Magruder Wrestling Sends Five to States

One dream every high school wrestler has is to wrestle at the state championships. The last step before that is placing at the regional tournament, which took place this past weekend at Sherwood.

For Magruder, it was a particularly successful tournament. Magruder finished in second place for the tournament and sent five wrestlers on to the state tournament, including two champions in their weight classes.

Parke Overmiller and Jordan Tolbert won their weight classes, each of them earning their second regional titles. In addition, Cameron Mayberry finished in second while both Andrew Conine and Kaymen Barnes finished third to earn their sports in the Maryland state tournament held at the University of Maryland, College Park next weekend.

“Five guys is definitely a respectable number to bring [to states],” Magruder coach Max Sartoph said. “Hopefully we can do some damage next weekend.”

Overmiller had a rematch of his county's final match on Saturday, facing Quince Orchard's Gage Neubaum. While he couldn't get another pin, he did win decisively, a 10-3 decision. Overmiller doesn't have a lot of time to appreciate his second straight regional title, as he will likely be facing one of his toughest challenges as a wrestler next weekend. While Overmiller earned one of the top seeds in the 125 pound weight class, waiting on the other side of the bracket is Nathan Kraisser, a two-time state champion and is undefeated this year.

“I've got someone that's ridiculous,” Overmiller said about Kraisser after his win. “But I've been wrestling real well lately though, so I have a feeling I can go out there and win...I've known him and wrestled him for a while, so I know I'll have to work hard this week and then pull some stuff out of my sleeve.”

While Overmiller will be trying to win his second state title, Jordan Tolbert will be trying to add his first title to his growing list of accolades. Tolbert won 13-5 over Charlie Banaszak from Bethesda-Chevy Chase for his second straight regional title. Last year, Tolbert was the runner up in his weight class at states, and he doesn't want to suffer the same fate this year.

“Last year I was a little more nervous and had the state finals butterflies,” Tolbert said. He then added with a grin, “It would be great to win states like Zach and have more wins than Alex [his brothers]. It would put me one step above both of them.”

While those two, and Mayberry, have been to states before, Barnes and Conine will be wrestling at that level for the first time. Overmiller knows that nerves can play a factor, and will be trying to help his teammates get past that.

“It's a huge stage,” Overmiller said. “There's thousands of people watching, but you can't let it get to your head. They just have to wrestle how they have all year, and don't let the nerves get to them.”

While Cole Field House in College Park is a big stage, Sartoph thinks his wrestlers will be ready.

“The first year is always an eye opener,” Sartoph said. “But they've been wrestling for a long time, so they're familiar with the bigger events. As long as they can keep their heads clear and wrestle the match they're capable of, they'll do fine.”