Magruder's Maroulis Makes Maryland History

Magruder freshman Helen Maroulis became the first girl to place at the Maryland wrestling championships yesterday, taking sixth in the 4A/3A 112-pound division at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House.

Maroulis (33-9) finished 3-3 for tournament, where no female had won a match before this weekend. Arundel sophomore 103-pounder Nicole Woody also won a match and finished 1-2 for the weekend.

"I was hoping to win a match, and I was hoping to place," Maroulis said. "That was my goal and that's what I did. . . . I'm happy with myself for the most part, but no one likes losing. There are guys that are freshmen that are in the finals. If I'm going to want to be treated like one of the guys, I kind of want to look at it in that view."

Said Magruder Coach Max Sartoph, "You think about the real good wrestlers, and man, she's already doing better than a lot of people have done."

Sartoph noted neither of Magruder's state champions from last season, seniors John Holloway and Zach Tolbert, placed as freshmen.

"It's an awesome accomplishment," Sartoph added.

Maroulis won her first match by default over Chesapeake's Jarrid Bosque and later defeated Whitman's Joe Hancher, 16-4, and Northwestern's Larry Moomau, 6-2, in the consolation bracket.

"She's good, man, especially as a freshman," Bosque said. "Usually freshmen, they don't go far. It's very [rare] that you get a freshman that can do that, and she's a girl. She could be first next year, or her junior or senior year. She's going to be good."

Maroulis lost in a rematch to Bosque, 11-7, in her last match.

The "being a girl and freshman thing, I don't really focus on that. I just kind of focus on how I wrestled," Maroulis said. "In the majority of the tournament, I wrestled pretty well, except for that last match. I wanted to beat [Bosque] this time to show people that the first time wasn't a fluke, and I just didn't wrestle well."

Woody, making her second state tournament appearance, pinned Linganore's Cody Marwine in 1 minute 57 seconds in a consolation match.