Owings Mills wrestler Amondre Wooden is making up for lost time

Senior Amondre Wooden of Owings Mills is making up for lost time, and his opponents are paying the price.

The 152-pound senior is 16-1 with 13 pins, two technical falls and a major decision, his lone setback being a 5-3 decision to state qualifier Chase Crutchley of Highland High School in Medina, Ohio, in the 157-pound finals of last weekend’s Top Gun Tournament at Alliance High School in Alliance, Ohio.

“Amondre is a special talent, and I think he’s dominating as expected,” said fourth-year Eagles’ head coach Ryan Mackin, a 41-year-old winner of a Class 2A-1A state title as a senior at Hammond High of Howard County in 2001.

“Any room that Amondre walks into, I want everyone to know that he’s the best one in there. For Amondre, winning a state title is an expectation and not just a goal. That’s the expectation we have for him.”

A 150-pound Wooden was on a similar path last year at 16-0 with all pins and technical falls before being declared academically ineligible and having to miss the remainder of his junior season. The situation was particularly painful for Wooden given that Maryland high schools forfeited their 2020-2021 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I’ve been wrestling for 15 years, and I never had anything happen like that. It hurt me deep down inside,” said Wooden, who went 40-6 as a 132-pound freshman, earning a county title before being a Class 2A-1A North Regional runner-up and finishing third at the Class 2A-1A state tournament.

“I won counties and got third my freshman year and then we had the Covid year. I was practicing and all of a sudden I couldn’t wrestle, so that ended my second opportunity to win states. It’s definitely a source of motivation, so I’m definitely working a lot harder. to at least win one state title at the end of my final year of high school.”

If successful Wooden won’t be the first Eagles’ wrestler to win a state title as a senior after missing part or all of his junior season.

Alex Binder accomplished the feat in 2004.

That’s when Binder, then a 140-pound senior, earned his Class 2A-1A state title with a 4-2 decision over Harford Tech’s Brad Dreyer, having returned after being expelled from school and ineligible to wrestle the previous season.

Binder completed a 37-0 season by defeating Dreyer, joining his two-time state champion teammate, Rob Cooper (119), to lead the Eagles to their second straight Class 2A-1A state tournament championship and sixth overall.

Although Wooden knows Binder as a mentor and former state champion at Owings Mills, he never knew of his troubled past.

“I was just talking to him a month ago,” said Wooden, who wrestled at 150 pounds last season. “I was in the sauna and I’ve been practicing with and he never told me about that. Now that I do know, it’s going to help me a lot.”

Now a 37-year-old attorney and managing partner of his own law firm, Killian Law Group based in Owings Mills, Binder recalls occasional workouts and conversations with Wooden.

“Life’s tests come way before real life and adulthood, and this could be a blessing in disguise for Amondre because it’s these types of moments that build character and turn young men into the adults we want them to be. I’ve worked out with Amondre at times this summer and I’ve seen a kid who is motivated and determined to change his life and his situation. It’s important for Amondre to remember what happened and to remain focused, and clearly that investment and decision is paying off now,” Binder said.

“Getting expelled made me take a good, hard look at where I was headed, and I decided to change my fate and to turn my life in a different direction. I think that when you take a look at Amondre, he’s literally doing the same thing. Like I said, I saw Amondre at times this summer, and he’s a really good kid. Instead of looking at this as a negative, Amondre is taking a look in the mirror and taking his life back into his own hands. I love seeing kids like Amondre, and I have a great deal of respect for him and I’m rooting for him.”

As a ninth-grader at counties, Wooden earned the crown with a 9-7 overtime victory over Sparrows Point’s Richard Davis. At regions, Wooden fell short of the title following a 13-5 major decision loss to Dunbar of Baltimore City’s Cameron Deville, who had reached the finals following a 7-5 upset of Davis.

At states, Wooden lost his semifinal bout, 5-4, to Davis, who subsequently lost his state title bout, 4-3, to Nico D’Amico of Stephen Decatur of Berlin, Md.

Wooden rebounded and gained revenge by winning his third-place match, 5-1, over Deville, ending his first year of high school wrestling on a triumphant note.

“Davis I was really hurt after losing to Davis at states because I had beaten him three times before that,” Wooden said. “But after losing to Davis at states when it counted, I definitely made myself feel better by getting revenge over Deville and finishing third.”

Having wrestled this year at as high as 170 pounds where he ranked fourth and has won the Randallstown Tournament, Wooden plans to settle in at 152 pounds moving forward.

Wooden looks to join former Owings Mills teammates, Alex Dufour and Phil Smith, who graduated in 2020 as state champions under Mackin.

Dufour won three county titles, four regional titles and two state titles in three championship berths.

Smith was four-time county and regional champion and three-time Class 2A-1A state title winner. Smith was a county champion and regional champion as a freshman at Franklin before transferring to Owings Mills.

Mackin was an assistant for four years before taking over at Owings Mills, being a part of Eagles’ squads which have earned a county tournament in 2019 as well as two regional dual meet titles.

Mackin was an assistant when David Holingsworth earned consecutive state titles in 2016 and 2017, and when Roell Ngounou earned a state crown in 2019.

Encouraged by his father, Andre, Wooden has wrestled since age 4, spending most of his junior league career with the Lansdowne Gators’ program.

“My father taught me how to wrestle since I was 4-years old,” said Wooden, whose Eagles play host to county rival Hereford on Thursday. “I won 15 junior leagues state championships. More importantly, I’m definitely focused, and my grades right now are good.”

A former Baltimore City champion wrestler before graduating from Southwestern High in 1997, Andre has seen a transformation in his son.

“This year Amondre’s staying on top of his game,” said Andre Wooden, 43. “I see the change in Amondre. He’s definitely learned his lesson. He’s focused on being prepared for counties, regions and states.”