It was only fitting that Huntingtown's Phil Riley and La Plata's Eric Jobe completed their season-long rivalry with a thrilling match Saturday at Cole Field House that decided the state 4A/3A heavyweight championship.
Entering the final, both wrestlers had won two of the four matches against the other this season. Furthermore, the winner alternated each time, with Riley winning the first and third showdowns and Jobe taking the second and fourth.
Huntingtown's Phil Riley, left, and La Plata's Eric Jobe had split four previous matches this season. In meeting five, Riley won the state 4A/3A title.
(Kevin Clark -- The Washington Post)
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Riley continued the trend by winning the fifth. He took down Jobe, the 4A/3A South Region champion, late in the second period and held on for a 3-1 victory.
"I definitely knew it was going to be a close match, because they always are," Riley said. "I guess once I got that throw on him, that kind of sealed it for the moment. That was what I needed to win."
"In the first period, I wrestled how I wanted," Jobe said. "I tried to be a little physical and not give up a takedown. Then he got that takedown playing my game, using all upper body. Usually he shoots, so that caught me off guard a little bit."
Riley, a senior, finished the season 28-2, with his only losses coming to Jobe. He won his first three matches at the state tournament with first period pins, beating South River senior Dustin Renner in 1 minute 29 seconds, West Region champion Tony Ayigah of Paint Branch in 51 seconds and North Region champion Aaron Maybin of Mount Hebron in 1:13.
Riley said that beating Jobe in the finals after losing 3-1 to him in the regional final on Feb. 26 was the ideal way to win his first state championship.
"I guess it makes it better, yeah, especially as back and forth as we've been." said Riley, who finished fourth at 189 pounds for Calvert last year.
Jobe, a junior, finished the season 32-4 and took solace in the fact that he should have another opportunity next season to win an individual state crown.
"It was a good season," Jobe said. "Wrestling a great opponent like that, I really don't have any regrets. I just need to work hard in the offseason and come back next year."
Disappointment for La Plata
Jobe's defeat and sophomore Dane Orzechowski's loss in the 112-pound finals continued La Plata's wait for the first individual state champion in school history.
Orzechowski lost in the final to Magruder junior Zach Tolbert, 6-5, after falling behind early in the third period. Orzechowski never led the match, but he said that wrestling from behind didn't bother him.
"That's how I like to work," Orzechowski said. "I ended up coming back in my semifinals match. I felt confident in the third period. I just didn't pull it off."
Both Jobe and Orzechowski admitted that a friendly competition existed between them as each sought to make history. Orzechowski had the upper hand because his final occurred well before the heavyweight match.
