By Lem Satterfield
Amy Pagnotta said “my stomach dropped.”
Her son, Alex — “my little Alex,” as she calls McDonogh’s bruising, athletic 189-pounder — had just collapsed on his back and was lying motionless for about 10 seconds.
This, after having spiraled out of bounds following the absorption, into his left knee, of a hard collision from his diving, John
Carroll rival, Ethan Reese, during their title bout of last weekend’s
Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament.
“When he fell out of bounds at MIAAs, and grabbed his knee, I thought, ‘oh no, not the knee,'” said Amy Pagnotta. “But as it turned out, he had just banged the knee and it was just a quick bang and a bruise. He really was O.K.”
Alex Pagnotta Jr. completed the match — a 3-0 shutout of Reese — for his second straight MIAA title. Pagnotta had pinned his three previous opponents to reach Reese, improving his record on the year to 37-2 with 17 pins.
But considering what had happened nearly a year earlier in the private schools state tournament, that 10 seconds, to Amy and the rest of the Pagnotta family in attendance, seemed like an eternity.
The scene conjured memories of last year’s private schools title bout.
Wrestling against Archbishop Curley’s Mike Kulik in that match — one week after having beaten Kulik for his first MIAA crown — Pagnotta suffered a season-ending knee injury during an overtime loss.
“We were wrestling, and I kind of stopped wrestling when we
went out of bounds because the ref blew the whistle. But he took me back down to
the mat,” Alex Pagnotta said.
“Then, my foot got stuck in the mat, and my knee twisted in a wierd way,” said Pagnotta. “I
was winning, 1-0, but I tore my meniscus and I sprained my ankle. I kept trying to wrestle, but it limited what I could do. When the match went into overtime at 1-1, I really couldn’t put any weight on my right leg. It was all on my left leg. It
was hard to keep going on it, but it was the finals, so I really couldn’t
stop.â€
“As soon as Alex came off of the mat, he was on crutches and he was in surgery two days later,” said Amy Pagnotta. “That was
devastating. We all knew how hard he had worked to achieve that goal.”
The resulting surgery required five months of recovery and re-habbing time as a result of a match Pagnotta says “continues to haunt me, even now.”
“That was one of my toughest losses, because Kulik went on to win [National Preps.] It was a bad feeling, because I knew I
could have competed at Preps, maybe been in the finals,” Pagnotta said.
“It’s definitely a motivator for me this year whenever I’m in a tight match and I maybe start to
feel tired. I just remeber how that felt, and I never want to feel that again,”said Pagnotta, who will compete in this weekend’s private schools states at McDonogh. “So this year, I want to definitely come out and win states
and wrestle good.”
Good is an understatement for how well Pagnotta has fared this season.
Ranked 24th by USA Wrestling, the thick-legged junior has knocked off a long list of nationally-ranked wrestlers to improve his career record to 110-24 with 37 career pins.
Pagnotta’s lone defeats were against Matt Wilkes of Chartiers Valley, Va., who is ranked 16th in Wrestling USA, and Vinnie Ranauto of Caravel Academy, a two-time Delaware state champ.
“Expectations are definitely higher this year, but I try to go into
each match with the same mindset,” Pagnotta said.”What I’m working on now is the mental aspect, and
controlling any lingering self-doubt, blocking out any negativity.”
A 160-pound wrestler at season’s end last year, Pagnotta is a more physically sturdy and mature 189-pounder, having slimmed down from the 220 pounds he carried as a football playing linebacker this past fall.
“When my knee was hurt, I couldn’t do much running, so I
just focused more on lifting and my upperbody. Also, maturing and getting
older, that helped also. I work out with not a lot of breaks, just to get the
muscles tired,” Pagnotta said. “I’ve been in 20-plus, two or three-point matches, and being
able to be physical has helped me out. And I’m not usually a big pinner, but this year, I’m like second or third on the team in pins.””
“This year, I feel a lot stronger, being at a higher weight.
Strength is a plus. Playing football and being physical carries over into
wrestling. That helped a lot,” Pagnotta said. “But it’s also, knowing what it’s like being
lighter and having to be quicker than some of the stronger guys. Knowing how to be
quick and physical has worked to my advantage in a lot of matches. It’s definitely more the moves rather than the strength.”
At times, Pagnotta has wrestled with a chip on his shoulders, as he did when he felt slighted by a No. 3 seed at the prestigious Mount Mat Madness behind No. 2 seeded Keith Dickey of Cedar Cliff, Pa., a wrestler against whom he had a commong opponent — someone Pagnotta defeated, but to whom Dickey had lost.
“Being the No. 3 seed, you could say that added some fuel to the fire. I went out there, and I got the takedown and controlled the rest of the match, which is how I won,” said Pagnotta, who achieved his 100th career win against Dickey in the Mount Mat Madness Invitational semifinals.
“I definitely had something to prove but I want to be remembered as a class act,” said Pagnotta, a runner-up to Ranauto in the MMM title bout.
“You have to remain humble, because that’s what you learn in wrestling. That’s what the sport teaches,” Pagnotta said. “You can be on top one
week, and then, have a bad week and be down the next week. That’s why [personal] humility is so important.”
In August, however, Pagnotta and senior 130-pound teammate, Ben Levin, “went out and got tattoos.”
“Mine is on my right leg. It’s of a referee raising a
wrestler’s arm,” Pagnotta said. “The whole point of wrestling is to go out
and to get a win, always to get your hand raised. That signifies winning, and I
want to keep doing that, and I want to keep doing it for a while.â€
Alex
Pagnotta – 189 – 11th grade (Source, McDonogh’s website)
Ranked: 24th, USA Wrestling
Career Record – 110-24-37 pins
9th – 37-10-8 pins
(160)
10th – 36-12-12 pins (171)
11th – 37-2-17 pins (189)
Accomplishments:
9th Grade
– 1st – St. Benedict’s
Tournament
– 1st – Ray Oliver Tournament
– 3rd – Mount Mat Madness
Tournament
– 2nd – MIAA Tournament
– 2nd – Maryland Independent Schools
State Tournament
– 5th – National Preps Tournament
10th Grade
– 2nd
– St. Benedict’s Tournament
– 1st – Ray Oliver Tournament
– 4th – AI
duPont Tiger Classic Tournament
– 4th – Mount Mat Madness Tournament
– 1st
– MIAA Tournament
– 2nd – Maryland Independent Schools State
Tournament
11th Grade
– 1st – St. Benedict’s Tournament
– 1st – Ray
Oliver Tournament
– 2nd – Mount Mat Madness Tournament
– 1st – MIAA Tournament
Alex Pagnotta’s most notable victories this season:
Win over Malachy Morris, Langley, by 3-2 (7th super 32’s; headed to Brown
Decision
over Andre Pertoski, Springfield Delco, by 8-3 (8th at beast); ranked top 7 in Pennsylvania
Decison
over Jamie Calender, Council Rock North, by 5-3. Ranked top 6 in Pennsylvania
Decision
Aaron Karns, Berwick, 3-1, OT. Ranked No. 1 in Pennsylvania
Decision
Zach Benzio, Connellsville, Ga., by 3-2. Ranked 18th BY USA
Decision
Keith Dickey, Cedar Clif, by 3-2. Ranked top 10 in Pennsylvania
Decision
Ben Krakower, Blair Academy, 3-1. Fifth-place finisher in New York
Decision
Jon Becker, Bergen Catholic., by 3-1. Fargo Freestyle Champ; Fargo Grecco-Roman runner-up; Ranked No. 15, by 411 Wrestling
Processing your request, Please wait....
