Photo Credit: Jeff Randall (Thanks Jeff!)
Whitman’s fourth-ranked junior Solomon Randall picked the right time to have perhaps his most dominant performance of the year: Last weekend’s Class 4A-3A state tournament at Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro.
Randall took 97 seconds to secure a 15-0 technical fall in his first round bout, following that up with a 42-second pin against 13th-ranked junior Brayden Roberts of Chesapeake, a two-time Anne Arundel County champion who finished fourth at states.
Next up was a semifinal clash with 12th-ranked senior Jaden Cheung of Blair, a Class 4A-3A South Regional champion Solomon handled by 16-1 technical fall.
Randall’s result was similar to that of his 19-4 technical fall two weeks earlier in his Montgomery County championship bout with Cheung, who finished fifth as states a year after placing third.
Randall won his title match by an 8-0 major decision over eighth-ranked junior Michael Queen of Severna Park, whose record slipped to 42-3.
“I knew that he had some nice moves, but I stuck to my offense,” Randall said. “I knew that if I kept moving, he wouldn’t be able to hit any of his moves. I maintained my riding and my offense, and I got the job done.”
In Queen, Randall dominated a winner of a pair of Anne Arundel County titles in three championship berths, two regional crowns in three title bout appearances, and a wrestler who finished third at states last year.
“It’s not my glory, it’s God’s glory,” Randall said. “I pray with my friends before my matches, and I’ve prayed every night for this for the last 365 days.”
Randall ran his record on the year of 42-2 with 23 pins and a career mark to 120-7 with 84 falls, having earned second Class 4A-3A state title after placing third as a freshman, and two each in Montgomery County and regional crowns after having placed third in each as a ninth-grader.
With Randall in the lineup, the ninth-ranked Vikings have won the past two Class 4A-3A state dual meet crowns under 18th-year coach Derek Manon, doing so with this year’s single-season school-record mark to 30-1 after posting their first-ever undefeated dual meet season at 19-0 in 2024.
Two weeks ago, the Vikings also dethroned 18th-ranked rival Damascus for the Montgomery County Tournament title, holding off the runner-up Swarmin' Hornets, 167-to-157.5.
“Solomon has been a leader and a role model for us all year long. I told him that he won that title with his work in June and July and throughout the offseason. I believe he has jumped levels in each of the last two offseasons,” Manon said.
“Solomon researched tournaments and contacted coaches all on his own and he joined teams that traveled to Florida and Pennsylvania for competitive tournaments. He also qualified for and wrestled in Super 32. He sought out the best competition and that helped him improve in all three positions.”
Manon’s assistant, Will Sharbaugh, was a Class 4A-3A state champion with a 37-0 record in 2006, a milestone which happened a year after being a leader on a Vikings’ squad that earned Class 4A-3A state duals and tournament crowns in 2005 under coach Andy Wetzel. Manon spent a year as an assistant to Wetzel, who was at the helm from 1996 through 2007.
“Coach Sharbaugh started our Whitman legacy, and legacy means everything to me,” Randall said. “Getting to wrestle for Coach Sharbaugh and wrestling in a singlet that represents the same school is amazing and I love it.”
Randall became only the Vikings’ second repeat state champion, and before he graduates, can match three-time state champion Eren Civan, a 2007 graduate who could not compete as a senior due to a season-ending injury.
“Coach Sharbaugh and I are just so proud of him,” Manon said. “We’re honored to coach a young man who’s not only a very hard worker but is a high character individual.”
At the previous weekend’s Class 4A-3A West Regional Tournament, Randall won a clash of defending Class 4A-3A champions, 12-7, over Linganore’s seventh-ranked senior Brennan Considine, whose record at the time slipped to 40-2.
At states, however, Considine lost his semifinal bout by 16-8 major decision to Queen, even as he rebounded to finish third at states following a fall in 1:40 against Roberts.
“To win this feels awesome,” Randall said. “I’ve been working hard from last year to this year, and to see it payoff is amazing, but it’s not over yet.”
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