Hammond's Vince Taweel could not have asked for a better freshman wrestling season. He dominated the 125-pound class, winning county, region and state titles to become part of the team's rich tradition that had produced six state champions.
As he prepares for the first match of his sophomore season, Taweel hopes to become the first Hammond wrestler to win consecutive state titles. But that's not his primary goal, he said.
Hammond Coach Pedro Barbosa demonstrates a move on Stephen Sessa, in black. Four wrestlers who made the state tournament last season are back.
(Photos Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)
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"I've already felt what it's like to win a state title. I want to feel what it's like to win a team title," said Taweel, who will compete at 130 pounds this year. "I've thought about it, and I know this is my best year for that to happen."
Taweel, senior Ethan Cohen, a state finalist in the 103-pound class, and four other returning Hammond wrestlers advanced to the 2004 state tournament, so this season the Golden Bears should be strong contenders for their first state title since 1998.
"If we lose because we didn't work hard enough, then this season will be a failure," said Cohen, who has moved up to the 119-pound class. "We can't get outworked out there. We can't let ourselves get pushed around. If we lose because someone gets the best of us, then we've failed as a team."
To make sure that doesn't happen, Coach Pedro Barbosa tries to maximize his team's effort at practice. He blares "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen and "Fuel" by Metallica as the wrestlers practice moves on each other, the bass of the rock music reverberating off the walls in the windowless workout room.
"You feel that music pumping and it just fires you up," Taweel said. "Everyone brings in their favorite song and we put it on a CD -- just as long it's not the Backstreet Boys."
Barbosa paces the room, scrutinizing technique and demonstrating maneuvers.
"Potential means nothing until it is delivered," Barbosa yells.
"Give me four words," Barbosa says. "I will not lose" comes the reply from throughout the room.
Losing is something Hammond experienced last year. The Golden Bears went 9-9 and fell to Atholton in the first round of the 2A/1A South Region dual meet tournament before placing fourth at the county tournament.
It wasn't because Hammond didn't have talented wrestlers; there just weren't enough of them. Hammond had no competitors at 189 and 215 pounds, so the team had to forfeit two of the 14 weight classes, giving opponents 12 points before the first match began.
That won't be the case this winter. The Golden Bears will be represented in each weight class and will be bolstered by the return of sophomores Zach Halper (125) and Ryan McKevitt (140) and senior Jeff Nuss (145), who each advanced to the state tournament and collectively posted a record of 53-38 last season. Add last year's records of Taweel (34-5), Cohen (29-1) and senior 152-pounder A.J. Smith (28-6), and the mark swells to 144-50. Hammond will also likely have three juniors -- Eric Yee (125), Jose Maldonado (135) and Bryce Harley (112) -- entering their first varsity seasons after winning junior varsity county titles last winter.
"The big difference this year is we will have a full lineup, and most of us have experience," said Smith, who placed second in the county and at the 2A/1A South Region tournament at 135-pounds last season. "We feel like it's our turn to win."
A major reason Hammond has fallen from atop the county's hierarchy -- after winning seven consecutive county titles from 1993 to 1999 -- has been the emergence of River Hill, the five-time defending county champion.
"Hammond's wrestlers have done a lot of work to get better as a team over the summer, and hands down they are the best team right now, especially with Vince and Ethan," Glenelg Coach Rob Bowman said. "But I think Atholton and River Hill will also be right there."
River Hill has not lost to a county opponent in two years, but the Golden Bears have caught the Hawks' attention. River Hill, which competes in the 4A/3A classification during the postseason, and Hammond will both wrestle at the Bowie Invitational on Dec. 10 and 11 before facing each other in a dual meet Dec. 23.
"People think Hammond is the best 2A/1A team in the state, but we'll see," River Hill Coach Earl Lauer said. "They're improved from last year, but I want to see how much more improved they really are."
