Allen emerges as state champion
Leonardtown’s Martez Allen emerged as a surprise of sorts in the 4A/3A state wrestling tournament this weekend at Cole Field House in College Park.
After placing third at the SMAC and 4A/3A South tournaments, Allen finally reached the finals when the stage got bigger and came away with a state championship by virtue of a 3-1 decision over Reservoir’s Mike Mullens in the 152-pound final. Allen goes down as the first Leonardtown wrestler to win a state championship.
Buoyed by a pair of state finalists, La Plata claimed the runner-up team trophy in the 4A/3A tournament, with its 80 points coming up well short of Reservoir’s 106. In the past five seasons, La Plata has two runner-up finishes to go along with two team championships.
On Saturday, Nick Romero and Connar Zimmerman led the Warriors’ effort. Zimmerman reached the 145-pound final but came up on the short end of a 5-3 decision with Reservoir’s Mark Colabucci. Wrestling in the 140-pound final, Romero lost and 8-3 decision to Old Mill’s Ron Vaughters, but distinguished himself as one of the classier competitors at the tournament.
At 103 pounds, Northern freshmen Brant Leadbeter reached the finals in his first attempt, but dropped an 11-6 decision to Alex Polosky of Wilde Lake. Teammate and fellow freshmen Eric Hoffman placed third at 140, while Brant’s older brother Quentin capped a stellar high school career with an impressive third-place showing at 125 — in what was perhaps the most competitive bracket in recent memory.
Rounding out the SMAC finalists, Patuxent sophomore Zach Pilkington earned a spot in the 103-pound final in the 2A/1A tournament. Southern-Garrett senior Davey Stewart defeated Pilkington 14-6 in the championship bout.
4A/3A team results: Reservoir 106, La Plata 80, Walt Whitman 78, Urbana 76, North County 67, 7. Leonardtown 63, 8. Northern 61
SMAC wrestlers placing in 4A/3A tournament
Chopticon
171 Alec Pence (6th)
Huntingtown
160 Hunter Rowe (3rd)
La Plata
125 Jason Jennings (5th)
130 John Thomas (5th)
140 Nick Romero (2nd)
145 Connar Zimmerman (2nd)
Leonardtown
119 Sam Corey (5th)
145 BJ Frederick (6th)
152 Martez Allen (1st)
285 Mark Bohanon (3rd)
Northern
103 Brant Leadbeter (2nd)
125 Quentin Leadbeter (3rd)
140 Eric Hoffman (3rd)
North Point
189 Anthony Zoscak (4th)
Westlake
215 Kian Magruder (5th)
SMAC wrestlers placing in 2A/1A touranment
103 Zach Pilkington (2nd)
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