Leonardtown wrestling takes it to Northern

“Northern is always tough. We have to be on top of our game anytime we come in here,” Leonardtown head coach Dave Cummins said. “We had a couple of good breaks. It was a fun match to watch, whether you were sitting on the bench or in the stands.”

With the action starting at 106 pounds, Northern (10-1 overall) took the first two matches to open the night's action with a quick 7-0 lead. Dylan Montgomery won a 9-6 decision in the opening bout, while Michael Bronk followed with a 9-0 major decision for the Patriots.

The hosts' lead was to be short-lived, however, as Leonardtown (10-1) reeled off four straight wins — three by pin and one technical fall — to take control.

Garrett Lee opened the Raiders' surge with a pin at 120. Sean Vosburgh, a state champion two seasons ago, followed with a tech fall at 126, while Brian Bieshelt (132) and Finn Eskeland (138) delivered pins in the ensuing bouts to pad the Raiders' overall lead to 23-7.

The Patriots rebounded to take three of the next four bouts, with Kaleb Dolina winning by fall at 145 to start the run. Leonardtown's Trevor Crowley won by pin at 152, before Evan Mendez and Gavin Whittington won the respective 160 and 170 bouts. Mendez took his match by fall early in the third period, while Whittington emerged on the good side of a 7-1 decision to pull Northern to with 29-22 with four matches left to be contested.

There was to be no dramatic finish, though, as starting with John Podsednik's tech fall at 182, Leonardtown closed out the night with four straight victories. Podsednik, the Class 4A-3A 152-pound state champion a season ago, defeated Northern's Rex Fleming 18-1 in a match that lasted 3 minutes 13 seconds.

“I just go into my matches thinking I'm going to wrestle. Win or lose, Jesus has got me,” Podsednik said of his night. “I lose, guess what? Jesus still loves me. I win, Jesus still loves me. So in the end, I win. That's what I've gone through since freshman year. I try to win, but whether I win or lose I don't really care.”

While he has been an extremely competitive wrestler on one of the top teams in SMAC throughout his career, wrestling is not even Podsednik's primary interest, though he is a key cog on a team that has been successful and would figure to have lofty goals for the season ahead.

“My true passion is cheerleading,” Podsednik said. “I've actually been going to colleges and practicing for cheerleading. That's also why I have a lot of upper-body strength.

“I think we're pretty good. We have a few spots where we need to get stronger, but I think we'll be able to fill it out and do well this year. In the end, for me, I think it's more about letting kids on the other team know their value and that they have meaning. A lot of times I know kids who wrestle and don't feel like they have any purpose. That's my main goal. Win or lose, that's just a bonus.”

Aiden Gamble (195), Isaiah Sewell (220) and Joe Stanalonis (285) finished the night on a dominant note for the Raiders, each winning by fall to secure Leonardtown's victory on a night when there was not a single forfeit and a full slate of junior varsity matches were contested — a pleasant sight that unfortunately has been the exception rather than the rule around SMAC over the past couple of seasons.

“It's always good to see the JV kids getting some matches, and it was really good to see Northern's numbers up,” Cummins said. “We had one of our best turnouts ever over at Leonardtown, and it seems that's been the case at quite a few schools so far. That's going to be good for wrestling.”