at regions last year, Lindstrom has improved his record on the year to 38-1 with 23 pins and seven technical falls.

Lindstrom’s title run included consecutive technical falls by scores of 17-2 and 17-1 before winning his semifinal but, 3-1. Lindstrom won his championship bout via 22-3 technical fall over Blair’s 14th-ranked senior Jonah Chen, who was fourth at counties last year.

“I was upset with my mindset leading up to counties because I was too focused on winning, but I wrestle best when I’m just having fun,” Lindstrom said. “When the time came, I was able to just go out there and do what I love. The result came with it. This was a huge goal for me and the team, but I’m just excited to go out and compete again next week.”

Magnas was sixth at counties and regions last season, but improved his record to 35-3 with 11 pins and 10 technical falls. Magnas used technical falls of 23-2, 23-5 and 22-7 to reach the finals, where he earned a 5-3 decision over Poolesville junior Ethan Dimmerling.

Runner-up Sherwood crowned a pair of seniors in third-ranked AJ Lopez (215) and ninth-ranked Connor Flickinger (157).

Lopez improved his record on the year to 28-2 with 18 pins and two technical falls, using a 20-5 technical fall and a pin in 3:23 to reach the finals. Lopez won his title match by 7-1 decision over Richards, whose record slipped to 34-1 with 25 pins and one technical fall.

“I had never wrestled [Richards] before. As a senior, this one means a lot. All of the hard work over the years has finally come full circle,” said Lopez, who has 128 career wins and 90 pins. “I wanted to finish strong and set an example for the younger kids coming up in the program. I know the job is not done yet. I have two more tournaments, and I want to bring home the gold.”

Flickinger repeated as county champion after being sixth at regions last year, using three pins and a 20-3 technical fall to improve his record to 34-3. Flickinger’s falls were recorded in 69 seconds, 1:57 and 3:56 of his title match with Damascus junior Logan Romero.

Northwest crowned second-ranked junior Logan Brown (165) and seventh-ranked senior Adrian Johnson (175),

A year ago, Brown finished second, first and third in the county, regional and Class 4A-3A state tournaments. Brown dominated on Saturday with a pin in 1:53 and consecutive technical falls of 20-3 and 22-6, the latter against Monaco.

Johnson had a more difficult time than Brown, handling his first two opponents by pin in 4:37 and 20-4 technical fall before winning consecutive decisions by 5-4 in the semifinal and 19-15 in the title match.

Johnson’s championship victory dethroned Poolesville’s eighth-ranked junior Zoya Wexler, a returning champion in the county and Class 2A-1A West Regional tournaments who was fourth at Class 2A-1A states last season.

Clarksburg’s champions were junior identical Fisahaye twins in fifth-ranked Amanuel (106) and 15th-ranked Aaron (113), who improved to 40-2 and 35-7 respectively.

“Both started wrestling in ninth grade, and they haven’t stopped in three years,” said Coyotes’ coach Rob Pinsky, a 1986 graduate of Kennedy High where he was a two-time Montgomery County runner-up. “They wrestled for most of the season at 113 and 120 because we have another great lightweight who is 30-1 on the season but unfortunately, he can’t crack the postseason lineup.”

Amanuel scored a 15-0 technical fall and a 10-2 major decision in his semifinal over Magruder’s 10th-ranked sophomore Hunter Hertz, whom he defeated by 10-1 major decision in last year’s county tournament title match.

Amanuel won Saturday’s championship bout by 11-5 decision over Reising-Rubli, avenging an earlier 12-7 decision loss. Amanuel has 11 each in pins and technical falls, having won his second straight county title after having finished third at regions last year.

“I felt nervous going into it because I had lost to him at [The Springbrook Tournament] earlier this season. Redeeming that loss to Noah felt good. This fueled me to work harder to get my second county title with my twin brother,” Amanuel said.

“I started wrestling in ninth grade where I wrestled my brother in the JV championship. I won the varsity county tournament even though I started wrestling late, but I had to work hard and put in a lot of that in the offseason to catch up.”

Aaron earned consecutive technical falls of 19-4 and 20-5 before winning his semifinal by 10-5 major decision. Aaron won his title match by 16-7 major decision over Sherwood junior Landon Clore.

"It felt great to win counties with my twin brother, and it really feels like all of the work I’ve been putting in all year round is paying off. I’m motivated to do even better at regionals,” said Aaron, who has nine pins and eight technical falls.

“I come from a late start during my freshman year on junior varsity where I placed second in the counties to my brother. My sophomore year I didn’t place at either counties or regions, and I really dedicated myself in the offseason so that I could come back this year and win it all. I aim to win regionals this coming weekend, and then also states.”

