by Lem Satterfield
As he stepped onto the mat against 125-pound rival Ryan Semone of New Jersey’s Jackson Memorial, McDonogh freshman Josh Johns did all that he could to conceal his nerves.
“The general consensus of the team was, ‘don’t lose,’ and, ‘let’s go,’, and, ‘try to do your best,’ and, ‘stay positive,'” said Johns, a reserve wrestler who entered the match with a 3-4 varsity record.
“But deep inside, I knew that if I won, it meant that we had clinched the match,” Johns said. “When I got out there, I was just thinking, ‘six and a half minutes,’ and, ‘let’s go, every second, as hard as you can.’ I started working, got my first takedown, and then, from then on, there’s no thinking. Your mind just sort of goes blank.”
Johns overcame his nerves, however, for a 6-4 decision that clinched an eventual, 36-24 victory over the Jaguars, who entered the bout unbeaten in seven dual meets, as New Jersey’s No. 1-ranked team, and ranked as high as No. 14 nationally.
“There was never a time that I was behind in the match. But there was a time where I was riding a little high, and I didn’t want to get caught, so I gave him a reversal in the last few seconds so I didn’t blow anything,” Johns said.
“I did get called for stalling and locked hands, so if the match was any closer, that would have hurt me,” Johns said. “That was a result of nerves, definitely. But when I stood up, looked at the bench, I saw an excited team. That’s when I realized that my match was the match that pretty much decided it, no matter what.”
Johns’ victory was part of a match-ending three-bout run, having started with Nick Schenk’s 4-1 decision over the Jaguars’ B.J. Young at 119 pounds. Johns gave the Eagles an inurmountable lead of 32-24, with the lone remaining bout being at 130 pounds.
Senior Ben Levin won that one easily, 14-1, clinching perhaps the Eagles’ biggest win in the program’s history.
The three-bout run also quelled a shorter one by the Jaguars (7-1), who had pulled to within, 26-24, on pins by Tyler Biscaha (103) and Zach Huxford (112) in 34, and, 20 seconds, respectively.
“I think, in this situation, Josh Johns’ match was definitely the swing bout,” said McDonogh coach Pete Welch, whose Eagles are 8-0. “We thought we could win seven, maybe eight matches, but the fact that we won nine was just awesome. And Josh just went out there and got the job done.”
Ranked no. 14 nationally, the visiting Jaguars had proven themselves worthy of their lofty acclaim with their most recent performances.
At the prestigious Beast of The East Tournament, wrestled at the University of Delaware and considered among the nation’s premiere high school event in the sport, the Jaguars’ Scott Winston won the 160-pound title, Biscaha and Sean Byrnes (152) finished third, and Huxford was fifth to pace Jackson Memorial to an overall fourth place finish among some of the nation’s best programs.
In addition, all but two of the Jaguars wrestlers had won at least one match at the Beast.
The Jaguars had followed up that effort by winning clash of New Jersey’s top two teams on the road, with their dual meet victory at then-No. 1-ranked Brick Memorial being keyed by a bumped-up Josh Baker’s pin at 135 pounds over a wrestler had placed third at states.
That is, in essence, why 135-pound Albert Woody’s 3-2 decision over Baker was so important, particularly with it coming in the first bout of the dual meet, Welch said.
“Albert set the tone by winning that tight match, because when that happened, we figured maybe we could win eight bouts,” said Welch, whose Eagles led, 3-0, at that point.
Next up was three-time MIAA and private schools champ Josh Fitch (140), whose 9-1 major decision over Tyler Wilton pushed the Eagles lead to 7-0.
A rematch that never materialized was that between Byrnes and the Eagles’ MIAA and private schools state titlist Shane Milam, whom Byrnes had defeated, 4-2, in their overtime bout for third place at the Beast of The East.
But Byrnes weighed in at 145, and, instead, met the Eagles’ two-time MIAA champ Curtis Holmes. Byrnes won, 1-0, but Welch viewed Holmes’ effort as more of a victory for his Eagles than the win was momentum for the Jaguars.
“I thought it was huge that Curtis fought him tooth and nail, and I thought that took some steam out of them to see that,” Welch said. “And then, when Shane came out and got the pin, that was something that pumped up our team.”
Milam finished off Tom Brazilian in 31 seconds, setting off an emotional reaction by the junior, who said he “ran right out of the gymnasium.”
“I didn’t know that I wouldn’t be wrestling Byrnes until he went out there to wrestle Curtis. I thought right up until then, for sure, that I was going to get a rematch and that it was going to be a close one,” Milam said of Byrnes, who earned career won No. 101 against Holmes.
“He’s a very unorthodox wrestler — just boxes out on his feet, rides legs really well. He’s a mat wrestler,” said Milam, whose victory gave the Eagles a 13-3 lead. “I thought that this time, though, I was going to be ready for him.”
The Jaguars were within, 13-9, after getting a second period fall from two-time state champ Scott Winston, the nation’s No. 2-ranked 160-pounder.
Although Winston easily improved his career record to 112-0, the Eagles had successfully maneuvered one of their better wrestlers, 160-pound regular Kramer Whitelaw, away from Winston.
“We won the coin toss to start, which enable us to choose in that match,” Welch said. “We were able to get [Kramer Whitelaw] away from Winston.”
Up a weight class at 171, Whitelaw responded with a 4-0 decision over Nick Tetro for an overall, 16-9 advantage for the Eagles.
The Jaguars’ Drew Murphy (189) handled reserve Nick Gimenez, 13-7, but Welch considered that to be another minor victory for the Eagles since Murphy missed earning a major decision by one point.
The Eagles’ MIAA champ, Alex Pagnotta, then moved up a class to 215, where he subbed for injured starter, Doug Schenk after the latter’s concussion in a previous dual meet.
