Raul Rodriguez is Undefeated!

Oakland Mills’ senior Raul Rodriguez is undefeated, top-ranked at 165 pounds, and on a mission to improve on last year’s runner-up finish at Class 4A-3A states.

Armed with a record of 29-0 among 120 career victories, Rodriguez is in pursuit of his third Howard County title in three championship berths and has placed second and first at regions.

“I got second at states last year, but my goal is the same,” said Rodriguez, whose season-ending record was 33-4 last year. “Nothing feels any different now that I’m ranked No. 1. I still have to work just as hard to just keep on improving.”

Rodriguez can become the Scorpions' 25th individual state champion and the 10th under 28th-year coach Brad Howell.

Howell has coached three-time state champion Tony Farace (2009-2011) and a pair of two-time title winners in Robert Scott (2000-2001) and current assistant Jaron Smith (2014-2015).

Rodriguez’s state runner-up finish followed that in 2024 of former teammate Joe Clark, who was a senior repeat finalist after losing an overtime bout, 4-2, against Broadneck’s Austin Combs.

“Raul is a well-rounded person whose wrestling style matches his personality,” said Howell, who has also coached individual state champions Sidique Furet (2015) and Daiquan Anderson (2017).

“Raul is a good student and teammate who focuses on a balanced diet. He knows that rankings are just that. He is just focused on getting better in all aspects, paying attention to the things that he can control.”

Rodriguez’s desire for management on the mats began at a very young age.

“I wanted to play a physical sport, so I started wrestling in third grade in the county recreation department,” Rodriguez said. “In sixth grade, I moved up to [The Columbia-based Vipers junior league program’s] travel team. In eighth grade, I wrestled for [Columbia-based] Headhunters. I really didn’t win any tournaments in the junior league.”

That nearly changed during Rodriguez’s ninth-grade year, when he was a county runner-up to Centennial’s Calvin Kraisser, who graduated last season as a four-time county, regional and state champion.

As a sophomore, Rodriguez won his first county title by fall in 4:45 over River Hill’s Garin Jeng, gaining revenge for an earlier loss before finishing second at regions a week later.

Rodriguez was even more dominant at last year’s county tournament on pins in 82, 87 and 66 seconds before winning a wild title bout, 18-10, over Atholton senior Malachi Patterson, an eventual fifth place finisher at states.

That mastery continued for Rodriguez at last season’s regionals, where he pinned all three opponents, including Patterson at 3:14 of their semifinal.

Rodriguez won last year’s regional championship bout by fall in 1:54 over Prince George’s County champion Dorian Jordan of Wise, who is currently a 16th-ranked sophomore at 165 pounds.

At states last year, Rodriguez used a fall in 3:35 and a major decision to reach his semifinal bout for a 9-6 decision over Aberdeen senior Chase Lineberry.

Lineberry entered as a champion in the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference (UCBAC) and Class 4A-3A North Tournaments and finished fourth at states.

Rodriguez lost his state title match, 13-4, to Leonardtown senior AJ Kuntz, a winner of three Southern Maryland Athletic Conference titles who had placed third once, and of a pair of regional titles after being third as a sophomore.

“As a wrestler, I feel I’m balanced in all areas,” Rodriguez said. “I would describe myself as someone who is always wrestling through all positions and pressuring my opponents.”

Those skills were on display at last weekend’s SnOverlea Tournament at Overlea High, where Rodriguez used an 88-second pin and a 21-5 technical fall to reach the finals.

That’s where Rodriguez earned an 11-4 decision over Jackson-Reed senior Alex Ouzts,

a defending champion in the District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association (DCIAA), Ouzts was a week removed from winning his second straight title at the Springbrook tournament after placing third once.

The SnOverlea Tournament crown was the second straight for Rodriguez, who decked previously undefeated Baltimore County runner-up senior Sean Lippman of Lansdowne in 2:55 of last year’s title bout.

Also at SnOverlea last year, Rodriguez had used falls in 2:23 and 1:14 to reach his semifinal match, where he earned a 14-9 decision over the previously undefeated Lineberry.

Rodriguez was joined on the victory podium last weekend by his freshman brother Ramon (120), whose championship run included a fall in 1:44, an 8-1 decision.

Ramon won his title match, 6-3, over C. Milton Wright sophomore Rory Sweeney, a returning UCBAC champion who was fourth at regions.

“My senior year Overlea Tournament was probably the most special one of my high school career,” Raul Rodriquez said. “This was the first time I got to wrestle in a tournament alongside my little brother. My brother and I both had great competition, and we’re looking forward to the postseason.”

Oakland Mills' state champions

Three-time champions

Tony Farace

Jeff Rosenberg

Two-time champions

Robert Scott

Monte Spencer

Jaron Smith

24 individual state championships

1979 Tim Elder 98 pounds

1980 Arnold Sing 138 pounds

1982 Brian Boyle 126 pounds

1982 Vincent Thomas 167 pounds

1982 Mike Bennett 185 pounds

1986 Jeff Rosenberg 112 pounds

1986 Jarrett Johnson 119 pounds

1986 Scott Hunt 126 pounds

1986 Darrell Gough 155 pounds

1987 Jeff Rosenberg 126 pounds

1988 Jeff Rosenberg 132 pounds

1988 Quinton Gough Hwt

1991 Monte Spencer 275 pounds.

1992 Monte Spencer 275 pounds.

1994 Juri Freeman 103 pounds

2000 Robert Scott 275 pounds

2001 Robert Scott 275 pounds

2009 Tony Farace 103 pounds

2010 Tony Farace 112 pounds

2011 Tony Farace 112 pounds

2014 Jaron Smith 160 pounds

2015 Sidique Furet 170 pounds

2015 Jaron Smith 182 pounds

2017 Daiquan Anderson 106 pounds