WALDORF — The South River wrestling team so rarely suffers pins that when it does, it costs the team a state title.
And because of those matches, coach John Klessinger felt his Seahawks not only could’ve won the Class 3A duals finals at North Point High, but could’ve avoided the heaviest of burdens that fell on 113-pound Jackson Peeples.
He couldn’t just win. He had to pin his Linganore opponent if he wanted the Seahawks to take home the crown. At this point, the Lancers led South River by six after securing an untimely second fall at 106. A Peeples pin would knot the score at 34 and South River would win by criteria.
“When your opponent’s sole job is to not get pinned, it’s really tough to pin a kid,” Klessinger said. “And that’s what he was up against. Jackson worked hard and tried his best. It didn’t work out.”
Peeples never stopped moving, shifting and tinkering Linganore’s Jayden Lassiter. He piled up nine points but would not hear the sweet release of the official’s hand on the mat. Peeples won the match but the three points the Seahawks were awarded for his decision win left them three short, 34-31.
And such, a third straight state championship eluded South River.
“We blew some matches we probably should’ve won. They’re good. It is what it is, and it doesn’t take away from our kids and the effort they put in,” Klessinger said. “We’re doing things right. It just didn’t work out.”
The Seahawks weren’t alone in falling the smallest of steps short. Mirrored on the other side of the mat, Broadneck huddled close together to suffer its own single-digit defeat in the Class 4A final to Walt Whitman, 33-31.
The Bruins nearly matched the Seahawks’ pattern step for step. However, they wouldn’t be given the same chance to triumph in the 11th hour. Despite letting Broadneck getting as close as 21-16, Whitman never lost control. At 190 and 215, Bruins Dom Ascione and Jeremy Abate both gave up pins.
“We thought if we could get it to Jack Joseph at 106, we could have a really good chance,” Broadneck coach Reid Bloomfield said. “But we didn’t quite have enough points and they were able to forfeit out on us.”
In the semifinal, Linganore treated Bel Air like a shredder treats paper — pins upon pins. The screams that met the first South River pin — only 20 seconds in courtesy of 120-pound Trent Shipley — disavowed the Lancers of the notion they’d be able to do the same to South River.
So the question became whether the Lancers could be more technical than just being able to press teams on their backs.
Linganore’s 126-pound Brennan Considine tried to return the favor as quickly as he had in the previous round, but South River’s Ethan Burger would only allow him a technical fall. Giving up five points was better than six. South River’s Pete Laye (132) wrenched free of three potential pins and only surrendered a decision.
As both teams neared the middle of the lineups, though, neither Broadneck nor South River were in the best shape — down 15-4 and 12-6, respectively, as the grueling three, four-point defeats dragged on.
“We knew they were strong up top,” Bloomfield said. “And that’s where we’ve been a little weaker this year.”
There were lapses in the disappointment. At 144, Ben Ford orchestrated an 11-7 victory for South River before 150-pound Linx Lawless earned a 4-2 Broadneck win.
Still, Linganore had yet to pin South River.
But at 150, Ethan McWaters flipped side to side as Linganore’s Noah Zohrabi tightened his grip and finally earned his team an elusive pin. Less than a minute later, Broadneck surrendered a pin, too — at 144. Time robbed Seahawks’ Brent Phillips of a pin at 165, settling for a major decision.
Meanwhile, as the Bruins hitting the mat grew larger, Whitman’s lead grew smaller.
After Lawless, Peyton Miller (157) kneaded Whitman’s Leo Smith to an 8-1 finish before Austin Combs collected a forfeit. With Broadneck within 21-16, 175-pound Cameron Zachari shot on Whitman’s Laird Ostien en route to his 8-3 decision, while, simultaneously, 190-pound Seahawk Zach Glienke pushed through his own knee injury attacking him to hold Linganore off and cut his squad’s deficit to 28-22 (with a Lancers forfeit at 215).
Busayo Balogun, likely one of the most athletic heavyweights South River has ever seen, clashed with his opponent with such force that it wasn’t long before the Lancers heavyweight surrendered for six injury points.
