Wrestling: Sherwood defeats Magruder and Paint Branch

By Kyle Wannen
For DigitalSports.com

With his team tied 30-30 against Magruder with only three wrestlers left, Sherwood wrestling coach Scott Beattie couldn’t have asked for more than to see two of his best athletes still waiting to compete.

Josh Lowy (160) defeated Tony Maroulis by major decision and Steven Gamble (171) pinned Jimmy Hughes to seal up a 40-36 victory for the Warriors, who clinched the top-seed at this year’s 3A/4A West Regional Tournament.

“There’s a lot of trust there,” Beattie said. “I mean they’re two really good kids. I would guess that anybody in the state would like the match to come down to those two.”

The Warriors (13-1) forfeited the 152-lb match to Magruder’s Chris Ralli before moving both Lowy and Gamble up one weight-class from their norms. The two wins gave Sherwood an insurmountable 10-point lead before John Rinaldi (189) pinned Jose Ledesma in the final match.

“I went in there knowing I needed the major [decision] to win,” Lowy said. “At first I was going a little crazy, going for the pin, but after the injury time I went over and talked to my coach. He said just go for the major, that’s all we need to win.”

“I was calm,” Gamble said. “I knew what I was thinking right before the match. I knew what I needed to do and pretty much got the job done.”

Sherwood also got pins from Josh Hertz (215), Andrew Midgette (285), Oleg Laughner (112), Ray Mencia (130) and Tyler Tockman (135).

Magruder (12-2) had erased a 15-point deficit with wins by Jack Cunningham (140), Cammeron Mayberry (145) and Ralli just before the clutch performances by Lowy and Gamble.

In the first match of the day, the Warriors used six-straight pins to build a 24-point lead over Paint Branch and helped lead to a 51-27 victory. The Panthers (7-7) got pins from Ian Banson (215) and Garrett Hoover (145).

“I just went out and got it done,” Hoover said. “I did what I had to do for Paint Branch. I was proud of the way I performed.”

The Colonels rebounded after their loss to Sherwood with a 60-21 win over Paint Branch in the final match of the day. Magruder had won six bouts in a row including five pins and a forfeit to build a 30-point lead.

“We pinned when we needed to pin,” said Magruder’s Jordan Tolbert, who had a pin in each match. “We just couldn’t fight off our backs when we were working them.”


Sherwood 51, Paint Branch 27
189 – Josh Hertz (SH) wins by decision (10-5) over James Taylor (PB)
215 – Ian Banson (PB) wins by fall (1:48) over Max Fader (SH)
285 – Winterford Mensah (PB) wins by decision (7-6) over Andrew Midgette (SH)
103 – Ben Hausman (SH) wins by fall (1:12) over Viraj Shah Modi (PB)
112 – Oleg Laughner (SH) wins by fall (1:38) over Dennis Vu (PB)
119 – James Kerrick (SH) wins by fall (2:58) over Danny Scher (PB)
125 – Montgomery Barnsley (SH) wins by fall (4:58) over Tom Harrington (PB)
130 – Ray Mencia (SH) wins by fall (0:31) over Stephen Kim (PB)
135 – Mike Roberts (PB) wins by forfeit
 140 – Tyler Tockman (SH) wins by fall (3:47) over David Smith (PB)
145 – Garrett Hoover (PB) wins by fall (1:31) over Jeff Ralph (SH)
152 – Josh Lowy (SH) wins by fall (0:57) over Chase Hunt (PB)
160 – Steven Gamble (SH) wins by fall (0:37) over Davon Whitaker (PB)
171 – Greg Smith (PB) wins by fall (0:20) over Robert O’Neil (SH)

Sherwood 40, Magruder 36
215 – Josh Hertz (SH) wins by fall (1:39) over Alex Mayberry (MG)
285 – Andrew Midgette (SH) wins by fall (1:16) over Mike Rinaldi (MG)
103 – Ravi Choxi (MG) wins by decision (7-2) over Ben Hausman (SH)
112 – Oleg Laughner (SH) wins by fall (1:35) over Nick Ferentinos (MG)
119 – Jordan Tolbert (MG) wins by fall (2:32) over James Kerrick (SH)
125 – Max Schneiderman (MG) wins by fall (1:38) over Montgomery Barnsley (SH)
130 – Ray Mencia (SH) wins by fall (3:58) over Kevin Coffey (MG)
135 – Tyler Tockman (SH) wins by fall (0:47) over Kevin Shay (MG)
140 – Jack Cunningham (MG) wins by decision (9-2) over Michael Mucci (SH)
145 – Cammeron Mayberry (MG) wins by fall (2:54) over Chris Constantino (SH)
152 – Chris Ralli (MG) wins by forfeit
160 – Josh Lowy (SH) wins by major decision (15-3) over Tony Maroulis (MG)
171 – Steven Gamble (SH) wins by fall (2:10) over Jimmy Hughes (MG)
189 – John Rinaldi (MG) wins by fall (1:52) over Jose Ledesma (SH)

Magruder 60, Paint Branch 21
285 – Winterford Mensah (PB) wins by fall (1:54) over Mike Rinaldi (MG)
103 – Nick Ferentinos (MG) wins by fall (2:27) over Viraj Shah Modi (PB)
112 – Ravi Choxi (MG) wins by fall (1:26) over Dennis Vu (PB)
119 – Jordan Tolbert (MG) wins by fall (2:16) over Tom Harrington (PB)
125 – Max Schneiderman (MG) wins by fall (0:47) over Danny Scher (PB)
130 – Kevin Coffey (MG) wins by forfeit
135 – Kevin Shay (MG) wins by fall (2:20) over Mike Roberts (PB)
140 – David Smith (PB) wins by decision (18-12) over Mitch Sachs (MG)
145 – Garrett Hoover (PB) wins by fall (4:43) over Jack Cunningham (MG)
152 – Cammeron Mayberry (MG) wins by fall (0:25) over Chase Hunt (PB)
160 – Chris Ralli (MG) wins by fall (1:42) over Joe Zook (PB)
171 – Tony Maroulis (MG) wins by fall (2:30) over Greg Smith (PB)
189 – James Taylor (PB) wins by fall (4:38) over Jimmy Hughes (MG)
215 – John Rinaldi (MG) wins by forfeit