Other champions were Quince Orchard’s fifth-ranked senior Ziya Khozugov (190) and Richard Montgomery’s eighth-ranked senior Isisah Womack (144).

Khozugov transferred from Watkins Mill, where a year ago he was fifth at counties, first at regions and fifth at states, and improved his record on the season to 37-0 on Saturday.

Khozugov used pins in 67 and 70 seconds to go with another in 1:50 to reach his title match, where he won by 17-0 technical fall over Northwest senior Devonte Lynn.

Womack’s 40-0 record a year ago included winning the county, regional and Class 4A-3A state tournaments.

Womack earned a fall in 3:47, consecutive technical falls by scores of 20-4, and another pin at 1:59 of his title match with Churchill’s 19th-ranked junior Mason Hu.

With a record of 32-2, Womack’s losses are to Brunswick’s Class 2A-1A state runner-up Seth Crawford, a senior who is top-ranked at 152 pounds, and Thomas Johnson’s sixth-ranked senior Rhys Ferguson, a returning third-place state finisher Class 2A-1A state finisher.

Montgomery County Tournament Results

1 Walt Whitman 256.0

2 Sherwood 136.5

3 Poolesville 125.5

4 Damascus 118.0

5 Northwest 111.5

6 Quince Orchard 100.5

7 Clarksburg 98.0

8 Bethesda Chevy Chase 95.5

9 Winston Churchill 93.0

10 Magruder 91.5

11 Walter Johnson 82.5

12 Richard Montgomery 82.0

13 Montgomery Blair 73.5

14 James Hubert Blake 57.5

15 Springbrook 50.0

16 Paint Branch 37.0

17 John F. Kennedy 31.0

18 Rockville 29.0

19 Northwood 21.0

19 Wheaton 21.0

21 Albert Einstein 20.5

22 Seneca Valley 20.0

23 Thomas S. Wootton 8.0

24 Gaithersburg 4.0

25 Watkins Mill 0.0

Individual Results

106

1st Place Match

Amanuel Fisahaye (Clarksburg) 39-2, Jr. over Noah Reising-Rubli (Walt Whitman) 30-2, Jr. (Dec 11-5)

3rd Place Match

Hunter Herz (Magruder) 31-8, So. over Kyle Osborn (Northwest) 31-6, Sr. (Dec 6-2)

5th Place Match

Aaron Zehner (Sherwood) 31-7, Fr. over Tommy Lutz (Damascus) 23-11, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:35 (19-4))

113

1st Place Match

Aaron Fisahaye (Clarksburg) 35-7, Jr. over Landon Clore (Sherwood) 36-3, Jr. (MD 16-7)

3rd Place Match

Nick MacWilliams (Bethesda Chevy Chase) 31-6, So. over Bamdad Hajati (Walter Johnson) 31-7, Jr. (Dec 7-1)

5th Place Match

Owen Sherman (Walt Whitman) 17-13, So. over Yosef Elias (John F. Kennedy) 21-11, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:04 (18-0))

120

1st Place Match

Jabasie Trice (Walt Whitman) 35-0, Jr. over Eli Moy (James Hubert Blake) 27-7, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:12 (16-0))

3rd Place Match

Enrique Herrera (Bethesda Chevy Chase) 30-8, So. over Cooper Bunting (Northwest) 28-7, So. (Fall 4:39)

5th Place Match

Collin Murphy (Magruder) 32-8, So. over Cameron Hiller (Montgomery Blair) 17-12, Jr. (Fall 4:44)

126

1st Place Match

Solomon Randall (Walt Whitman) 34-0, Sr. over David Dansou (Clarksburg) 37-4, Jr. (Dec 7-3)

3rd Place Match

Sava Makarov (Magruder) 31-3, Sr. over Felipe Jacome (Bethesda Chevy Chase) 13-3, Sr. (MD 14-3)

5th Place Match

Shahyrar Naiebi (Montgomery Blair) 30-9, Jr. over Kevin Rosenblatt (Richard Montgomery) 13-8, Jr. (Fall 4:28)

132

1st Place Match

Adan Magnas (Walt Whitman) 35-3, Sr. over Damian Melendez (Rockville) 37-1, Sr. (Dec 5-3)

3rd Place Match

Ethan Dimmerling (Poolesville) 31-5, Jr. over Kanik Deschene (Bethesda Chevy Chase) 26-9, Jr. (Dec 6-5)

5th Place Match

Tyler Vu (Paint Branch) 23-12, Jr. over Luke Shadid (Magruder) 28-11, Sr. (Dec 4-3)

138

1st Place Match

Chris Lindstrom (Walt Whitman) 38-1, Sr. over Jonah Chen (Montgomery Blair) 31-6, Sr. (TF-1.5 4:11 (22-3))

3rd Place Match

Cooper Spoales (Damascus) 34-5, Jr. over Ben Schneider (Poolesville) 18-15, Jr. (Fall 0:48)

5th Place Match

JJ Andrews (Sherwood) 29-9, Sr. over Jayson Hinojosa (Magruder) 26-11, Sr. (For.)