But for each team, that was the beginning of the end. For South River, it was the first-period pin at 106 that pushed Linganore ahead in the penultimate bout.
On Broadneck’s side, it technically began when the Vikings gave the automatic win to 165-pound Austin Combs. Since he didn’t get a chance to battle for his six points, there was no momentum lost.
“Because Austin’s a pretty special wrestler who can do that,” Bloomfield said.
Zachari would unwittingly be the last Broadneck contested win of the night. After the Vikings handily claimed 190 and 215, they’d secured enough leverage to give up heavyweight and 106 without a fight.
And fighting is all Broadneck had ever wanted to do. A year ago, after South River, then in 4A, made sure the Bruins’ dream senior-heavy team never got to make the trip to states, Bloomfield assumed this would be a rebuilding year.
Holding the runner-up trophy, he was at least, for that, happy to be wrong.
“To get to the state finals is pretty special. We would’ve liked it to go different, but we were right there. We battled. We got as much out of it as we possibly could.”
The Seahawks and Bruins stood back to back as they battled their own duals. Klessinger could appreciate that quiet solidarity, at least.
“Them getting here, despite the fact they lost, it was cool. I feel for them, too,” the South River coach said. “You get this far and you know it’s at least another year until you have this opportunity — and you might not — it’s tough.”
And they’re not done. Broadneck and South River now face county championships and the individual state bracket, two arenas in which both teams intend to conquer.
“We have a lot of good things to focus on,” Klessinger said.
Class 4A state championship
Walt Whitman 33, Broadneck 31
113 – Jabasie Trice (Walt Whitman) over Miguel Cabon (Broadneck) Dec 7-1; 120 – Brandon Whyte-Taylor (Broadneck) over Solomon Randall (Walt Whitman) Maj 10-2; 126 – Jacob Gaum (Walt Whitman) over Cam Williams (Broadneck) Dec 13-6; 132 – Chris Lindstrom (Walt Whitman) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 138 – Justin Rommel (Walt Whitman) over T.J. Hicks (Broadneck) Dec 9-3; 144 – Meran Elakel (Walt Whitman) over Long Bui (Broadneck) Fall 2:42; 150 – Linx Lawless (Broadneck) over Tristan Ramos (Walt Whitman) Dec 4-2; 157 – Peyton Miller (Broadneck) over Leo Smith (Walt Whitman) Dec 8-1; 165 – Austin Combs (Broadneck) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 175 – Cameron Zachari (Broadneck) over Laird Ostien (Walt Whitman) Dec 8-3; 190 – Jon Aron (Walt Whitman) over Dom Ascione (Broadneck) Fall 1:59; 215 – Andy Boshnick (Walt Whitman) over Jeremy Abate (Broadneck) Fall 2:22; 285 – Peter Seabrook (Broadneck) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 106 – Jack Joseph (Broadneck) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf.
Class 3A state championship
Linganore 34, South River 31
120 – Trent Shipley (South River) over Lincoln Zirk (Linganore) Fall 0:20; 126 – Brennan Considine (Linganore) over Ethan Burger (South River) TF 19-2; 132 – Cash Wheat (Linganore) over Pete Laye (South River) Dec 9-3; 138 – Dylan Rohn (Linganore) over Xavier Foran (South River) Maj 9-1; 144 – Ben Ford (South River) over Christian Ibarra (Linganore) Dec 11-7; 150 – Noah Zohrabi (Linganore) over Ethan McWaters (South River) Fall 1:39; 157 – Peyton Pickett (Linganore) over Evan Paximadas (South River) Maj 12-2; 165 – Brent Phillips (South River) over Camden Scarbrough (Linganore) Maj 14-1; 175 – Ethan Arneson (Linganore) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 190 – Zach Glienke (South River) over Alex Tortolan (Linganore) Dec 7-5; 215 – Aidan Healey (South River) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 285 – Busayo Balogun (South River) over Isaac Farrari (Linganore) Inj 2:00; 106 – Josh Arthur (Linganore) over Austin Langis (South River) Fall 1:28; 113 – Jackson Peeples (South River) over Jayden Lassiter (Linganore) Dec 9-4.