Pagnotta’s major decision over Justin Georgio, followed by Lane Clelland’s first period pin at 285 pounds, streched a 16-12 lead into one of 26-12 with five bouts left.
“When Gimenez went out, I think that was a surprise to them, and then, they only got three points for a decision,” Pagnotta said. “Josh Johns stepped up, got a big win. Curtis only lost, 1-0. And Nick Gimenez did his job, I got the major, and Lane got a big pin. This was a match when everyone was stepping up throughout the lineup. This is a match that showed that we’re a great team.”
McDonogh 36, Jackson Memorial 24
MCD 3-0 – 135 – Albert Woody dec. Josh Baker – 3-2
MCD 7-0 – 140 – Josh Fitch md Tyler Wilton – 9-1
MCD 7-3 – 145 – Sean Byrnes dec. Curtis Holmes – 1-0
MCD 13-3 – 152 – Shane Milam pin Tom Brazilian – :31
MCD 13-9 – 160 – Scott Winston pin Joe Eder – 3:04
MCD 16-9 – 171 – Kramer Whitelaw dec. Nick Tetro – 4-0
MCD 16-12 – 189 – Drew Murphy dec. Nick Gimenez – 13-7
MCD 20-12 – 215 – Alex Pagnotta md Justin Georgiano – 9-1
MCD 26-12 – 285 – Lane Clelland pin Ryan Byrnes – 1:45
MCD 26-18 – 103 – Tyler Biscaha pin Mitch Bode – :34
MCD 26-24 – 112 – Zach Huxford pin Max Sataloff – :20
MCD 29-24 – 119 – Nick Schenk dec. BJ Young – 4-1
MCD 32-24 – 125 – Josh Johns dec. Ryan Semone – 6-4
MCD 36-24 – 130 – Ben Levin md Doug Hammon – 14-1
McDonogh 32, Counsel Rock 29
103- Shane Longstreth (C) mj. Mitch Bode, 10-0
112- Jake VanderWyck (C) p. Max Sataloff, 1:52
119- Nick Schenk (M) d. Zac Haynes, 3-0
125- Anthony Dutrow (C) p. Josh Johns, 2:00
130- Ben Levin (M) p. Pat Donohue (C), 1:15
135- Oliver Hertzel (C) mj. Albert Woody, 14-6
140- Josh Fitch (M) p. Dave Giannaula, 1:47
145- Curtis Holmes (M) mj. Greg Lanctot, 12-3
152- Shane Milam (M) tf. Bruce Froshour, 16-0
160- Kramer Whitelaw (M) d. Dan Staley, 10-6
171- Tom Clark (C) d. Joe Eder, 14-8
189- Alex Pagnotta (M) d. Jamie Callender, 5-3
215- Jack Callender (C) p. Doug Schenk, 1:03
285- Lane Clelland (M) d. Andrew Duschesneau, 9-2.
McDonogh 35, Springfield 26
103- Ben Sherman (S) d. Mitch Bode, 4-0
112- Dan Dortone (S) tf. Max Sataloff, 17-0
119- Bobby Gildea (S) by forfeit
125- Johnny McCoach (S) d. Josh Johns, 10-4
130- Ben Levin (M) p. Ryan Hayes, 1:22
135- Brandon Loro (S) Albert Woody, 5-3
140- Josh Fitch (M) d. Steve Schol, 1-0
145- Curtis Holmes (M) mj. A.J. Kinter, 14-2
152- Ben Sataloff (M) d. Austin McDowell, 7-2
160- Shane Milam (M) p. Pat Leahan, 2:33
171- Kramer Whitelaw (M) mj. Dom Fisher, 14-1
189- Alex Pagnotta (M) d. Andre Petroski, 8-3
215- Kaje Sponheimer (S) by inj. default over Doug Schenk
285- Lane Clelland (M) by injury default over Dave Dewan
McDonogh 66, Calvert Hall 10
103- Mitch Bode (M) p. Jeff Sauers, 1:27
112- Bill Gialamas (C) p. Max Sataloff, 2;34
119- Nick Schenk (M) p. Nick Gialamas, 4:25
125- Josh Johns (M) mj. Dan Lobdell, 10-2
130- Eric Filipowicz (M) mj. Joe Midwig, 10-1
135- Ben Levin (M) p. Evan Ennis, 0:37
140- Josh Fitch (M) by forfeit
145- Curtis Holmes (M) by forfeit
152- Shane Milam (M) mj. Ethan Keiser, 15-1
160- Kramer Whitelaw (M) by forfeit
171- Owen Smith (C) mj. Joe Eder, 11-0
189- Alex Pagnotta (M) p. Brendan Sullivan, 1:15
215- Doug Schenk (M) p. Brian Mayhew, 1:38
285- Lane Clelland (M) p Dan Yarborough, 1:03
McDonogh 61, Peddie School, N.J. 12
103- Mitch Bode (M) by forfeit
112- Max Sataloff (M) by forfeit
119- Frank Cimato (P) by forfeit
125- Mike Tully (P) p. Josh Johns, 3:45
130- Ben Levin (M) by forfeit
135- Albert Woody (M) mj. Danny Driscoll, 14-4
140- Josh Fitch (M) d. Chris Piccolella, 3-0
145- Curtis Holmes (M) p. Matt Kostman, 2:47
152- Shane Milam (M) by forfeit
160- Kramer Whitelaw (M) d. Mike Mancino, 6-2
171- Joe Eder (M) p. Jack Weidenkopf, 1:22
189- Alex Pagnotta (M) d. Zach Mayo, 5-1
215- Doug Schenk (M) p. James Anderson, 5;35
285- Lane Clelland (M) by forfeit
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