144

1st Place Match

Isisah Womack (Richard Montgomery) 32-2, Sr. over Mason Hu (Winston Churchill) 33-7, Jr. (Fall 1:59)

3rd Place Match

Joseph Cecil (Seneca Valley) 23-8, Sr. over Antoan Zaprianov (Wheaton) 25-11, Sr. (MD 15-4)

5th Place Match

Julian Szell (John F. Kennedy) 24-8, So. over Zev Glaser (Bethesda Chevy Chase) 16-8, Jr. (For.)

150

1st Place Match

Matthew Hobbs (Walt Whitman) 36-2, Sr. over Asa Wexler (Poolesville) 29-5, Jr. (Dec 9-6)

3rd Place Match

Lincoln Smiddy (Damascus) 33-6, Fr. over Macklin Mychajliw (Quince Orchard) 28-10, Sr. (MD 11-1)

5th Place Match

Westin Flores (Montgomery Blair) 23-16, Sr. over Constantine Ilario (Bethesda Chevy Chase) 21-8, Sr. (Dec 8-3)

157

1st Place Match

Connor Flickinger (Sherwood) 34-3, Sr. over Logan Romeo (Damascus) 29-9, Jr. (Fall 3:56)

3rd Place Match

Benjamin Wong (Richard Montgomery) 24-10, Sr. over Noah Zhang (Winston Churchill) 19-7, Sr. (Fall 0:52)

5th Place Match

Rey Powell (Magruder) 24-14, Sr. over Rasheed Riba-Tankari (Springbrook) 25-15, Jr. (Dec 11-9)

165

1st Place Match

Logan Brown (Northwest) 33-0, Jr. over Luke Monaco (Walt Whitman) 32-4, Jr. (TF-1.5 5:10 (22-6))

3rd Place Match

Filippos Kakos (Walter Johnson) 30-3, Sr. over Ethan Watson (Quince Orchard) 16-5, So. (Dec 8-3)

5th Place Match

Donnie Merola (Winston Churchill) 17-9, Jr. over Miguel Guitterez (Springbrook) 23-17, Sr. (Dec 8-1)

175

1st Place Match

Adrian Johnson (Northwest) 29-6, Sr. over Zoya Wexler (Poolesville) 23-3, Jr. (Dec 19-15)

3rd Place Match

Tommy Trenkamp (Winston Churchill) 24-4, Sr. over Jordan Alexiev (Walter Johnson) 35-6, Sr. (Dec 12-6)

5th Place Match

Ryan Frost (Quince Orchard) 28-11, Jr. over Omid Shirzoi (Albert Einstein) 29-8, Sr. (For.)

190

1st Place Match

Ziya Khozugov (Quince Orchard) 37-0, Sr. over Devonte Lynn (Northwest) 28-7, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:20 (17-0))

3rd Place Match

Jacob Sherman (Walt Whitman) 32-4, Sr. over Mark Martin (Damascus) 33-6, Sr. (Dec 4-2)

5th Place Match

Behr Schickler (Poolesville) 24-10, Sr. over Pablo Villatoro-Rivera (Northwood) 26-10, Jr. (Fall 0:45)

215

1st Place Match

AJ Lopez (Sherwood) 28-2, Sr. over Zach Richards (Walt Whitman) 34-1, Sr. (Dec 7-1)

3rd Place Match

Callum Hughes (Damascus) 18-16, Sr. over Gianluca Radice (Poolesville) 24-12, Sr. (Dec 4-2)

5th Place Match

Chris Viera (Montgomery Blair) 25-14, Jr. over Alek Malinowski (Quince Orchard) 13-9, Sr. (TB-1 2-1)

285

1st Place Match

Andy Boshnick (Walt Whitman) 36-1, Sr. over Daniel Gershon (Walter Johnson) 35-2, Sr. (Fall 4:21)

3rd Place Match

Dominick Jamison (Springbrook) 34-5, Jr. over Myles Hopkins (Sherwood) 28-12, Jr. (Fall 4:36)

5th Place Match

Kidus Tesfaye (James Hubert Blake) 9-7, Sr. over Marshall Stucky (Paint Branch) 29-10, So. (Fall 1:46)