Class 4A state semifinal
Broadneck 34, Bethesda-Chevy Chase 33
106 – Kanik Deschene (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) over Jack Joseph (Broadneck) Dec 6-3; 113 – Miguel Cabon (Broadneck) over Ethan Makle (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) Fall 0:23; 120 – Brandon Whyte-Taylor (Broadneck) over Felipe Jacome (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) Maj 12-3; 126 – Cam Williams (Broadneck) over Zach Cannistra (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) Dec 5-0; 132 – T.J. Hicks (Broadneck) over Ronen Israel (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) SV-1 3-2; 138 – Nana Blankson (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) over Long Bui (Broadneck) Fall 1:45; 144 – Linx Lawless (Broadneck) over Nizhoni Deschene (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) Dec 9-4; 150 – Peyton Miller (Broadneck) over Izak Safir (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) Fall 0:32; 157 – Seth Weaver (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 165 – Austin Combs (Broadneck) over Adin Eisler (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) Fall 0:47; 175 – Cameron Zachari (Broadneck) over John Wrede (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) Dec 8-2; 190 – Ben Carter (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 215 – Dajorn Smith (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 285 – Luke Smith (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf.
Class 3A state semifinals
South River 64, Marriotts Ridge 9
106 – Austin Langis (South River) over Sravanth Saladi (Marriotts Ridge) Fall 5:24; 113 – Jackson Peeples (South River) over Rocky Alabbadi (Marriotts Ridge) Dec 4-3; 120 – Trent Shipley (South River) over Brady Eldridge (Marriotts Ridge) Fall 1:52; 126 – Boden Pistorio (Marriotts Ridge) over Ethan Burger (South River) Dec 7-3; 132 – Pete Laye (South River) over Jamie Kraft (Marriotts Ridge) Fall 1:04; 138 – Xavier Foran (South River) over Alex Gladstone (Marriotts Ridge) Fall 1:15; 144 – Ethan McWaters (South River) over Trip Bennett (Marriotts Ridge) Maj 12-2; 150 – Micheal Pinos (Marriotts Ridge) over Ben Ford (South River) Fall 1:27; 157 – Evan Paximadas (South River) over Matthew Beak (Marriotts Ridge) Fall 3:22; 165 – Sam Travis (South River) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 175 – Brent Phillips (South River) over CJ Nyorkor (Marriotts Ridge) Fall 3:37; 190 – Aidan Healey (South River) over Branden Kim (Marriotts Ridge) Fall 1:10; 215 – Cristian Erazo (South River) over Ja`Kaylen Love (Marriotts Ridge) TB-1 5-2; 285 – Busayo Balogun (South River) over Casmir Soma-Dike (Marriotts Ridge) Fall 0:37.
Linganore 58, Bel Air 15
113 – Jayden Lassiter (Linganore) over Danial Dirton (Bel Air) Fall 1:36; 120 – Lincoln Zirk (Linganore) over Cole Bursk (Bel Air) Fall 1:21; 126 – Brennan Considine (Linganore) over Andrew Montalvo (Bel Air) Fall 1:12; 132 – Cash Wheat (Linganore) over Dominic Gray (Bel Air) Fall 2:44; 138 – Dylan Rohn (Linganore) over Aidan Zajicek (Bel Air) Fall 0:45; 144 – Chris Nice (Bel Air) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 150 – Christian Ibarra (Linganore) over David Kalthof (Bel Air) Maj 10-2; 157 – Camden Scarbrough (Linganore) over Grant Smith (Bel Air) Dec 4-1; 165 – Peyton Pickett (Linganore) over Gary Mann (Bel Air) Fall 1:13; 175 – Ethan Arneson (Linganore) over Joel Ouandji Nana (Bel Air) Fall 1:54; 190 – Nate Groves (Linganore) over Eric Riser (Bel Air) Dec 8-2; 215 – Ian Nitz (Bel Air) over Alex Tortolan (Linganore) Dec 9-5; 285 – Owen Reilly (Bel Air) over Eric Lowe (Linganore) Fall 1:02; 106 – Josh Arthur (Linganore) over Alex Gray (Bel Air) Fall 1:33