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James A. McCray III
Prince George's County, Content Manager
Look at the back of any of the Oxon Hill Clippers wrestling team shirts and it clearly reads, 100 percent effort; No excuses!
That statement is the personality of Oxon Hill and has showed in the Clippers' efforts this season, in particular during Thursday-night's match with the visiting C.H. Flowers Jaguars.
Despite having holes in the lineup at the 125, 130, 135, and 171 pound weight classes throughout the season, the Clippers have used no excuses and put forth enough efforts to win a second consecutive Prince George's County South division title after a 44-30 victory over the Jaguars.
"We came into [tonight's] match giving away 18 points," Oxon Hill's Jordan Murphy explained, "so we were already in a hole. I knew if everybody performed and did what they had to do, we would beat them and that's what we did."
The holes at 125 and 130 led to eventual forfeits and put Oxon Hill behind 18-6 through five matches, and later in 171 gave Flowers an additional six team points.
However, three consecutive pins starting with Andre Wilcox (135), followed by a P.J. Hourahan (140) pin, and culminating with a Murphy pin at 145 swung the scoreboard back into the favor of the Clippers.
Hourahan's pin -- his first of the season -- was the pivotal match in the win according to Oxon Hill co-coach Sean Edelin.
"I was very, very impressed with the way P.J. wrestled," Edelin admitted. "He really stepped it up by not only getting us the win, but getting us a pin and getting us bonus points. ... I told him right off of the mat that his was the [bout] of the night. He turned the entire match right there."
"We knew we had to get in there and do it right," Hourahan added about the contest. " ... A lot of P.G. teams don't have a full team, so this was the very first team that actually had a full lineup. We were already down points, and the coaches told us, 'Tonight, make it serious, do it right, and get your job done.'"
Others getting the job done for the Clippers (11-0 overall, 11-0 county) included Abby Solomon (112), Robert Bailey (152) and Herman Watkins (189) as each added pins in their respective bouts paving the way for Oxon Hill's divisional title.
"Of course it feels good," Edelin said on the title. "I am happy for these guys because they earned it. ... I expect this out of them, to be honest with you; I expect this out of them.
"Even with the lack of numbers, with the talent that we have and the work ethic that we have, we expected this. ... I would have been disappointed had we not repeated as South division champs."
Flowers (8-2, 8-1) came into Thursday's contest also undefeated in county duals.
Kevin White (103) started the night off well for the Jaguars with a 3-0 decision in the opening match. Temi Akinsanya would go on to add a decision only two matches later at 119 and a Will Ngakoue (215) pin in the late stages of the match paced the Jaguars on the night.
"It was a strong effort tonight," Flowers head coach Odist Felder said. "I knew a lot of my first-year guys in the middle of the lineup were going to have it tough.
"Oxon Hill has a lot of experienced guys from the 130 to 152 range. If we did not get pinned too many times, we actually had a chance going into the heart of our lineup which is from 160 on up."
tmccray@digitalsports.com
Oxon Hill 44, C.H. Flowers 30
103 White (F) def. Miller, 3-0
112 Solomon (O) pinned To. Akinsanya, 5:29
119 Te. Akinsanya (F) def. Lynch, 9-3
125 Fagbemi (F) win by ff
130 Oshokoya (F) win by ff
135 Wilcox (O) pinned Davis, 3:51
140 Hourahan (O) pinned Williams, 1:41
145 Murphy (O) pinned Hunter, 3:30
152 Bailey (O) pinned Goatley, 2:27
160 Parks (O) maj. Henderson, 14-0
171 McBride (F) win by ff
189 Watkins (O) pinned Addi, 0:53
215 Ngakoue (F) pinned Parson, 5:31
285 Cross (O) maj. Shelton, 9-1
